Cats and babies

[wetlandtraining]

Our baby is now 4 days old and home with us. Jenny (our "first born")is a very jealous cat and we had already made arrangements for her to stay with my parents for the first while (she had lived there with me while I was apartment hunting and generally likes it there because it is a house with more space and a yard).
How should we go about introducing Jenny to our baby and eventually having Jenny live with us again? We do have a "Crib Tent" for the crib, but Sara is still in her bassinet in our room to start. I am just worried that Jenny might jump on Sara while I am breastfeeding - Jenny is a bit of a biter and scratcher. Any suggestions?:-hmmm

 

[KathrynH]

Hi! I'm new here but wanted to say "Good luck" to you! How exciting. I had a "first born", too - a persian kitty I had had for 10 years. He wasn't a scratcher or biter but we just kind of let him sniff around her and really kept an eye on him when she was on the floor. It was odd though. He wouldn't get on her blanket on the floor if she was on it. When she got older, he wouldn't even retaliate if she pulled his tail! You may be surprised by how your cat reacts. he may really be protective of the baby. Just keep a close eye on the her for a while. We eventually had to give our cat away b/c after we had our baby, he showed his jealousy by "going" on the floor and we could NOT keep him off of it! I got tired of living in a litter box. Anyway! I'm not sure this helps but best of luck to you!
Kathy

 

[wetlandtraining]

Just an update - Jenny has been with us since Christmas Day and things are going well. Jenny was curious to start and it worried me when she would start approaching the baby and me, but she never showed any signs of jealousy or aggression. She looks at the baby alot, but keeps her distance. However, the baby's crying seems to be very hard on her ears and she will start crying when the baby cries. So we are particularly careful with Jenny when the baby cries.

She has lost weight since the baby has arrived - we are wondering if it might be stress-related. Otherwise she is the same sweet cat she has always been (and hasn't been biting or scratching us lately!!!)