Pets and Pregnancy/Pets and Babies

Do you have pets?

Any stories of how they have reacted to your pregnancy?

Any ideas on how to make sure that pets and new babies get along?

Any pet related issues or questions: this is the place to chat about it!

Hi Everyone,

DH and I are proud owners of two gorgeous pets, a dog and cat, who are like our babies. We are a little worried about how they will react to a new person, especially a noisy, small person that takes up all our attention.

They both act well around our neices and nephews and friends kids, however it'll probably be a whole different ball game when bubs comes along.

We read an article about introducing a 'crying baby doll' before baby is born so they get used to seeing us with a baby in our arms and the noise it makes. Also introducing the pram early, especially if we want to walk with the dog after bubs is born.

I would love to know what you guys think about these ideas and if you have any of your own....

thanks!! :)

nellbe

We have Perry (a Fox Terrier cross Jack Russell) who is the love of my life. I was really nervous about him feeling "neglected" when Olivia came along........I would hate that he should feel superceded!

We got him familiar with the pram, and Olivia's bed, when I was still pg.

And as soon as my milk came in at the hospital I sent DH home with my worn and milk smelling pj's so that Perry could get familiar with the scent.

I take Olivia and Perry for a long walk each morning so I think he appreciates that babies = nice walks!


He sits at my feet when I feed her, and sleeps under her bed whist she is asleep, so I think he is pretty keen on her!

However, now Olivia is at the age when she is beginning to grab at him (his tail, his tongue etc!) so I need to constantly supervise. He is very gentle (all the time, and especially with kids) but I am still quite cautious, as kids and dogs can be a tricky combination............

HTH......

We had Kayla for 4 yrs before Kameron came along. As soon as I walked in the door with Kameron in my arms I dropped to the floor so she could sniff him etc and I kept him at her level for little bits at a time so she could have a good old sniff. When he started to crawl and then walk/run and could chase her all hell broke loose. She doesn't like him touching her only if it is on her terms and she has pretended to bite on more than once occasion. She wouldn't actually do it she just uses it as a scare tatic. Although having said that now that Kameron is getting older and can actually play ball with her etc they are becoming closer.

She has no dramas with other kids touching her etc though, maybe she knows they go home eventually LMAO, and if we have kids charging thru the house she is on their heels chasing after them and then vice versa.

Love :hbeat:

We have two cats, and so far when they've been exposed to babies or toddlers their first inclination has been to get the hell out of there ASAP ;)

One of them in particular is a bit of a smoocher though, and will climb on top of people to use them as pillows given the opportunity. I worry a bit about them trying to sleep on the baby once they get over the shock and realise baby = warm. I don't know how to cope with that other than to keep a very close eye on them until the baby is big enough to shove them off like we do!

Our cat Moggles moved in 4 months before Aidyn was born.
He was just a stray walking past, and we offered him some of our bbq'ed chicken, and ever since that day he has taken up permanent residence with us...lol!
We felt very bad for him after Aidyn came home. As previously we had lavished all of our love and affection on Moggles, but once Aidyn was here he lost a lot of extra attention :( Not intentionally of course... but thats just the way it happens with a newborn.
Poor Moggles was so upset by it all that he stopped eating his meat for dinner, for at least a month... and then he started catching rats and birds and bringing them home to impress us... But we were not impressed when he let a live rat loose in the bathroom at 5am. DP had to kill it with his golf club, and ever since then Moggles has not been allowed in the unit at night time. I shudder to think if it had gotten into Aidyn room...
Poor Moggles was trying to be sweet, but I just feel sick and disgusted thinking about it.
There has also been one time when he jumped into Aidyn's cot and went to sleep (not when Aidyn was in it) I think he was wanting to 'be' like Aidyn moreso...
We just really think he wants attention, and may still be a bit upset and jealous...
he does many out of character things now - like leaping up into our laps or arms for a cuddle- which he never used to do.
He has never shown the slightest bit of aggression towards aidyn though which is good.
I have lived with over 10 different cats in my life and I've learnt that cats have an innate sense, and will tolerate children, toddlers and babies very well, and wont lash at them.

