Pets and Pregnancy/Pets and Babies

Hi Leanne,

I have just included Buffy (our blue cattle dog) in everything to do with the baby, she comes into the nursery when I am in there doing something, and just sits with me, and also when I buy stuff for the baby, she checks it all out. I would hate for her to feel left out when the baby arrives, as she has been our baby for such a long time. That is why we are incorporating the baby into her life, not the other way around, they don't understand if you change their routine, its not as if you can reason with them...

If you are distressed about making your dogs outside dogs (I would be) then I suggest some simple training now in lying on their own blankets etc and getting them used to it before the baby arrives, Im sure you will find that they will be fine with the baby and the baby will love them when its old enough to move around on its own.

We have begun getting our kelpies ready for the baby. DH finished the nursery on the weekend and they have already learned that they are not allowed in it. The dogs and cat have the run of the house and have a dog door to go outside. DH is going to put a screen door up to keep the cat out as we just don't want to risk it.

We have been practicing on my niece since she was born (she is now 13 months) and the dogs are now used to her. Being working dogs all they wanted to do was watch her and round her up when she started walking. The oldest one is so good. She comes and stands on him and pats him and he just sits there or moves away. The only time the two females will be locked outiside is when I am busy cooking or doing housework and I cannot watch the baby constantly. We are going to turn the bungalow into a dogs house with a dog door because I would hate to leave them outside.

Our dogs have always slept next to our bed, or in it if it is cold. The last few mornings it has been cold and my girl has been in bed with us. Baby kicked her in the head yesterday, not sure what she thought of that.

Our dogs will also be bought to the hospital and I have already picked out the photo of them that I will have next to my bed. Hospital stay will be 5 days unless I choose to leave sooner and it will be the longest time seperated from my dogs. Two are 11 and one is 4.

Hey Gemma, I am also worried about being separated from my little girl, but DH is going to bring her up to the hospital when I am in there, I can't wait to introduce her to our baby. I am also going to take a photo of her with me, I will just miss her so much.....

My DH said that he wants to take the baby home to meet his dog first then the other two girls. He said I can stay in the hospital and rest, not sure what I think about that. The hospital is only about 4 minutes away. It will be hard to be seperated from the dogs (and the baby if I agree that he can take her), it good that your DH is bringing you girl to the hospital to visit you. The dogs will be wondering why their 'mum' is away too probably.

Collectively, DH and I have 3 dogs - mine is a Kelpie and DH's are Kelpie/Border Collies. All are farm dogs are never come in the house (god knows what disgusting thing they have eaten - cow placenta, calf sh*t - or rolled in!! LOL). In fact, I can barely get my dog in the house, as she knows she's not supposed to be inside!. One dog is 15yo and the others are about 11yo.

We do, however have cats that come into the house - one in particualr would spend all day and all night in here if I let him. Both are desexed but hate each other, so they are rarely seen together although they look identical (alhtough no relation to each other).

The "house"cat tends to spend all day asleep on either our bed or the sofa. I'm not anticipating that he will venture into the baby's room, although I could be wrong. I'll just have to keep an eye out. But we did "teach" him to stay out of the guest room after we got it set up (years ago) and now he never goes in there. I'm guessing the same tatics will work for the nursery.

Hayseed

Hi Everyone.
Where do I start with pets????
We have 2 dogs - Staffy and Poodle. 2 cats - burmese. 3 Turtles . 4 Eastern dragons. 1 Snake (I hate it) 3 frogs and numerous ****atiels & conures and another pair of birds that DH spent a frickin fortune on last Sunday. My hubby manages a pet store in Glen Waverley -Its just amazing (hint hint to the name ) I wont mention the name just in case its not allowed.
I dont mind all these animals except when I have to clean up after them.
Not sure of anyone has heard this or not but apparently when I was pregnant DH told me not to touch birds. He says that they are carriers of Chlamydia and it can make the pregnant person sick. Apparently there is no harm to the bubs though. We asked the doc - knew nothing about it. So for me it was one less thing to clean up after.
Kayne loves the cats and chases one of them around constantly. Poor Whitman. The other runs whenever she sees Kayne. We adopted her when she developed an cyst on her ovaries and could not breed anymore. Poor things was so badly treated that she really freaks when strangers come over.
Anyway these are my animals!!!! I am thinking of starting a zoo!

