Hey all,
We’re expecting a baby in April. Our cat Penny has been with us for over three years now. She is incredibly sweet for us, and likes to follow my boyfriend everywhere.
Almost immediately after we adopted her, we noticed she has a form of separation anxiety. She sleeps in our room every night, and only jumps on the bed when we go to sleep. After ten minutes of getting attention and kneading the blanket, she goes to sleep in her own little bed next to ours. She’s not a lap cat. Always next to us or somewhere where she can see us, but never on us.
Since there’s a baby on the way, I’m curious about the experiences of cats and babies sleeping in the same room. We are planning on having the baby with us those first months. My boyfriend keeps having ups and downs: one moment he’s calm about it, the next time he’s anxious again. Our vet and gynaecologist told us they never heard about a cat smothering a baby before in their whole career, and told us not to worry about it. As long as you take precautions to keep the cat out of the cot.
I’m also not able to believe our cat would try to sleep on the baby at night... She’s extremely sensitive to noise and sudden movement, and doesn’t like lying on us or near us when we move too much. That’s why I don’t stress about it.
But ofcourse, I also understand my boyfriend. I’m not the type of person to set my foot down just because I am not anxious. I really want to try to find a solution for this problem, though. Our cat is more affectionate since she had a rough year (almost dead due to lipidosis, a feeding tube, bladder stone surgery, allergy + biopsy,... three surgeries in only 6 months), and even though the safety of the baby is the most important, I just can’t help but cry when thinking about not letting her sleep with us at night for the next 10 months or so. She’s been through so much this year. May sound pathetic and stupid, but I can’t help it. I enjoy her presence in our room. It makes me calm.
I’m looking for potential solutions, advice, tips, maybe some understanding since a lot of people don’t even get why the thought of keeping her out of our room makes me sad and stressed.
Thanks in advance.
We’re expecting a baby in April. Our cat Penny has been with us for over three years now. She is incredibly sweet for us, and likes to follow my boyfriend everywhere.
Almost immediately after we adopted her, we noticed she has a form of separation anxiety. She sleeps in our room every night, and only jumps on the bed when we go to sleep. After ten minutes of getting attention and kneading the blanket, she goes to sleep in her own little bed next to ours. She’s not a lap cat. Always next to us or somewhere where she can see us, but never on us.
Since there’s a baby on the way, I’m curious about the experiences of cats and babies sleeping in the same room. We are planning on having the baby with us those first months. My boyfriend keeps having ups and downs: one moment he’s calm about it, the next time he’s anxious again. Our vet and gynaecologist told us they never heard about a cat smothering a baby before in their whole career, and told us not to worry about it. As long as you take precautions to keep the cat out of the cot.
I’m also not able to believe our cat would try to sleep on the baby at night... She’s extremely sensitive to noise and sudden movement, and doesn’t like lying on us or near us when we move too much. That’s why I don’t stress about it.
But ofcourse, I also understand my boyfriend. I’m not the type of person to set my foot down just because I am not anxious. I really want to try to find a solution for this problem, though. Our cat is more affectionate since she had a rough year (almost dead due to lipidosis, a feeding tube, bladder stone surgery, allergy + biopsy,... three surgeries in only 6 months), and even though the safety of the baby is the most important, I just can’t help but cry when thinking about not letting her sleep with us at night for the next 10 months or so. She’s been through so much this year. May sound pathetic and stupid, but I can’t help it. I enjoy her presence in our room. It makes me calm.
I’m looking for potential solutions, advice, tips, maybe some understanding since a lot of people don’t even get why the thought of keeping her out of our room makes me sad and stressed.
Thanks in advance.