Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Cats are one of my favorite animals. They are independent, loving and full of personality. However often parents voice concern about having cats when they have a baby and lots of parents to be have been advised to get rid of their cats. To me personally I can’t see the sense in that. It is all about arming yourself with the right information, knowing what to do to introduce your cat to your baby and how to keep your cat and your kids safe.
It’s not rocket science, all you need to do is a little research and add in a bit of common sense. In time your kids and your cat will have formed an amazing bond and you can even put your kids in charge of cat care duties. There are plenty of great cat safe products that you can find online or at your local pet store.
Here are some basic tips to keep your cat and your kids safe:
- Teach Your Kids Kitty Etiquett
There are things that cats love and things that they don’t enjoy. Most cats detest having their fur rubbed the wrong way and very often they will swipe out at you. Teaching your kids simple things like this will help prevent your child being scratched. Teach your child how to pat your cat and how to hold your cat. Explain to your child that just like people each cat has things that it likes and dislikes. Some cats love being picked up and cuddled while other normally even tempered cats will scratch and bite if they are picked up.
Once your kid is respectful of your cat and his particular fetishes they will be well on the way to getting on.
- Ticks and Fleas
Nobody likes ticks and fleas, even less so when they are nibbling on your kids. Make use of some tick and flea products on your cats. There are lots of things to choose from, including flea collars, flea powder, flea treatments such as Frontline and even pills that you can give your kitty to rid him of ticks and fleas.
Keep in mind that some of the flea treatments may not be safe for your kid to touch so if you Frontline your cat for example then keep your kids away from your cat for a while.
- Worms
Yes, eeewww I know. Now while you may be thinking that it is common for cats to give your kids worms that is not really so much the case. The fact is that you should be deworming your cat regularly anyway and you should also be deworming your kids regularly too, whether you have cats (or any other pets) or not!.
What you need to know about deworming is that you need to deworm every person and every pet living in your home at the same time. This is really important. This is so that any worm infestations are dealt with at the same time and nobody (or pet) can reinfect anyone else.
- Grooming Your Cat
Cats can shed quite a bit of hair, especially long haired animals. Make sure to groom your cat regularly to make sure that all excess hair is removed from your cat. Its not good for your cat to ingest lots of its fur and in addition to that if anyone in your family is susceptible to allergies one of the best ways to avoid this is to ensure your cat doesn’t shed fur all over the house.
- Nail Care
Regularly clipping your cats nails will comes with benefits for you and your cat. Firstly your cat will be more comfortable since it will prevent your cats claws getting pulled and broken if they snag on something like a carpet. This will also help prevent your kids being scratched painfully either on purpose or by mistake when playing with your kids. A bonus too is that it will save your furniture too if your kitty likes to scratch your furniture, although this can also be prevented by providing great scratch posts for your cat.
I’ve read some articles about declawing cats which sounds just awful to me, this is mutilating your pet – rather just clip its nails painlessly and without causing distress to your animal on a regular basis. You can buy a good kitty nail clipper from your local pet store or online.
- Traveling With Your Cat
Make sure to buy a good carrier or stroller so that you can travel safely with your cat. Cats are not fond of cars and you don’t want your cat to panic in the car, especially if you also have a child in the car with you.
I have never likes cats. I found to be aloof and self serving. That was until I had to privilege to play with a Main Coon kitty. Oh my word it was like playing with a dog!! So much personality. If you don’t like cats, like I previously did. Do yourself a favor if your child wants a cat. Don’t say no outright. Explore a few breeds. You may be presently surprised.
We have a cat who thinks he is king and will only be petted when he wants to be. My kids aged 15, 11 and 8 adore him. I’m not an animal person. I respect them but I won’t pet them in a hurry. So our living arrangements suite me fine. He comes to me when he wants something only and occasionally sits on my lap when I am relaxing and my children go wild with excitement.
I’ve always loved cats, but I am very allergic to cat hair and the big dog that stays on our property hates cats. He always go off his rocker when he sees one next door or across the street.
I am more of a dog person myself, simply because we’ve had dogs all my life. A lot of my friends had cats and my best friend had four at one stage. So, I am used to being around them, sniffling all the way. 🙂
I’ve also heard that cats shouldn’t be around babies. But I’ve also heard good stories and my friend never got rid of her cat when she had her babies.
The whole idea sounds a bit absurd to me. It’s like the article says, do some research and use your common sense. It’s that simple.
Some people will even tell you to get rid of your dog. In my mind this was not an option at all. Grietjie has been part of my life for thirteen years now and there’s no way on earth that I will ever get rid of her.
She got used to the new addition in our home pretty quickly and she’s never tried to harm JD in any way. It’s the other way around actually. He can sometimes give her a hard time. But I address it immediately and now he hardly ever pull her ears or try pick her up.
The thing is, you learn to adapt. You make it work.
Not just cats get worms from time to time. I’ve dewormed Grietjie every three months or so.
But, I haven’t dewormed us as a family. I’ll remember to do this the next time around.
Thanks for sharing these tips.