Well well Marisa, I might be trying to pick your brains now that I know. We live in GW & knew we wanted an Eclectus parrot as soon as we met one in our local 'alternative' pet shop, obviously the very same one. We love going to look at the reptiles. Anyway, we could never have afforded one, but have now adopted an 8 year old male Eclectus (about 2 months ago).

We also have a Burmese kitten, 7 months old. I've had a Staffy before too, and he was a lovely gentle boy. We'll be getting another dog as soon as the timing is right, ie not now I'm expecting twins. You know how much work puppies are.

I can well imagine how much cleaning you have to do. DH does the kitty litter while I'm pg, and the bird cage, but I have been doing a bit of the parrot poo (with gloves on). DH is always warning me not to touch the pigeon poo (we have pigeons roosting all over the outside of our house on window sills etc). It didn't occur to me not to touch Spook (the Ekky) though. He doesn't come to me much though, he's more bonded with DH so far.

Anyway, how are your Burmese with the birds? We have to be constantly vigilant with the kitten stalking the parrot, she's driving us nuts. Apparently one scratch or bite can kill the bird from infection. How old are your Burmese?

Hi Yvette,
By all means pick my brain for anything. Also if you go into the 'amazing' shop ask for Peter. He will look after you. Tell him you 'know' me and he will definately look after you. I was telling him about how you were pregnant with twins and that your other kids were about the same age as us and he mentioned that you may have been there already. If you take the kids in he will get the snakes (yuk) out and let the kids hold them if he is not too busy.
Yes I love the Eclectus' - my girlfriend has two - both through Peter.
The cats are fine withthe birds - when we have them inside. Peter has just built a big avery for them - but I can see we will end up with more and more. thats the only trouble with him managing that place - he is like a little kid and bring things home all the time!
I want to get Kayne a burmese Kitten - but it has to be chocolate. We have a brown (whitman who is 3) and a blue(priscilla who is 4) burmese. They are the most beautiful cats I have ever met. Great breed the burmese.
Anyway better keep working!

Speak to you all later!

Marisa - I have a Lilac Burmese (Lila) and she is the most gorgeous creature... My DH had a blue when he was growing up, and all our friends have chocs or browns so we wanted something different, and everyone who meets her agrees she is the most beautiful looking cat they've seen. She's 2 1/2 and is best friends with my 6 YO kelpie X (Jojo). I was worried about Jojo meeting her when we first bought her home as a kitten as my mum had taught him to hate cats, but he was very gentle with her - he understood she was now part of our family... I only hope he's as good when we have a baby arrive in a few months! I'm going to make a cd of baby screaming/crying sounds to desensitise him...

Hi Dee73,
I let the cats and dogs smell Kayne as soon as I bought him home. Another thing I heard was that you should take a cloth nappy or something along that line and when bubs is born, put it in with bubs so it gets the smell of him/her. THen while you are still is hospital - get hubby to take it home and let the cats smell it. THen when bubs comes home he/she is already a familiar smell to them.
My cats have been fine with Kayne. He chases them now and pulls their tails and body slams them. They put up with him and have never taken a swipe at him.

Marisa we'll definately have to go in & cuddle some snakes sometime, lol.

Were your cats always good with the birds or did they settle down from when they were kittens. Coco (our Burmese) is chocolate. We got her cheap coz she was the runt of the litter, not suitable for showing (slightly small) & her papers have not been registered. She was a tiny skinny little thing when we brought her home, & now she's lovely & solid, quite heavy & we're obviously going to have to watch her weight. Just as the breed was described, she's playful, retrieves things, loves company & is very sturdy & robust, which is good because Angus loves to cuddle her and is quite rough. She doesn't mind him at all, and they're all over each other.

Hi Dee. We met a lilac Burmese before we got Coco, an adult, but weren't quick enough & someone else adopted her. The lilac is such a gorgeous colour. If Lila is anything like our Coco she'll be lovely with the baby.

