cat adoption while pregnant

[alibali]

Hi,
I'm hoping for some feedback. I've been given an opportunity to adopt a 3 year male cat in perfect health/ neutered. My husband and I (who are cat lovers) haven't had much luck in the past with cat adoption- both our cats adopted from a local animal shelter died back to back from genetic problems within the last 3 years. So we agreed that next time we adopt, we would adopt privately from someone leaving hong kong, etc (an older cat with a proven health record). We weren't going to adopt another cat until after after my baby (to be born in Dec.) is about 6 months old. However, this opportunity to adopt a cat presented itself out of the blue. I plan of having the cat tested for toxoplasmosis and will follow all the usual guidelines of owning a cat when pregnant (don't change litter, wash hands after touching it, etc.). The cat has a good personality and its breed is known to be good with children, etc. However, can you think of reasons why I should not consider this? Am I taking on unnecessary complications/ risk? Thanks for your input!

 

[cha-cha]

i've had my cat and dogs for over 5 years now and my baby is almost 6 months old. giving up my pets because i was about to have a baby was never ever on the agenda (although i had so much pressure to do so from the in-laws etc), but luckily my husband is very supportive of me on this issue.

as my baby is still small, the dogs stay on the other side of the sofas which serves to seperate the living room into 2. the cat goes wherever she wants, although we don't let her into the baby's bedroom. in the beginning all the pets were naturally curious about the new noisy baby and seemed to stay away when she cried. now the cat is my baby's favourite thing (after mummy and daddy of course). when we ask her where's the cat, she'll look over to where the cat normally sleeps and likes to chat to it.

honestly i don't think it's an issue aslong as you're sensible about it (which you seem to be). when i was pregnant, i asked 2 obstetricians and 1 vet about pets and babies and they all said no problem.

 

[carang]

my hubby takes care of dogs for a living. we sometimes have as many as 12 at our house at one time!

we have two of our own and we were asked so often when we were goingt o get rid of them, it started to get on my nerves.

now my son is 19 months old. i'm preggers again with my second. there's NO WAY we'd get rid of our animals just because of the baby.

i read somewhere that it is LESS likely for a child who grows up with animals to develop allergies. don't know if it's true, but our son has always been very healthy.

 

[capital]

WE had 2 cats prior to becoming pregnant and getting rid of them never entered my mind. We always had cats and dogs as pets growing up. I make sure to keep the bedroom door closed when the baby sleeps so the cats stay out, and I spray them with water if I found them in the crib before the baby came. They very rarely will jump in the crib, but just in case, I do keep the door closed. One cat was scared of the baby (she is scared of anyone new) and stayed away from the baby until between 18-24 months of age she would let the baby come near her. If the baby grabs her, she runs. The other one will let the baby maul him and just meow for help. He doesn't seem to have the sense to jump up high if the baby is coming to get him!! So I have to watch the baby around that cat, but that is to protect the cat, rather than protect the baby. Neither have ever scratched the baby.

 

[0ze_Kid]

Cat Friend

Our cat was 4 when our first child was born and although she probably doesn't get as many cuddles from me now - especially as I am pregnant again, we treat her as we always have and have had no problems with her accepting another child in the house or with our daughter. She has no interest in the babies room and I'm sure I have seen her taunt our daughter by running down the stairs and then running away just as our daughter gets close to her.

I no longer clean the littre and we did change it to the recyled paper - just in case our daughter one day gets into the laundry. But nothing else has changed.

Good luck in your adoption.

 

[SyL]

Alibali,
Just make sure you'll be toxoplasmosis-free. I've seen the effects of this on a child and it would be terrible to have this happen to anyone. But other than that, I've seen cats that have been so tolerant, friendly, and caring with babies and toddlers--and you know how rough the toddlers can be!