I feel so guilty reading this, as its obvious the poor cat is upset, but we do make every effort we can to pet him, etc. But it will never match up to the amount of love & attention Aidyn gets, I guess.
Also it is a weird relationship with Moggles, as we never raised him from a kitten... he just decided to move in 8 months ago, so he is really more like a friend, or a guest, and is his own master...
I don't feel we really have the right to say we 'own' him...

I know how you feel there Ambah re the attention. I feel bad for Kayla too. she used to get bathed at least once a month and I would spend hours brushing her after her bath as she has long hair. Now with 2 kids she has only been bathed once since Lachlan was born :(

It may have to go on my to do list for tomorrow as I was talking about it today and never got around to it. Is a nice day tomorrow so she will love drying off in the sun.

I have considered the hydro washes etc but need spare $$$$ for that. We also used to take her everywhere in the car now with 2 car seats in the car there isn't any room LOL. When Lachlan upgrades to a booster seat there will be more room. 7kg to go LOLOL

Love :hbeat:

Great idea Lucy!! As alot of you know I'm a bit of an animal freak... I love them! I have been vet nursing for years now and absolutely LOVE my job. I just started going back to Saturday work so Matilda can have Daddy time & I can get my animal fix... not that I don't get that at home...LOL! I'll introduce my furbabies now...

Lucinda is the best dog in the world... she is labrador x staffy. We took Lucinda on as a foster pet to help get her used to living in a home environment, as she was horribly abused as a pup and when we got her she had ciggarette burns all over and would urinate everytime she saw a new person.... Now she is the matriarch of the family greeting new people at the door, the other animals wait to see how she will react before they do... and she loves Matilda, she just adores her... only problem is she has started barking when outside more at everyone who walks by, she started this when Matilda got home from hospital, so thats my next challange....

Abby is our labrador puppy... she's now 9 months old and HUGE but still thinks she's around 6kg... She is getting better behaved, loves Matilda a bit too exuberantly...but her favourite past time is pushing Matilda's pram up & down the hallway... sometimes with Matilda in it...lmao!

Chester is our cat.... or should I say our landowner ;) ... he allows us to stay here even though he is only a year old. He came about by being in the vet clinic too long and was about to be shipped out to a cat society as we couldn't find a home for him... so I brought him home for the "weekend" and he hasn't gone back...He isn't too keen on Matilda, and loves to jump in the cot & I have found him a couple of times trying to cuddle up to Matilda's head while she's been asleep... so we've done a bit of work with him on that and now he sleeps in the laundry so we can leave her door open at night!

Joey is actually our longest resident, he hatched the day DH asked me to marry him and has been with us since a few weeks after that. So he's around 8 years old. He's our ****atiel...at least we think he's a he :-s . Every few years we change his sex...lol. Chester and Abby are pretty keen on Joey but he still manages to keep away from them well enough!

I think they can Colleen... Lucinda used to be protective of me when I was PG and Abby used to sleep with her head on my belly heaps...

One thing I forgot to mention in my epic post was our pre baby preparation...

When I hit 3rd trimester I started working with the dogs, I got some sound files off the net & played them a cd of babies crying and laughing etc, and whenever the screaming came I would get them to "go to bed" on the mats I bought them and give them treats... well now when Matilda really starts screaming they lay down wherever they are, and that is sooo helpful to me because I get stressed and then I at least don't have to worry about them!

I also started training them to do what I wanted them to do, so sleep somewhere other than our room, change feeding times to not be at the same time everyday, miss walks, leave them outside while I was home for a few hours at a time ( that was a big shock to them!) but I didn't want them to associate the lack of attention that they were used to with Matilda, so I started doing things I thought would happen a few months before Matilda was born. I read and starting writing articles about introducing babies to animals too... so I learned HEAPS about it, and started applying it to our home, and its worked out well... now I just need to have the time to finish that article... :)

Wow, Christy.........you are the EXPERT!