Hi Yvette,
I think that the cats have always been good with the birds..The birds came after the cats. Dont get me wrong they see the outside birds and want to get them but I think that they know that the others are pets - so they just leave them alone. I have spotted Whitman on the odd occassion trying to put his paw in the cage #-o .
But so far no major problem.

Spook spends a lot of time out of his cage or with the door open so he can come & go as he pleases. It's worse when he goes on the floor looking for crumbs. We have to watch Coco very closely, & sometimes lock her out of the room to give Spook at bit of free time (Spook is the Ekky). Angus is fine with Spook too, he comes away from the cage when I call him. Once Spook was on the back of a chair, and I had my back turned for a sec, & found Angus feeding Spook a bit of toast. He could have been badly bitten, but I suppose he'd seen us do it, and could only reach high enough to hold the toast out, and Spook was gently eating it.

I'm so worried about my kitties. I've gotten 3 cats over the last 3 years. 1 black moggie, 1 Russian Blue and 1 Bengal. I'm a little concerned about what their reaction will be to a new bub in the house. But I'm hoping they'll be ok, I'll just make sure I still give them lots of love and attention. I'm not sure how to introduce them to the new baby, I guess I will do it slowly as I would if I had a new kitten in the house! It is worrying because I don't want to upset my furkids and I'd like to make the transition as smooth as possible.

omg, i am 20wks pg and my cat attacked me. my ear was bleeding and it killed!!! i went to the dr. who said it would be ok.
i think the cat was asleep and when i put my head on the pillow next to him i scared the hell out of him. he was puffed up more than id ever seen him.
nasty little bugger.

beck

we have two cats mika(black cat) and giesha( manx) and Bosco (a labrador) who is about two and a half the cats are both 3yrs.
my biggest worry is giesha as being very human like she just wants lots of cuddles and attention,(very vocal) she has always slept with us under the blankets or on us. but she is also very intelligent so when she gets told off she usually listens. I know Mika wont be a prob as he just runs out to the cat enclosure when strangers of the dog come in side.
we will introduce bosco and bub slowly as he has a habit of jumping up when he thinks you have some thing in your arms.

I love animals, I grew up surrounded by them and used to wish I could be a vet nurse, I am hoping I will be able to do a few courses at TAFE in a few years to start towards my dream heh.
I am 19 weeks pregnant and have burmese x DSH kitten called Sooty, he is about 9 months old I think. He is quite large and heavy (he's built like a brick lol). My DF and I got him shortly after christmas, DF was hoping Sooty would spend time with both of us, but he seems to spend more time with me. Whenever I am lying on the couch Sooty comes and sleeps with me. He likes to sit in front of my computer screen and watch me use the computer. DF is a bit rough with Sooty though and likes to play fight with him and bite him. He says that Sooty likes it but Sooty always runs when DF goes to grab him and cries, bites and scratches DF when he is "playing" with him. I try to stop DF, but he seems to think he is right about everything and never listens to me. I am worried that as the baby gets older it might accidently upset Sooty and he might scratch it. But I am thinking it will be easier to train our child and Sooty to play nice rather than trying to get DF to ease up. He also is dead set against getting Sooty desexed (it's a boy thing I think), but since we rent our place, I don't want Sooty spraying everywhere. I think I might just get it done anyway.

I also have 2 dogs that I had to leave at my mothers house when I moved. One is a German Shepherd X called Mitzi and the other is a German Shepherd x kelpie called Oz. They are inside dogs mostly because they can't be trusted to stay in the yard when no one is home. My brother and his fiance had a boy (Jake) in April last year and they visit my mum every weekend. Mitzi loves Jake and is amazingly gentle with him. She is a well natured dog, very patient, but one of her bad habits is she likes to push past people. She always has to get through the door or down the hallway before anyone else. When Jake is over Mitzi likes to keep an eye on him. Jake usually stays in the lounge room with a little gate shut so the dogs can't get in. Last weekend Jake was walking up and down the hallway, Mitzi was walking slowly next to him sometimes making sure her head was in front of him, it was almost like she was doing it so if he fell he would have her to grab on to. Oz is terrified of Jake and backs away from him whenever he walks near Oz. It is good to see how my dogs will react when I visit with my baby. Although I wish I new why Oz was so upset by Jake.

