General Info – Page 6 – Crazy about Cats

Welcome Crazy Cat People So you have one or two furry friends who I know you love with all your heart and you are about to introduce a new family member to the household and you may be asking yourself ''Do cats get jealous of babies?''. So I have used my knowledge and carried out some research below on how jealousy can be minimized so your feline friends can live in harmony with your new baby. Cats can experience jealousy when a new baby is introduced to the family in much the same way as an older sibling may experience Jealousy. Cats are very territorial and very routine-based animals and a sudden change to this routine may cause them to feel stressed especially if they feel neglected. So now you know that cats experience Jealousy just like us humans can. Their emotions are no different from ours. Think back to a time where you experienced envy or jealousy and what made you feel that way? In the rest of the blog post, I share some knowledge on how you can best prepare for the arrival of your baby to make the situation as stress-free as possible for your family and your cats. More information on Jealousy in cats So there are several reasons why cats may get Jealous. Looking at forums on Quora and Reddit made me realize that Jealous behaviour when a baby is born is not as common as you may think for your feline friends. A lot of people reported that their Cats were a little scared at first when the baby arrived to join the family but the cats soon adjusted. Cats are very territorial animals. Their territory is a matter of life or death and in the wild cats survive if they are successful hunters and they must have a safe haven to retreat to. So these behaviours are born into your little feline friends. They mark their territory in several ways mainly through leaving a scent, so imagine how a cat would feel if there was a sudden massive change to their environment and routine with lots of new smells. They may feel stressed, fearful, and protective of their domain. Just think from a cat's perspective there will be lots of new noises, lots of smells, and a massive change of routine, and let's remember how routined cats are. They have their own routine with you and the rest of the family and bringing a baby into the house is going to disturb their routine. There are lots of old wives' tales about cats and babies and these are massively exaggerated. There may be times when we need to use caution but cats will not go out to intentionally harm the baby in any way. This article by cats.org. even talks about some of the old wives' tales regarding cats and baby safety. My little girl cat often gets jealous of my partner, when we sit near each other she will sit right in between us but she has got better over time now that she realizes that we both love her and that she is important too. So let's have a look now at what actions you can take so you have happy pussy's. What can I do before my baby arrives to reduce jealousy? There are several things we can do running up to the arrival of our new child. Prepare, prepare, prepare! This is my motto in everything in life so why not apply this motto to prepare your cat. How do you feel when you face a situation that you're prepared for compared to a situation you just jumped into without any thought? The more we prepare the less stressed we feel and the kitty is the same too, so there are a few things you can do for a happy kitty cat. Please Mummy and Daddy make sure I am prepared for when the baby comes along. I want to love the baby as much as you do. Arrange the nursery in advance Make sure that the baby's room is prepared well in advance of arrival. So this will involve putting up the cot, doing all the decorating and arranging the room ready for the baby arriving. This is puuur-fect for the kitty and please let the kitty explore the new room. Let her leave her scent in the room and get used to the new space. This is slowly getting kitty used to the new territory. Let her explore for a month or so before setting boundaries about where you don't want kitty to go. You can do this by using double-sided tape. (Sssshhh! don't say that too loudly) Cats HATE double-sided tape. I recommend this one from Amazon! It will work a treat for any surfaces you don't want your to cat go near. So you may wish to put double-sided tape around the cot and maybe even stick the double-sided tape onto a piece of cardboard and lay this over the cot. This will teach the kitty that these areas are not pleasant to go to and are out of bounds. Play baby noises to get Cats used to baby sounds. This is a really good tip that I discovered through someone on a Reddit forum and that was playing baby sounds. Cats can get distressed by new sounds and noises and I can imagine how distressing a baby crying could be to someone like a cat who is so sensitive to noises and changes in the environment. So why not play some baby sounds regularly to prepare your cat. Youtube will have lots of these sounds you may wish to include babies crying and also babies laughing too. Daddy and Mummy, please stop that awful sound before I start screaming too! Use baby lotion on your hands regular and / or talc This will get Kitty used to the new smells that will be introduced when the baby arrives so there isn't too much of a change to your cat's environment. Applying the lotion to yourself builds up positive associations with the new smells before the baby arrives. What can I do once the baby arrives so my cat doesn't get jealous? Introduce cats to a blanket that smells of the baby This one is something that should be done early on upon arrival home from the hospital. You can use the blanket that the baby was wrapped in after birth which will contain the babies scent and place this in a room where the cats spend a lot of time. The cats will examine the blanket and slowly get used to the babies scent. Spend a lot of time with your cats and don't change there usual routine As we know already cats are all about routine, have you noticed how your cats know it's time for feeding at the same time every day? Well, my cats do tend to try and push the time slightly earlier every day because cats are cheeky little devils, it is a good job we love them as much as we do! This is because they love their routines, so please don't change their routine when the baby arrives as your cats will pick up on this. If you need to make any slight changes then please do this before babies arrival. Stick to playtime, feeding schedule and make sure you still give plenty of cuddles to kitty when baby is asleep. Let Kitty know that they are still valued, loved and cared for and there will be no need for any Jealousy in most cats. You may want to buy a pheromone plugin to use for at least the first week for when the baby comes home, these plugins contain synthetic hormones similar to what a cat releases from its scent gland to mark its territory. These hormones calm down your cat, take a look at these on Amazon and look through the various pheromone products. Supervise at all times when cat is with baby In the beginning, it is always wise to supervise the baby and cat, not because will try to intentionally harm the baby but because cats love warm body heat and they love small spaces to cuddle up to. There is a small chance that the kitty may cuddle up next to the baby in the cot. Now if you have made sure before the baby is born that the cot is out of bounds for the kitty by using the double-sided tape trick then the cat should not go in the cot but still supervise and make sure the door to the nursery is closed when baby is asleep. Also, small children do not know what is acceptable to do with an animal and what is not so they may try to pull Kitties tail or pinch kitty. This may cause your cat to be distressed and they may retaliate so make sure when baby is slowly introduced to a kitty that you watch them at all times and if baby or toddler does try to hurt your cat then you can learn your child that this behaviour is wrong. Conclusion - Cats, babies, and Jealousy. So there we go, we know cats can get jealous like most other animals but we also know there are ways to prevent this and reduce stress for the family and also for the baby. It saddens me when people abandon their pets due to the arrival of a baby. Kitty has feelings too and please don't let your cat be one of the many cats that are abandoned each year. According to this article on the website Kitten Coalition '' The Number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year: 6-8 million (down from 13 million in 1973) Of the 3 million cats and dogs euthanized in shelters each year, approximately 2.4 million (80%) are healthy and treatable and could have been adopted into new homes'' This is so sad to see. Introduce your cats to your baby in the correct way and there shouldn't be any problems at all your child will grow up around animals and develop a love for pets just like you and kitty will have a new play friend, how nice will it be to see them develop a strong unbreakable bond over time? As always take care of yourself and your little fur babies. Mark (The Crazy Cat Man)