Reading about Lucinda has reminded me that Perry certainly barks more at people passing by than he ever did before.........must be a protective thing?

We are the proud owners of a feral 11 year old Maltese x Shih Tzu named "Charlie" and a 3 year old English Pointer named "Lucy".
I got Charlie when I was 14 so he is very much part of my life. My slogan when I was dating Neil was "Love me, love my dog" and they have become good pals with a love/hate relationship.
Charlie rules the world. He has small dog syndrome and, unfortunately, I did ALL the wrong things with him when he was growing up. He will attack children or adults if he feels cornered or if someone "looms" over him, he will bark when someone knocks at the door, he will go any other dog that walks past him (even if it is 1000 time larger than him) and he sleeps at the end of our bed. Now, I figure that the baby is just gonna have to adjust to him (probably easier) but we do plan on changing a few of his habits before the baby comes along. He currently stays inside all day because he can get out of the horrid back fence that we have. He has ended up out on the highway once because our "neighbour" let him out of his back yard. The dude is nasty! He refuses to help us get a new fence and yet he hates it when the dogs end up in his back yard. Urrgh! Anyway, we are in the process of building some decking out of the back door. As soon as it is complete, Charlie will be able to be outside all day. I will get him a nice, cosy bed and he will just love it. There's plenty of shelter and he can bark away to his hearts content (well, within reason that is!).
Lucy is our gentle giant. She is completely un-tamed (it would probably make you cringe Christy), but she is just adorable! I have no qualms about her and the baby. Lucy lives outside and barely ever comes in. She doesn't like it. She doesn't lick, doesn't bite and hardly barks. English Pointers are very peaceful dogs and they don't even sook! It's great! She is full of energy and will jump up (though this is getting better) and just loooooovves cuddles! She has no idea about personal space. So my main issue with her will be being careful while I am carrying the baby around because she is likely to jump up and clop the baby in the head with her big paws. Once the baby is walking around, Lucy will probably bowl him/her over but not intentionally. I don't really have a major problem with this because, let's face it, kids fall over all the time.
So they are our two little darlings! I have grown up with pets all my life. Kids are great at adapting I think.

Well Aaron & I are the proud pets of Bear, an 11yo cat!! I got her as a Christmas present when she was 4w old & had to teach her how to drink from a bowl. When she was one she was hit by a car & had to have her hip replaced - she was pregnant at the time & had to be desexed cos some of her bits & pieces were damaged.

She is very very loud & screams (nope not meows, screams) all day long! On the weekends she is ok cos she know we will be home, but as soon as we look like leaving the house she goes off. She stays inside, but loves going out into the sun when we are outside wih her.

Usually she hides when kids come over to visit, but when I babysat 2 kids (2 & 4 year olds) a few years ag she got used to them & stayed around them. BUT when she got annoyed with the attention she lashed out & scratched the 2yo. So I'm really worried about when Munchkin arrives cos she can be very nasty at times.

But we love her & will just have to work on it before Munchkin is born.

My dog will be almost 11 when bubs is due. she is a celpie x blue heeler. The only people she is friendly with is me, DP, my mum and she just adores my aunty. DP is the only male she will even let near her. Now, we think that she was either abused before we got her (we got her when she was 6w) or she was the 'odd one out' so to speak. She gets very touchy around food. Actually she goes completly crazy at the smell of food even. When we eat she just sits infront of us and acts like she hasn't been fed in 10 years! When we hand her food, we have to tell her 'gentle' otherwise she snatches it. But if we say gentle then she is VERY gentle, to the point where she will take it with her lips not her teeth, LOL. She's never been around kids or babies. She barks whenever someone comes onto our property. I don't know how she will react to bubs when she comes along. The only time she would ever bite someone is if she felt like she was in danger. Like if a stranger would go to pat her then she would bear her teeth and warn them off. But if they left her along and she got use to them then she'll be fine. she's real funny with these things so i dunno wot to do to prepare her, kinda thing.