I have 3 Siamese Cats who live inside and i wasn't really too worried about their reactions. We were a little worried about Rehgan's reaction as he has always been stuck to me and hasnt gone to anyone else and still doesnt.
We let them all check Cheyenne out when we came home from the hospital which they gladly did but they kinda just looked like they couldn't be bothered with her.
Until the midwife came for her first visit and to give Cheyenne her heel tap. Rehgan watched her like a hawk and when she did the heel tap he was all up in her face, seeing what she was doing to Cheyenne. It got to the point where i had to move him cos he was freaking the nurse out lol.
He sat by her when she snoozed in her rocker and sniffed her when she cried.
Once she went into her cot if she cried the cats cried..
Now she is almost 9 months old and at the stage where she likes to grab tails and tufts of fur but most of the time they'll just sit there and let her do it.
My mum breeds Siamese and at the moment she has 14 cats and 8 kittens and Cheyenne loves it there. The cats don't bother with her and the kittens come to check things out.
One of her cats was born 2 weeks after Cheyenne and was hand raised so him and Cheyenne have kinda been together all the time. He runs from whatever he's doing when he hears us there.
It's very cute. :D

Hey chicksters,

We have a 18 month old Staffy x Bull Mastiff named Chevy. He is the absolute love of my life. He's gorgeous and the biggest smooch ever. He knows his place in the house and it's either right on the couch on my lap or right in the bed beside me.

So, you can imagine our concerns for when bubs arrives. He is very over enthusiastic when we get home from being out, seeing as our house doesnt have a dividing fence (backyard to front yard it's all just one big yard!) he tends to jump a little (ok a lot) with excitement when we get home - this is all well and good except he's 40kgs worth of dog! (now picture that running at you from the opposite end of the yard - scary thought eh?!)

He is used to getting all the attention in the house (and he is a real attentionseeker) , my other half even whinges that the dog gets more attention that he does - so we are very nervous as to what the coming months may bring!!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! (I am really liking the idea of the baby noises playing and a doll around the house for a while - I think that will be a definate goer) Our child is going to learn very quickly that he/she cannot leave their toys laying around - anything on the floor is fair game!!

Hi girls,

this has been really interesting reading, thanks to all who have posted with their stories and advice.

I think the majority of your stories just go to show how beneficial pets can be to a baby/child as they are growing up, rather than the danger that we all (naturally) worry about them to be as mothers.

Raven - your Rehgan sounds sooo cute and protective of Cheyenne! Susan, sorry I don't have any advice about your doggy but I hope all the other girls' advice has been helpful.

Me, I have a 3yo Chinchilla cat called Misty, she stays inside 24/7. I have just had her shaved for summer and for convenience when the baby comes (due in 10 days), and although I'm a little bit apprehensive, I think it will be fine. I have a friend with exactly the same breed albeit a little older, and she has been fine with both her babies. Misty has to put up with my 2.5yo niece who comes over to terrorise her every so often, so I think she is a bit used to kids.

Hubby wants to close the nursery door overnight when the baby comes so the cat doesn't get in there, but I think we should lock the cat in the laundry overnight instead. So far she hasn't jumped into the cot or bassinet but likes sleeping under the cot sometimes.

Oh yeah and she loves settling next to my big belly and purring against the baby! It's so cute. I hope the baby likes it :)

Thanks again for all your stories girls

Pearl :D

Can cats know something we don't - my cat has just started to curling up to sleep on my lower belly - I am hopeing that we may be pg this time -and she has never slept like that before - ever - i guess i am fishing for any possibility or any sign....

I do think animals and especially cats pick up on things that we don't.

Don't know whether that is the case here but it is SO sweet AJ, and I hope your cat IS doing it for a reason.

Good luck this month :D

Pearl

One of my cats used to like snuggling up against my belly when I was PG - even before I was showing. And they both also became super affectionate and quite clingy with me.

