I Am Wondering About This

I work as a nanny. The little girl I take care of, Haley, is just a baby...she won't even be 2 until July. I watch her at my place because its easier and because she loves cats so much and loves being with them. Its so cute!!

Anyway, I have noticed something very interesting. Our cats treat Haley differently than they treat Zach and I. For example, when Zach and I play with them they will give us little love bites and grab us with their claws. With Haley, they won't do any of that. They just sit quietly while she pets them and says; "Nice, nice" over and over again *Adorable!*. Also, they will role over on their backs and let her pet their tummies without grabbing her hand. They never do that with us.

Another thing is that whenever she cries they all come running, sit down by her, and smell her and try to figure out what's wrong with her.

My question is this...do you think that they are picking up on the fact that she is a baby and that's why they are being gentler with her? Do they have the instinct to know that? Also, when they come running when she cries, are they trying to protect her or are they just reacting the sound and are curious?

I am not sure about the child realization part. I have never witnessed child/cat interaction before.

From experience I find that they are reacting to the sound when it comes to crying. I have had my moment or two of bursting into tears to find a curious face trying to press between my arms to get a closer look at what the fuss is about.

Your cats sound so sweet! My cats run and hide whenever a toddler comes near! It sure does sound as if they can tell that she is different and that they need to treat her gently. You are lucky to have such intelligent and caring kitties!

I think that alot of cats (and animals in general) seem to know when it is a "baby" and need to be gentler. I remeber back when I lived in the townhouse. I used to let Orangeyabald out because it was a 'u' shape and he just sat in front of our house, occasionally under the center tree. One day I happened to look up and saw a kid not much bigger then him, dragging him towards his house. Had I done this he would have yowled to high heavens, before gouging out my eyes! But he allowed himself to be dragged across the ground & get stepped on. Of course I rushed out to save him, but it always surprised me that he was so tolerant. My animals are very rarely around kids, so they have not been "taught" how to treat them. I'm sure it's just an instinct-and a good one at that.

I agree that animals sense things about children, perhaps even more than we can. My daughter when very young picked up a huge tabby cat and as she was doing so a lady ran out and said no don't touch him. He is feral and will scratch and bite. This large cat just snuggled his head in Vicky's neck and purred, and I couldn't help but think that he knew that Vicky was "different", she is mentally handicapped and animals have always been her passion.

I wonder if our size has anything to do with it. Adults must look like giants to cats, especially when we're standing, and they're on the ground, and instinctively their first thought is they could be threatened. My cat, like all cats, likes to be on her top perch looking down. Sometimes when she senses I'm going to pet her she jumps on this perch, even though she knows I won't hurt her. But I know very little of her history before me. Maybe Haley's being so small doesn't threaten them at all.

And if Haley cries, I wonder if they instinctively sense she could be hurt, or could they "think" she's like a kitten?

Oh, if only cats could talk! Imagine what interesting conversations we could have!

Jill and Candy

Originally Posted by lotsocats

Your cats sound so sweet! My cats run and hide whenever a toddler comes near! It sure does sound as if they can tell that she is different and that they need to treat her gently. You are lucky to have such intelligent and caring kitties!

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Thank you! The biggest surprise is how kind Angel is...since she came from a neglectful home. You'd expect her to hate everyone, but she's a sweetie. I guess she knows that we'll always take care of her and won't hurt her. The only problem she seems to have is with food...she is very protective of her bowl. But I would be too...did you know that one day when she was living in her former home we came in and she was eating out of the garbage?

Originally Posted by Cilla

I agree that animals sense things about children, perhaps even more than we can. My daughter when very young picked up a huge tabby cat and as she was doing so a lady ran out and said no don't touch him. He is feral and will scratch and bite. This large cat just snuggled his head in Vicky's neck and purred, and I couldn't help but think that he knew that Vicky was "different", she is mentally handicapped and animals have always been her passion.

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My stepdad has a childhood friend who is mentally handicapped and she loves animals too. I've seen animals that people said were "mean" be totally kind with her. I think this is why pet therapy works so well. Animals can sense things that we can't.

Originally Posted by iluvcandy

I wonder if our size has anything to do with it. Adults must look like giants to cats, especially when we're standing, and they're on the ground, and instinctively their first thought is they could be threatened. My cat, like all cats, likes to be on her top perch looking down. Sometimes when she senses I'm going to pet her she jumps on this perch, even though she knows I won't hurt her. But I know very little of her history before me. Maybe Haley's being so small doesn't threaten them at all.

And if Haley cries, I wonder if they instinctively sense she could be hurt, or could they "think" she's like a kitten?

Oh, if only cats could talk! Imagine what interesting conversations we could have!

Jill and Candy

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I was wondering that too...if they think she's like a "kitten". I mean, technically, she is!