I already have 1 son, PJ the Blue Heeler. Besides each other, he is the love of DH and my lives.

PJ is adorable, BUT still a Blue Heeler. DH and I were not very strict on him and he gets very excited and has a lot of built of energy. He has never bitten before however when he was a puppy we would give him marrow bones and if we tried to go near him he would snarl and snap (with every intention to bite). This is the only time I have ever seen him vicious, he loves other dogs but unfortunately I cant say how he is with kids as he has very limited experience with them. Just last weekend we had him out the front running around with his friend Kosta the Boxer, and kids were there too and he wasn't interested in them, which was good. However my sister's 5yr old niece was in our house the other day and she walked towards him (he was outside and she was inside) and he started barking (not vicious, just 'who are you and why are you so little?').

So, DH and I are concerned about how PJ will be when bubs is born, more so when bubs is over say 1 yr. Our next door neighbours both had babies recently so I think PJ will be used to crying which is good, and I plan on giving DH a blanket with baby smells to take home before I get home from hospital, and we have already got him used to the stroller (he was scared of it at first!) and I plan on walking lots with bubs and PJ, and one more thing, we are dog-sitting PJ's cousin Ernie the Golden Retriever from 20 December for 6 months so PJ will be well and truly entertained playing with Ernie all day! But like I said, it is more the toddler age that DH and I will be concerned about, but I guess by then PJ will have grown up a lot (he is almost 2 now) and gotten to know bubs a lot better).

Jess

Jess - I just thought I'd mention that my dogs used to bark "nicely" at toddlers at our house, but now they know Matilda and have never barked at her, just licked her a bit too much lol! So, the next step is a moving baby and we'll see how that goes, at the moment when Matilda rolls they both get up to watch and wag their tails...

It's so great to see so many people still treating their animals as one of the family after babies have been born. :smt023

I have 2 poodles, 1 maltesexsilky and 4 cats.

Right from the start we put Christian on the floor so the animals could get to know him, we also allow them in his bedroom (except during the night)
now they all think he is just one of them and will come and lay next to him when he's on the floor.

Sometimes Bella will bring him one of her toys and try to get him to throw it (a bit hard when your only 8months old).
When we are out for a walk Joshua (my only male dog and also my baby)
will not leave the side of the pram he has become very protective.
Gabrielle just pretends he doesn't exist, but she gave him a big kiss the other day which is a big step.

The cats haven't made a fuss they come over and lie on the floor next to him until he pulls their hair.

thnaks everyone for your replies, I am strating to think that our dog will be fine with bubs as long as we don't forget him and introduce smells, prams and crying beforehand. I can imagine he will be protective of bubs, just like he is of us.

Our cat will just adapt I think, when my friends kids come over, 18 months old now, our cat just flops in the middle of where they are playing - they were surprised at first as my friends doesn't have cats and love touching him.

nellbe

We have 2 cats and 2 sheep as pets. The eldest cat was brought over from Cornwall when we moved over here (along with another beloved puss who has passed on) and we have a Bengal as well who is now 2 but still thinks of itself as a kitten.

Our two sheep are "Briggs & Stratton" they are Wiltshire Horns, so are pretty self sufficent. They don't need shearing as their wool just starts dropping off in the springtime. (Purely bred for meat)

We didn't have any problems with the cats when Jack was born. They were **** scared of him!!!!! The only problems we had was with the bengal who kept getting into the pram, the rocker, the cot, even the high chair, actually anything that was Jacks, that cat got into it!

Nowadays they all get along fine, Jack adores them and they are no longer scared of him, until he starts making a racket, then they take off again.