Hope it is a sign for you, AJ! Good luck!

thanks Pearl and Angel - me too - she won't leave me alone at the moent - as soon as i lie down she jumps up on me... annoying cos she's a fat cat but hopefully sweet if she is picking up on baby vibes....

thanks angel and pearl she is really begining to bug me - she won't leave me alone - its nice - but i would like my belly back sometime...

Ha ha AJ ... you'll have to get her out of that habit in the next few months when you do get your BFP!

Good luck [-o< [-o<

Pearl :D

thanks pearl and to you - hope that baby come out soon...

Well we have 3 cats and boy is it going to be fun! :lol:

When we have minded my nephew over the years the cats either run or are curious as to what is wrong with him with he cries, it is actually very cute! One trick i learnt was when introducing a new cat into the mix was to place baby power on the back of all the cats (inc the new one) so they all have the similar scent (worked when we introduced the 3rd), so we may have to do that, luckily for bubs he/she should already smell like baby powder.. :lol:

We have two 1 and a half year old pups and it will be interesting to see how they react when we have a baby. They are so used to having mum and dad to them selves.

Thanks for the fantastic ideas about ways we can prepare them :)

Hey well my brother and his wife, Leigh & bec have just had their baby, she is 1 mth old. They had a cat who hates visitors. This cat acually attacks you. Its crazy so they started leaving thr cat out side before the baby was born and now when the cat is allowed inside and if the cat hears the baby crying, cat wants to know what wrong with the baby.
The cat has become a very concerned cat and doesnt mind when vistiors come over now. But they are still keeping a very close eye on him (cat).

Does anyone have any tips on how to teach a baby to be gentle with cats? We have 2 cats and whilst one takes off as soon as she sees Kynan the other is very tolerant and lets him cuddle and play with her... she even goes up to him and flops down next to him when he's playing. Kynan inevitably ends up yanking out fur and pulling on her tail though. As I said, Gizmo's a very tolerant cat but she can only take so much fur pulling before she gets upset (although she always returns for more LOL!). Ever since Kynan was little I've always shown him how I pat the cats and I say 'gentle'. I also put my hand over the top of his and show him how to pat them, and I stroke his face or arm to show him what 'gentle' means. I know he doesn't have much control over his movements ATM and that largely it's a case of waiting until he's old enough to understand, but is there anything more we could be doing to help him understand?

Its really hard, Matilda knows how to be gentle but sometimes gets overexcited and pulls hair or pulls tails even. I guess the way is we praise her heaps when she is patting gently but if she gets excited we often get in between her & the dogs or cats and tell her that if she isn't able to be gentle then she can't touch the animals.

I take her to work to handle the kittens a lot and she's so good with them now, but every once in a while she squeezes them & has been scratched a few times. But with the dogs at home, today Matilda got in trouble for pulling a dogs tail even when we told her to "be gentle" she still did it and we made her sit away from the dogs which is a big deal to her. We have to teach her that it isn't good to do those things even if our dogs tolerate it.

Thanks, Christy. Kynan's grabbing & pulling tends to start when he gets overexcited too. He loves the cats! Gizmo adores him too and that can make it hard to take him away from her if he starts getting a bit rough... they are indoor cats and she follows him around LOL!

Indah spent all of saturday afternoon commando crawling after our friends Maltese, he is a grumpy old man, but just she'd get close enough he'd hop up & go to the other side of the room & lay down, she'd turn around & start making her way there & he'd move again, she thought it was great fun...
Our Puglaier adores her & lays on her & she loves Poppy too, she hasnt pulled her fur yet, but it is very short anyways... I'm sure she will, we tell her gentle & whe she tries to eat Poppy, we stop her & mover her away from the dog, which the dog really hates!!!!

g'day :)

Well, we have a veritable zoo here.

2 ****atiels
2 cats (moggies) aged 4 & 5 years
2 dogs (bluey - 15, labrador - 16 months)
6 chickens (big red, kentucky, steggles and 3 yet to be named)

I'm concerned about the old dog the most, as he's reaching the incredibly grumpy part of life. The labrador is very bouncy, but as I train both dogs consistantly, they hold their sits / drops. And we have distance control working well.

