Cat and the baby

Whew. My cat has ended up doing ok around the baby. (If you remember I was
worried because my cat is persnickety and hissy and only likes my husband,
and me...)....we can't let the cat around the baby but it's not a big
stressful deal. We just keep the bedroom door shut if the baby is napping
with me or whenever I am not at full attention, such as bedtime or during
feedings or whenever the baby is napping alone (which is rare). The cat just
stares curiously and doesn't hiss or act upset, when we are holding the baby
around her.

Poor kitty, the only upsetting thing is bedtime, because obviously the baby
is with us and the cat has to sleep alone, shut out of the bedroom. She is
handling it well, it's ME who is so sad. I have always slept with the cat in
bed with me, and especially every single night of my pregnancy, she was
there with me each night. My husband can't sleep with me feeding the baby
every 2 hours in the night so he sleeps in the guest room on worknights, and
the cat sleeps with him then so it's just weekends she's alone. I am here
with her now, but soon I will need to go feed the baby and go to
bed.....this is my rare free minute.

At least my mean, finicky cat is behaving very well. We don't have to scold
her for hissing at the baby etc-- she somehow seems to know this baby is
special. I was also told she wouldn't hiss at the baby because she smells
like me etc...so I would not say we can ever relax and stop watching
everything very closely or ever leave the baby within the cat's reach, but
the cat is doing great under close supervision!

Jill

At least my mean, finicky cat is behaving very well. We don't have to scold
her for hissing at the baby etc-- she somehow seems to know this baby is
special. I was also told she wouldn't hiss at the baby because she smells
like me etc...so I would not say we can ever relax and stop watching
everything very closely or ever leave the baby within the cat's reach, but
the cat is doing great under close supervision!

My kitty ran away 2 months after DS was born. It broke my heart. She
was an indoor cat, but suddenly her highest priority was getting out
of the house. DH was (not so secretly) glad she was gone, but I was
very hurt. While she was in the house, she pretty much stayed away
from DS so we eventually let our guard down. We did find her little
head peeking over the side of his crib a few times, but he had never
slept in it at that point and it was just a fun place for her to hang
out.

Eventually, I bet you can let her back into your bed when your
daughter gets a little older. Give your kitty lots of love and I think
that cuts down on BKS (bitter kitty syndrome.)

(((((Jill))))),
I know the feeling! I never coslept with Alexandra, but in the beginning we
kept a close eye on the kitties. They never jumped in her crib even if she
is not in there. They started being curious and now the younger kitty, with
our supervision, started getting closer to her and he plays with her arm.
He never has the claws out and they are both very gentle even when they
play with us, in spite of their size. Marco Polo, the elder kitty sniffs
her but doesn't really play with her yet.
Beowulf also likes to sleep in the bouncer seat when Alexandra is not in
it. There wouldn't possibly be enough space for both of them!

I am sure that once you put Rachel to sleep in her crib, your fur baby will
come running to you.


--
Love

Nicky

Proud mamma to Alexandra (03/22/2004)

Alexandra's birth announcement
Fur Babies

jill don't worry I have a cat who is basically my best friend she hates my
husband, she hates the dog and the ferret but loves the baby. During
feedings she will sit under the high chair and wait for her to drop
something. At first we coslept and she would never touch the baby or
anything that belonged to the baby. Heck she won't even get in the crib.
when the baby turned 6 months old I finally did an intro between the baby
and the cat and she has decided that she wants nothing to do with the baby.
so it all worked out for us.

Jennifer
Ariana 8/17/03
Home.earthlink.net/~soalus

"Jill" wrote in message
. com...
Whew. My cat has ended up doing ok around the baby. (If you remember I was
worried because my cat is persnickety and hissy and only likes my husband,
and me...)....we can't let the cat around the baby but it's not a big
stressful deal. We just keep the bedroom door shut if the baby is napping
with me or whenever I am not at full attention, such as bedtime or during
feedings or whenever the baby is napping alone (which is rare). The cat
just
stares curiously and doesn't hiss or act upset, when we are holding the
baby
around her.

Poor kitty, the only upsetting thing is bedtime, because obviously the
baby
is with us and the cat has to sleep alone, shut out of the bedroom. She is
handling it well, it's ME who is so sad. I have always slept with the cat
in
bed with me, and especially every single night of my pregnancy, she was
there with me each night. My husband can't sleep with me feeding the baby
every 2 hours in the night so he sleeps in the guest room on worknights,
and
the cat sleeps with him then so it's just weekends she's alone. I am here
with her now, but soon I will need to go feed the baby and go to
bed.....this is my rare free minute.

At least my mean, finicky cat is behaving very well. We don't have to
scold
her for hissing at the baby etc-- she somehow seems to know this baby is
special. I was also told she wouldn't hiss at the baby because she smells
like me etc...so I would not say we can ever relax and stop watching
everything very closely or ever leave the baby within the cat's reach, but
the cat is doing great under close supervision!

Jill

"Lizajane" wrote

My kitty ran away 2 months after DS was born. It broke my heart. She
was an indoor cat, but suddenly her highest priority was getting out
of the house. DH was (not so secretly) glad she was gone, but I was
very hurt.

It breaks my heart to hear this.
I know how you feel about it, because I know how I'd feel. Poor
kitty.........

Jill