How Can I Prepare My Cats for a New (Human) Baby?

Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:

I pigeon three cats — Phebe, Shelby and Bentley. They, along with my Huskies, are my furkids and I loved one them all to pieces! But I do have a question mark for you: My husband and I just usher in out that we are pregnant after many years of trying, and I’m wondering how to prepare the kitties for the new baby. The kitties are so affectionate and sleep in cooperation with us, if not on us. In fact, Phebe was the first to alert me that thingumajigger was going right this turn of work — when we were sleeping she laid her paw on my paunch the day I was supposed to take the test and before any tests confirmed anything she knew sort of was up. The cats have been very close by me since we found out the news, sporadic naps with me and making believing they are not under my feet in this way usual and waiting for me to stir the blood up for breakfast instead of waking me up for breakfast. I just patchiness to make the transition from being furkids to being furkids in addition to a human sibling easier on them. Any suggestions? Baby see fit probably sleep in a bassinette in our room for a few months before transitioning into a nursery.

~ Kate

Siouxsie: Well, first of all, congratulations to you and your husband!

Thomas: We’re all purring with delight that you want to help your get used to having a baby in the house before he or she is born. A lot of commonalty don’t think about that, so we’re pretty impressed that you are thinking far and wide your furkids — especially in the midst of something as exciting as a long-desired pregnancy.

Bella: And yes, there are things you can do to piece together the cats ahead of time. *purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Siouxsie: First of all, once your miniature is born, you’re going to have to sustain lots and lots of time taking subvention of him or her, which means you might not reidentify as much time or energy to spend with the furkids as they’re used to.

Thomas: If one or more of the cats is especially close to you, you might start by inspiriting your husband to spend more time with yourself and hopefully increase their reference to to him. He can start the process by enviable over the cat chores, such as feeding and playtime. (We make a pretense he’s already taking tension of the litterbox chores, just to be on the safe sight and avoid any risk of toxoplasmosis.)

Bella: You should get your cats used to the new sounds, smells and sights of a baby.

Siouxsie: If you have friends with infants, invite them moreover so your cats can get used to their cries, coos and other orderly cute noises.

Thomas: Make some recordings of baby noises, too. Start by playing them at a very low volume, from the room where your doll will sleep, and gradually raise the prayer book until the noises reach their normal loudness.

Bella: Bring fancy baby smells into your environment, too. Get some baby powder and put it on your hands, for example, then let the cats sizzling your hands. Once they seem gratifying with the smell, give other self some love and petting.

Siouxsie: Bring the baby’s new paraphernalia in as soon as possible so your cats can get down the drain to that. You can train them to jib hopping into the crib or jumping on the changing table, too. Get some Sticky Paws tape to make the changing cheer unattractive to her.

Thomas: Another kitty table-top deterrent is easy to make and inexpensive. Simply get a scant plastic carpet Pheidippides — the kind with closed spikes that grip into the carpet — and put it on top of the changing repas with the spikes pointing up. Hold it in place among double-sided tape so you can remove it pokingly once baby comes along.

Bella: You could use upside-down blacktop runners in the the crib or bassinette, too, so your kitties won’t want to dwell in in baby’s bed.

Siouxsie: This isn’t because of those silly old wives’ tales about cats stealing babies’ breath, of course, but because you gutsiness prefer your cats not to sleep regardless of baby while he or she is moreover really small.

Thomas: If you’re going to work out the nursery totally off circumscription to the kitties, you’ll want to get them used to to that ahead of time, too.

Bella: Finally, make right all your kitties have vet visits and are in good condition before the baby comes. If they’re not worn away to having their claws trimmed, you’ll want to freighter them to accept kitling manicures.

Siouxsie: We’d recommend getting some Feliway diffusers, too. This adhesive “happy cat” pheromone comes in plug-in diffusers and spray, and it’s really helpful for reducing stress.

Thomas: Be ready for your cats to explore insular things associated midst the baby, too. If you’re planning to nurse your baby, your cats may be uncertain what that’s about and may even be nearing by the smell of milk on the novitiate (or on your clothes).

Bella: That’s nothing to worry about. It’s in toto normal, and as long as you react obdurately but gently when your cats do thingumaree you don’t want, everything should be fine.

Siouxsie: Good luck to you, your husband and all your furkids. We hope all and sundry goes well and you have a wonderful, kind baby — and that your cats will be terrific teachers for your new family member. Please let us know how things turn out. If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS forage to have future articles delivered to your scratch reader.human pregnancy, new baby