Common Concerns Cat Owners Have When Bringing Their Newborn Home
Opinions have – and most likely always will – vary when it comes to having a cat in your home alongside a newborn baby.
However, any proud cat owner will understand the importance of aiming to have both of them living together happily and safely. After all, if you take the right precautions, there is substantial evidence to support the fact that the two can live together very well and make the family complete.
We’ve looked around for some tips for when bringing a newborn home to your family that includes a cat, and have confronted some of the main concerns people have about this to keep all members of the household happy and safe.
Cats suffocating the baby
This is arguably the most common concern that cat owners have regarding their newborn – the idea that the cat may lie on top of the baby and suffocate it. Whilst cats do of course love the warmth they feel from lying on their owners, as long as you set boundaries early on in regards to not letting it near the crib, this can be 100% avoidable. You could even not let the cat into the baby’s room full stop, and put up a baby gate in the door way of your own bedroom whilst your little one shares with you. Whilst cats can still jump, you can teach them that wherever they see a gate is out of bounds to them.
The cat may feel neglected and leave
Any loving cat owner will want to keep their cat happy too, as well as the baby, and another common concern is that the cat may feel neglected due to not receiving as much attention and may even move out of the home. To avoid this, try and keep their routine as normal as possible in terms of meal times and affection, and ensure you give them lots of fuss when you have a spare half an hour.
Cats can spread diseases to the baby
Most cat diseases aren’t actually harmful to humans, so this is arguably an idea that has been blown slightly out of proportion. There are some forms of bacteria that can be passed on to humans from a cat’s faeces, and therefore it’s essential that you keep litter trays far away from your little ones, and take your cat for regular check-ups at the vet to ensure they don’t have any diseases or illnesses.
The cat may become jealous and aggressive
There will be a lot of change in your home when bringing a newborn home and it’s important to not let it affect your cat as much as possible. Most parents worry that the cat will dislike the baby, though this is generally the opposite reaction, and they are far more likely to act protectively towards the new arrival. To keep them calm and happy to help eliminate the chances of any incidents, invest in things like feliway for cats and seek advice with Vet Medic when it comes to keeping their mood up.
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1 Comments
Sarah Willox Knott
February 16, 2014 at 11:26 pm
Our beautiful cat member of the family is terrified of the buggy we bought and anything baby related so we might have a challenge on our hands haha. Love this post 🙂 x