Jo

We know that bubs won't be here for 4 months yet but DH has startedwith our puppy dog, the crying training suggested by Christy (I think!) and he is excellent, didn't take him long at all to learn that why bubs cries, he sits on his blanket. He now does it for a pat on the head... soon we have to get him just to sit on the blanket for no pats.

Kitty's ears just ***** up, no reaction from him as yet!

Thanks again everyone! :)

We have 2 silky terriers and 2 working dogs, from the time they are puppies I try to get them used to having food taken off them (bones, dinner bowls etc) and having their feet picked up, touched, grabbed. So far this seems to have worked with my nieces and nephews as the silkies will put up with pretty well anything - including being picked up by the back legs!!! The working dogs seem good with other peoples kids, but tend to get a bit over excited and bowl them over.

I have also been worried about bringing a baby home and how the dogs would react as they are really quite spoilt at the moment. Mum told me that when she brought me home, she was told to put me on the floor and let the dogs sniff me until they were satisfied - apparently it worked as they never left my side after that - probably not a solution that would work for everyone and I'm not sure I'm that keen to try it. I will try to keep walking the dogs every day and make sure they are still allowed in the house at night. I'm sure that as long as the animals that were once the centre of attention don't get left out completely they will cope well.

Hi Zo

Welcome to BellyBelly. I did what your mum did. Dropped to the floor as soon as brought my boys home so the dog could sniff them all over and have never had any major problems.

love :hbeat:

Hey Zo,

Just wanted to welcome you to BellyBelly :D

Hi Zo, welcome to BB :wave:

Do you guys think that dropping to the floor would work with my mum's dog? I mean he doesn't live here, but he's next door & Munchkin will be there quite a bit, so I wonder if it will work or if I'd have to do it each time...

It worked with my mums dog Sarah and we see her maybe once a week. When we go he licks lachlan a couple of times and let him roll around the floor no worries when we were there on the weekend.

Love :hbeat:

Cool, thanks Kathryn. I was just a bit worried cos Baileys is pretty big, he's a Golden Retreiver.

LOL Sarah my mum has a dalmation x Qld cattle dog and he is huge

Love :hbeat:

Just a quick one. Over the last 6-8 weeks, my burmese boy gryff has started sleeping under covers with his head resting on my tummy. He purrs against it for ages.
Wonder what spud thinks!
The other cat has got a little standoffish with me - she wont cuddle on my lap anymore, but still sleeps next to me in bed.
Fi

I was a bit worried about how my spoilt Siamese cat (Zorro) would react to a rival but he's been great. Most of the time he ignores him except for the odd sniff.
Last week I put Yasin in the pram bassinet which is covered at the bottom and open at the top for a nap. After a couple of hours he woke up so I took the end of the bassinet off to pick him up and found poor Zorro sitting there getting kicked in the face. He must have been there before I put Yasin down and rather than walk on him he just sat and waited to be rescued. :D

Aww, Dachlostar, Zorro sounds like such a lovely cat! That's fantastic he's coped so well with Yasin's arrival. I hope my cats cope that well when the time comes!

Perry (Fox Terrier cross Jack Russell) has been, over the past week or so, been really odd. Usually when we get home from anywhere, once I have sorted Olivia out, I pat my thighs and he jumps into my arms for a cuddle.

I have noticed that the past week or so he won't do it...........so I am thinking that maybe he can "sense" that I am pregnant?

He didn't display this behaviour when I was PG with Olivia though..........weird.

Hi Everyone

Just wondering what your thoughts are.....we have just moved to Brisbane from Sydney and have bought a house and are now thinking about pets. I am a HUGE animal lover, but am worried about coping with puppies, kittens and a new baby. Even though the baby isn't due until June......My question is, do you think that it is better to get the puppy before the baby is born or after? If I get the puppy in January - it will have 6 months to adjust, but will still be a puppy by the time the baby is born!
Any thoughts or experience with this?

