Cats and Babies - Tips for New Parents? - Not Medical Advice

[Doctor-S]

When first-time parents bring their very first (human) baby back home, what are some things they might consider doing to help their indoor-only cat welcome the presence of the new baby in their home?

Edited: the human baby has NOT been born yet. Instead, the parents just wanted some ideas & tips because they adore their cat and their cat has never been around a baby before. So, the parents don't know how their cat may respond to a new baby in their home. Overall, their cat is very friendly, affectionate and low-key. The parents are not asking for medical advice.

[Note: the new parents are colleagues of mine.]

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[Cami194]

Not a professional behaviorist or anything and probably depends significantly on the personality and behavior of the cat itself but if they are acquiring items like bassinets, cribs, play structure, introducing those items prior to baby's arrival and positively reinforcing interaction with them can help. If the cat is food motivated, positive reinforcing things like looking at the baby or being in the same room can go a long way too.
Also, a no brainer but ensuring the cat has safe hiding zone to get away from baby noise. I imagine maintaining any established routine as best they can (feeding, litterbox cleaning, playing, etc.) helps maintain normalcy as well. And proactively utilize pheromone sprays or plug ins!

 

[SkiOtter]

Was it @WildZoo who had a handout on it?

 

[Minnerbelle]

I did the whole thing that’s typically recommended where you bring the hat that was on the baby’s head right after birth and give it to the cats to sniff at before you bring baby home. Not sure that did anything. I was told that the cats did sniff at it quite intently. Other than baby crying and being on top of mom all the time, infants don’t bother cats much because they don’t move. Mine loved to cuddle up while baby was nursing. It’s the crawler/toddler phase you need to watch out for as far as worrying about cat attacking kiddo and the kiddo hurting cat goes.

Honestly, the most important thing is to cat proof things for safety. A lot of cats will be scared of crying babies and won’t necessarily go near them, but others will. I got a bassinet that would zip up so cats would never be able to go in and smother baby. My ****ing cats literally napped on top of it… Same with crib since cats came in and out of our bedroom - firm believer in safe sleep so baby was in crib in master bedroom. I had a mesh tent thingy (actually a mosquito net) that prevented cats from climbing in. Not sure that’s necessarily safe sleep approved, but I highly doubt mesh on outside of crib would have put real risk on baby. For first born I didn’t want cat hair all over baby’s things so had a bunch of towels draped over baby swings, changing tables, etc… We were fishing out cat poo from the second one’s mouth so in the grand scheme of things who dafuq cares. But yanno, first time mom worries.

As for cat safety, be careful with rocking chairs and gliders. Many a limbs have gotten caught in gliders and shattered. Many a tail injuries (including cauda equina tail pull injuries) have occurred with rocking chairs.

 

[that redhead]

I did the whole thing that’s typically recommended where you bring the hat that was on the baby’s head right after birth and give it to the cats to sniff at before you bring baby home. Not sure that did anything. I was told that the cats did sniff at it quite intently. Other than baby crying and being on top of mom all the time, infants don’t bother cats much because they don’t move. Mine loved to cuddle up while baby was nursing. It’s the crawler/toddler phase you need to watch out for as far as worrying about cat attacking kiddo and the kiddo hurting cat goes.

Honestly, the most important thing is to cat proof things for safety. A lot of cats will be scared of crying babies and won’t necessarily go near them, but others will. I got a bassinet that would zip up so cats would never be able to go in and smother baby. My ****ing cats literally napped on top of it… Same with crib since cats came in and out of our bedroom - firm believer in safe sleep so baby was in crib in master bedroom. I had a mesh tent thingy (actually a mosquito net) that prevented cats from climbing in. Not sure that’s necessarily safe sleep approved, but I highly doubt mesh on outside of crib would have put real risk on baby. For first born I didn’t want cat hair all over baby’s things so had a bunch of towels draped over baby swings, changing tables, etc… We were fishing out cat poo from the second one’s mouth so in the grand scheme of things who dafuq cares. But yanno, first time mom worries.

As for cat safety, be careful with rocking chairs and gliders. Many a limbs have gotten caught in gliders and shattered. Many a tail injuries (including cauda equina tail pull injuries) have occurred with rocking chairs.

Definitely treated a kitten with a broken leg from a rocking chair incident.

We also got bassinets with covers that we never used (no cat) but the number of reviews regarding purchase with the hope of keeping cats out was hilarious!