Cats vs. kids

Well, pretty soon I will be having a roommate who has a 10 month old baby boy.

I just don't know how it will go between the baby and PHX. They met one time already and the baby started SCREAMING because he's never seen an animal before. So I locked PHX in my bedroom for the time being...

After we live together- obviously, I can't lock PHX in there all the time. So, I need to come up with a plan to get them to get along.

I'm also worried about PHX too... because he has a tendency to lay on my face, and I don't want him to do that to the baby when he's sleeping or something. Plus, PHX has claws..and I don't want the baby scratched. Anyone know what to do in this situation?

I wouldn't anticipate problems that haven't arisen yet. Wait and see how the cat and child interact once your friend has moved in. I had no problem having a cat when we had our daughter - they learn to tolerate each other and will probably get along just fine. The baby is also old enough that I wouldn't be too worried about the cat sleeping on it's face.

I can only go by my own experience, but my cats have only ever slept with me.

As far as cats scratching you could put soft claws on him. So even if he tries he cannot make a mark.

If you teach the baby to behave around PHX you shouldn't have to worry about scratches. I grew up with clawed cats and any scratch I got was my fault. Basically the child needs to learn to respect the cat's space.

Putting softpaws on him would make him 'safe' as in unable to scratch the child but teaching the baby to respect animals is a much better solution imo.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I wouldn't anticipate problems that haven't arisen yet. Wait and see how the cat and child interact once your friend has moved in. I had no problem having a cat when we had our daughter - they learn to tolerate each other and will probably get along just fine. The baby is also old enough that I wouldn't be too worried about the cat sleeping on it's face.

I can only go by my own experience, but my cats have only ever slept with me.

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I know what you mean but I just want to be prepared. I would rather be safe then sorry. Trying to be a good pet owner, and a good roommate!

Originally Posted by Siggav

If you teach the baby to behave around PHX you shouldn't have to worry about scratches. I grew up with clawed cats and any scratch I got was my fault. Basically the child needs to learn to respect the cat's space.

Putting softpaws on him would make him 'safe' as in unable to scratch the child but teaching the baby to respect animals is a much better solution imo.

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I agree teaching both child and cat to behave needs to be done. But while in that process you don't want the child to get hurt. My daughter almost got her eye scratched (he got under her eye). My husband wanted to throw the cat outside right then and there. I convinced him not to because she was tormenting the cat and he was suppose to be watching them.

But the soft claws are just a safe guard just in case. I'm in no way saying they are a complete solution. But it takes time for both to learn how to behave.

Originally Posted by Siggav

If you teach the baby to behave around PHX you shouldn't have to worry about scratches. I grew up with clawed cats and any scratch I got was my fault. Basically the child needs to learn to respect the cat's space.

Putting softpaws on him would make him 'safe' as in unable to scratch the child but teaching the baby to respect animals is a much better solution imo.

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Even I end up with scratches, this is something that can not be completely avoided. PHX likes to "knead" and prefers to do it to my face or my kneck... I can not expect that he won't scratch the baby, especially if the baby is picking on him or something...

Besides Soft Claws, I would just make sure someone is always with them if they are together. That together with showing him how to pat the kitty, "nice kitty", and also teach him not to restrain the kitty when it wants to get away. I grew up with cats, and don't remember ever having a problem, except once when I was bugging my mom's siamese (and I was 12 and should have known better.) My kids have had cats all their lives too. Usually the cat just up and walks away when it has had enough.

First be sure kitty's claws are kept trimmed all the time. Or put those nail caps on.

The baby should also be taught to respect the cat. My son grew up with cats - they were there when he was born; he was taught from the time he could crawl not to pull on ears, tails, etc.

I'd keep the cat out of the baby's room when sleeping; otherwise you should be ok.

I would make sure the baby's bedroom door is closed whenever he's sleeping. That can also make the cat inquisitive as to why he can't go in there so you need to be vigilant. My son keeps his bedroom door closed all the time to keep Blossom away from his fish tank. It's amazing how quickly she can sneak in when I go in to put washing away or close the window.
The baby's quite young so would need to supervise all the time while he's crawling around etc.

Thank you guys for your advice! I'm sure everything will be OK, I'm just paranoid... LOL!

I think it's nice you're trying to be a good roommate!

Originally Posted by Siggav

If you teach the baby to behave around PHX you shouldn't have to worry about scratches. I grew up with clawed cats and any scratch I got was my fault. Basically the child needs to learn to respect the cat's space.

Putting softpaws on him would make him 'safe' as in unable to scratch the child but teaching the baby to respect animals is a much better solution imo.

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As someone with two young children, I think it is nearly impossible to "teach" a baby 10 months old to "behave" around a cat. Babies are noisy, messy and make lots of sudden movements -- chances are good that your cat will just stay away from him. When the baby begins to walk and becomes a toddler is when you will have to be more viligant about supervising them. How does the mother feel about have the cat around? I assume she is ok with it or she wouldn't be moving in?

Originally Posted by meow meow

As someone with two young children, I think it is nearly impossible to "teach" a baby 10 months old to "behave" around a cat. Babies are noisy, messy and make lots of sudden movements -- chances are good that your cat will just stay away from him. When the baby begins to walk and becomes a toddler is when you will have to be more viligant about supervising them. How does the mother feel about have the cat around? I assume she is ok with it or she wouldn't be moving in?

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Yeah, that's a good point. It's hard to remember what a 10 month old does when your youngest is 15 LOL.

I beg to differ on the 10 month old not knowing. When my son was crawling (before 10 months old) he was taught you don't hurt the kittys; that you be nice. I "showed" him how to pet the cats nicely. It can be done.

However, its not your baby, so the mother MUST do this or agree that you show the baby how to handle cats.

I know it is cruel to declaw a cat, but if the baby and your cat do not get along, that may be an option. Is it an indoor only cat?

I have mine right now, and he has his claws, but whenever I have a child, I will most likely get him declawed.

I love my cat as much as I possibly could, but if there is a baby in the house I think that would merit him being declawed as a precaution.

This is a strong anti-declaw site. A baby being in the house is not an excuse to mutilate the paws of a cat.

Declawing is illegal in most of Europe and people manage to have babies and cats together quite happily. Trimming the nails of the cat will help a lot, softpaws can be used if that's not enough.

There's lots of advice in this thread already about how to manage babies and cats in the same house. Declawing is really not necessary.

I agree - there is NO reason/excuse for declawing a cat because you have a baby. IMO if you want to resort to that - do NOT have any pets in the house till your child is more grown.

Many many of us grew up with pets that were not declawed - how in the world you can even think or suggest this is beyond me!

I had the same kinda problem but they both settled down and got used to each other after about a month or so.

I'm sure PHX will be fine. I grew up with cats with claws, and didn't even know declawing existed until I was a teenager and we adopted a 4-paw declaw.

Just because there are kids in the house is no reason to declaw. I think I learned to respect cats a lot better because the cats I grew up with had claws. When we were little Mom supervised us very closely but when we got older she would say "well, what did you do to the cat?" if we got scratched.

I think that since the little one is 10 months old, PHX probably will just steer clear. That's what my MIL's cat does around babies.