Thanks for your help!

Megan

Megan, If I was you I would get the puppy now and get it totally toilet/house trained before you have a baby in the house.

Toilet training is tedious and boring and grotty (and remember that when you are pg you should avold handling any animal poo) so I would want to get that totally under control before you bring a newborn home!

Thanks for that Lucy - I am 30 soon and wanted a puppy for my birthday, so this is a good time to do it...thanks for your advice!

Megan

Megan I got a puppy last December & Matilda was born in June! I started training everything with the puppy for what I would want when the baby was born! There are heaps of good puppy schools in your area too! I teach one in Wynnum and I know a few friends who train puppies closer to you.

Thanks for that Christy - I will now put the case to DH! He would like to get 2 puppies - but I think that this is a bit much....I am probably being overly cautious, but I would rather be relaxed for when the baby is born, rather then stressed because the puppy is misbehaving! I guess that cats are the same principle - just don't change the litter?

Thanks again...

Megan

mmm....definately have DH change the litter if you are getting cats! LOL! I have to say now that cats are easier to take care of when they get older, but a frisky cat and a baby might not go well together... :-k Our cat is a few years old and tried to cuddle up with Matilda heaps, & he would jump on top of her when she was only a few weeks old...so I'm definately one for a dog instead! LOL! Good luck with DH!

Thanks Christy - I love cats so much - but think that a dog might be better at this stage...have heard horrible stories about cats sitting on babies and getting terribly jealous, so dogs are the go I think!

Also, what are your thoughts on getting only 1 puppy - DH thinks that 2 is MUCH better (and I tend to agree) but the work of 2 puppies when I am trying to work fulltime etc, I think would be a lot...any thoughts?

Megan

LOL... I've got two dogs, a cat and a bird....so I might not be one to ask about having too "many" animals... we'd have more but DH has put his foot down... oh we do have the occasional orphans we raise for wildlife.... possoms & such...

but we got the puppy last year so that when Matilda came we would have a mate for our dog who was used to being our "baby". She still sleeps in our bed, but she is happy outside for longer periods now that she has a mate to play with and she doesn't need as much exercise when she plays with the puppy... I find it impossible to walk both dogs & the pram, but I can do one dog...so thats the other thought...when you want to start walking post birth, one dog is possible but two is a bit hard...

BUT...if you get a puppy now and get it used to being on its own outside etc and get it used to things like off lead parks, it should be fine! Dogs adapt... at first its hard for them because the family becomes their new "pack" and they learn how to fit into their new family (once they are told how to :D ) I just have some advice is before you get your pup, check out the book "Before" by Ian Dunbar, it can help you decide what to do and how to do it! Which is always helpful because that way your new furbaby can come into the family easier!!

Thank you again Christy - that sounds perfect - I will pass your words of wisdom onto DH tonight!

I would love an animal farm and have visions of dogs, cats and chooks in the back yard! I can't believe how lenient the council in Paddington is as my neighbours have chooks! When we lived in Sydney - there were no chooks allowed! DH is looking forward to building the chook pen as we have just bought a house in Red Hill which is a lovely part of the world... I will keep you posted with the 'Brand Harris Family' discussions!!

Thanks again - you have been a wealth of information!

Megan

Hi all,

Megan thought I would add my 2 cents worth. We have 2 dogs who are litter mates and I have always been so glad that we got both of them together. We have found that whilst they love human company if they are on their own they entertain each other. It is really cute to watch them play tiggy, hide and seek etc. (they are 4 year old border collies) When I compare them to the same breed raised on their own they were a lot less trouble as pups as they had each other when they got bored and were not so destructive etc.

On a different note. We set up our cot the other night and had just finished when one of our cats wandered in jumped straight up into in and currled up to go to sleep. I know I should have roused on him but it was so funny - and well timmed I couldn't help but laugh. The upside is neither cat has done it since.