Although I'm not due until April, we're making the changes now. The dogs aren't allowed on the bed with just me any more, and as the weather warms they'll be sleeping outside.

There's a book called "Who's the Boss" which has a fair bit of information on pack structure, and I've used this information to introduce the labrador into the household, and the principles seem to work quite well. So we'll be using those recommendations, which is to maintain the pack structure.

Our pack goes something like this:

Me
Blue Dog
DH
Labrador
Pink cat
black cat

Unfortunately DH doesn't get pack structure, so it will be interesting to get him to adher to the new pack structure, which will be (before birth)

Me
DH
blue dog
labraor
pink cat
black cat

and after birth

Me
DH
blue dog
labraor
pink cat
black cat
blobble the baby

Well, until the baby is old enough to stick up for itself around 7 or 8 when it will move up the pack.

Well, that's my plan anyhows ;)

I have a Blue Heeler. He's about 3 years old. We got him from the RSPCA when he was 6 months old and we believe he was abused. He has always cowered if you've raised your hand to pat him. He has always been a naughty dog - he always jumps when you go near him, he barks all the time for no reason, he is very very unsociable. When we take him for a walk he lunges at other dogs (regardless of their size). I let him off the lead once and he jumped on this dog and began chasing them. He wasn't trying to hurt the dog but refused to come when he was called. Now we can't let him off the lead. He has occassionly lunged at people when out walking but it's to sniff them as he goes by. He is a very very protective dog (he used to growl at DH if he came near me when we first brought Buster home) and is an excellent guard dog. He understands some commands like off and sit but will generally only obey if you have food in your hand to give him. If he's worked up - forget it, not even food works. We've tried training him but he's only interested if you have food. I really really don't want to get rid of him but we're so worried about how he will be when the baby arrives. My concerns are;
*his constant loud barking
*His jumping
*his disobedience

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll try anything to avoid giving up my protector and best friend.

MG

MG I can understand your concerns, particularly with the barking/noise. I have similar issues...

Hey, people with birds - do your birds live inside? We have one ****atiel - our only pet who lives in our lounge room and is very fond of our company. If we leave the room to go somewhere he can't go he will call constantly. I'm worried about trying to get a new baby to sleep when the bird (who's call is really quite shrill) won't shut up! Do you think a baby will get used to the noise? (I think it is too late to train Lenny to be quiet - we have let him develop his bad habits over the last couple of years...) :help:

MG - it may be worth getting DH to take him to an obedience course. Write down all your worries and ask the professionals the best way to handle it.

The best advice I've heard is to start changing things now. So if you're the one who lets the dog inside all the time, and walks the dog, change to DH before the baby comes - that way the dog won't associate the baby with the change in his routine.

But seriously, see some obedience courses. I could recommend a good dog school, but I don't think I'm allowed to on here.

MG - if he does respond to the food thing then if you spend like an hour every day doing this with food then you should be able to do it without food after a period of time. See if you can find something on this from Better Homes and Gardens website or something....Dr Harry has some great tips and advice. The main thing though is consistency and eventually he should do what you ask without the food reward.

Amy, I have 2 ****atiels - indoors - I know all too well how noisy they can be!! Mine wolf whistle REALLY loud! It can be amusing cos one of them wolf whistles at me if I go and get changed then go near them again (they must have awesome eyesight or something for him to recognise the change). I wonder if bubs wouldn't get used to the sound whilst in your belly...does bubs jump or move when it happens now??

Hiya Cass, no, the baby doesn't seem to respond to the birdie, not that I'm aware of anyway. That's cute about the wolf whistle. Lenny makes cute noises sometimes which I'm not too worried about, but sometimes he can get really squarky when we leave the room and won't stop until we come back. It's these times that I'm worried about.
I assume he likes the company and so previously I've tried to take him with me when I can. I just know that when I have the baby I won't be able to take him with me. Over the last few weeks since posting I've been experimenting with him, leaving for a while, trying to positively reinforce quiet behaviour, but I think it's just going to be something the baby has to get used to. I've just got to remember that vocalising and enjoying community is natural birdie behaviour and its probably just not realistic of me to expect anything different...