- Joined
- Nov 15, 2017
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Hi there. Since this is my first post, I will describe our household a bit. We have a 7 year old Siamese mix named Kenshin, a 5 month old baby girl, and in a hormonally fueled decision, adopted a kitten named Bubblegum (also a siamese mix) when my daughter was about 6 weeks old. It has been a kind of nightmare. I feel like some days she is more work than my baby. I stay at home and I am exhausted. When I adopted Kenshin, I don't remember him being so demanding.
When I nurse the baby, she climbs on top of her and tries to get in between us or lays on her and licks her all over or tries to suckle on her ear. She also is biting all the time. It is not in an aggressive way, but she will not stop. She cannot be pet without biting. If she is licking, she bites and sometimes won't let go. If it was just me, I would ignore it, but it is mainly my daughter. It's not hard and doesn't inherently hurt, but if my daughter moves her hands or legs, it has ripped her skin and made her scream and cry and has made her bleed on occasion. Bubblegum is very gentle with the baby even when my baby excitedly grabs at her fur or ears (I'm trying to teach them both to be gentle). The other day, I found my daughter holding onto her tail like corn on the cob and sucking on it, and Bubblegum was just trying to push her away with one paw.
She is also always doing the few things we don't want her to. She climbs behind the tv and jumps down behind it and climbs under the dresser it's on, behind the computer, and on the kitchen counter and knocks things off. She also steals any food she can get away with and blatantly tries to grab off of our plates. She and Kenshin do share 2 food bowls and there is usually food left over so I know she's not starving. She is also incredibly persistent. It doesn't matter how many times I correct or redirect her behavior, she goes right back to it.
She has a cat tree and there's a seat in the kitchen window for them that they enjoy. And she doesn't do this obnoxious behavior nearly so frequently if the baby isn't with me. It's like she is competing for attention.
Also, one of the cats (we haven't been able to figure out who) keeps peeing on things. One of them actually snuck into a back bedroom, climbed into a box of baby clothes I was saving. It was sitting on the bed and they got inside, pushed away the top layer and peed on the bottom layer of clothes. We had to start shutting them out of our bedroom because Bubblegum kept climbing the baby's bed and Kenshin is taking it hard, so I suspect it's him. They are both fixed.
I know this is super long, but I would greatly appreciate any help. I feel like I'm losing it. Thank you!
Jess
When I nurse the baby, she climbs on top of her and tries to get in between us or lays on her and licks her all over or tries to suckle on her ear. She also is biting all the time. It is not in an aggressive way, but she will not stop. She cannot be pet without biting. If she is licking, she bites and sometimes won't let go. If it was just me, I would ignore it, but it is mainly my daughter. It's not hard and doesn't inherently hurt, but if my daughter moves her hands or legs, it has ripped her skin and made her scream and cry and has made her bleed on occasion. Bubblegum is very gentle with the baby even when my baby excitedly grabs at her fur or ears (I'm trying to teach them both to be gentle). The other day, I found my daughter holding onto her tail like corn on the cob and sucking on it, and Bubblegum was just trying to push her away with one paw.
She is also always doing the few things we don't want her to. She climbs behind the tv and jumps down behind it and climbs under the dresser it's on, behind the computer, and on the kitchen counter and knocks things off. She also steals any food she can get away with and blatantly tries to grab off of our plates. She and Kenshin do share 2 food bowls and there is usually food left over so I know she's not starving. She is also incredibly persistent. It doesn't matter how many times I correct or redirect her behavior, she goes right back to it.
She has a cat tree and there's a seat in the kitchen window for them that they enjoy. And she doesn't do this obnoxious behavior nearly so frequently if the baby isn't with me. It's like she is competing for attention.
Also, one of the cats (we haven't been able to figure out who) keeps peeing on things. One of them actually snuck into a back bedroom, climbed into a box of baby clothes I was saving. It was sitting on the bed and they got inside, pushed away the top layer and peed on the bottom layer of clothes. We had to start shutting them out of our bedroom because Bubblegum kept climbing the baby's bed and Kenshin is taking it hard, so I suspect it's him. They are both fixed.
I know this is super long, but I would greatly appreciate any help. I feel like I'm losing it. Thank you!
Jess