Joey is so jealous of 3 week old baby, (Joey is 11). He is trying to jump on her all the time. Not aggressive but obviously jealous. Can't shut cat out all the time - what do I do?
2006-10-27 01:10:07 · 21 answers · asked by Lisette W 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
If I can clarify - this is a friends cat, and the baby is her grand-daughter - so is not always there. Does seem a bit harsh to get rid of cat. Any other ideas?
2006-10-27 01:26:20 · update #1
Let the cat smell the baby's things, but don't let him sleep in his bed. Show affection to the cat too. Make sure you don't leave them alone together, shut the cat outside the room of the baby, not completely out of the house. Let him look at the baby, but not touch it, without punishing the cat (like hold the cat, let him look at the baby, go around with the cat in your arms, give him a toy and then close him in the living room or sth).
DON'T GET RID OF THE CAT, unless you can find a very good home for it. It is possible to manage having both, by carefully making sure you don't leave them alone together. When the baby is not so young and the cat has gotten used to it, they'll be just fine. Iremember a question like this and a lady answered she had a cat and now they're best friends with her 7-year old daughter. By the way, suffocating the baby can happen, of course, if the cat sits on the baby, because he doesn't know any better. This is not a way cats murder someone, if they want to kill they use claws and teeth. If they curl up with someone it's not a hostile action, but of course the baby cannot do anything to protect itself and could suffocate. That is why you are there. patience. We have a cat and got a dog now, and we keep closing doors behind us so that the cat and dog are not in the same room. We thought it was impossible at first, but now we are used to it and we are very careful but it works.
Especially since the baby is not living there, they just need to watch the cat when the baby is there, close it in another room, etc.
2006-10-27 01:23:28 · answer #1 · answered by cpinatsi 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe cats get jealous. My cats have always been curious of the new babies and always want to sleep on their bed. If the baby is very small it might be best to keep the cat away as they do try to sleep round the babies neck.
My cat now will sleep round my neck, so I don't think the cat will differentiate with babies.
If you can keep the cat, cats and toddlers are great fun as they will follow each other all over the place.
I think however, babies and dogs are far more dangerous because of the pack instincts of dogs - I have read many stories of children being killed by dogs but I have never actually read in the newspaper of any stories of a baby being killed by a cat - its probably an urban myth.
2006-10-27 08:33:23 · answer #2 · answered by fizz 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Put the cat in a secluded room with something belonging to the baby...like a blanket of piece of clothing. He should (hopefully) soon start getting used to his/her smell and shouldnt act so jealous. Maybe aswell the cat is wanting to just have a look, theyre quite nosey creatures. when the baby's around try to give the cat a lot of attention, or as much as you can, after all the cats been your baby for a long time, hes need time to adjust to sharing your attention. For a while maybe just keep an eye on them both when they are together, im sure all will be ok in the end.
2006-10-27 08:30:20 · answer #3 · answered by Jenie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cats do get jealous. They sit on the newspaper when you're trying to read it. They also like to sit on warm things.
If your friend can't guarantee to keep the cat away from the baby, she has to rehome the cat. The cat may never come round and accept the child.
If this were a dog threatening a baby you'd have a load of accusations of being an unfit mother for keeping the dog. So I don't understand the negative reactions to some of these answers.
Not to mention cats carry toxoplasmosis, toxacara and tapeworm unless they have been wormed by the vet, tested clear and then kept indoors.
2006-10-27 18:37:56 · answer #4 · answered by sarah c 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It may be the smell of milk that is making him try to jump on her and not because he's jealous.
Or maybe he's just being nosey and wants to know who this new little person is.
Keep the bedroom door shut when baby is in bed and put a bell on the cats collar so you can hear where he is even when your back is turned.
He'll probably calm down after a while once he gets to know her and when she's old enough to play with him he'll either play with her or stay away from her.
2006-10-27 08:25:08 · answer #5 · answered by kerrie h 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
we've always had a houseful of babies and kids and cats and dogs. When baby asleep cat chucked out of room, end of problem, when they were awake the cats sniffed them all over, and were accepted. The cats were far more tolerant of being pushed, pulled, tweaked etc by the babies than with the older children. Let your cat have a good sniff of the baby so she knows it's family. Pushing it away will only make her more curious or even jealous.
2006-10-27 08:29:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Do you have a family member who can take care of him for you until the baby is old enough to move about on his/her own? I had to find new homes for my two ragdolls when i had a baby, and i was heart broken, but i agree its the best thing to do-my cats were very fluffy and gave off loads of fur.. Cats dont intentionally sit on babies to suffocate them, they do it because babies smell nice-milk, and they are sleeping in a warm confined space-just what a cat likes.So have him fostered for a while, at least you know he'll be cared for, and you wont be worrying the cat is alone with the baby.Ive never heard of a cat suffocating a baby though,never read it anywhere.Id be more concerned with stray claws and teeth, and even more concerned if it was a dog.Cats tend to be just nosey.
2006-10-27 08:32:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The cat is jealous, yes. Give Joey some extra attention. One of you hold the baby and the other play or pet Joey.
My first Siamese doed 6 days after my daughter was born. He never forgave me for bringing her home.
2006-10-27 08:16:16 · answer #8 · answered by redunicorn 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
my mum had that problem with our siamese cat when mt brother was born. she (the cat) wasn't aggressive but got depressed and left soon after never to be seen again. i think that your friend needs to pay the cat as much attention as she did before the baby was born, or as much as possible. joey needs to feel loved so she should try to divide her attention between both of them. obviously her granddaughter takes more of her time than her cat, but she should try to continue playing with him or whatever she used to do so that he doesn't notice the change so much. shutting him out won't solve the problem but will make him more jealous
2006-10-28 14:14:08 · answer #9 · answered by dodo 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Oh my god, don't know what to do but the same thing happened to my friend when she was young, as her mum's cat (George) kept jumping into the cot and trying to suffocate her by sitting on her face. Not sure what to do if you don't want to shut your cat out. Just make sure at night time that it isn't in your bedroom (if your baby sleeps with you) or not in your little baby room.
Best of luck (",)
2006-10-27 08:16:04 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