What to do with my cat?

[BabyJoy]

Help! I need good advice on my cat. She's ten years old and an absolute darling. Very affectionate and yet very independent. She is mostly an indoors cat and has, up till now, had access to every room in the house. Problem now is that we're expecting our first baby in a month's time and I really don't want her near the baby - all that fur and who knows what germs she has. I've kept her out of the baby's room for the past four months (much to her disgust) but when the baby arrives I don't want to have to keep the door shut all the time.. . as I'll need to be able to hear when she wakes (not to mention letting air into the room). I'm quite afraid the cat will jump into the cot with bub when she's sleeping and perhaps smother her.
My husband and I can't seem to find a solution... we don't want to force her outside because I would hate for her to run away or start killing wildlife, getting into cat fights, etc.
We've thought about those gates you get to prevent toddlers going into rooms/down stairs, etc, but she would easily jump over them. She's also quite a skinny cat, so she could probably walk straight through the bars!

Anyone got any other ideas? Please?

[Niki]

u can get gates that dont have bars that are like a big square of plastic....also alot of ppl i no put fly screen doors on the bubs bedroom

[Shelly68]

My BIL & SIL put a fly screen door on the bedroom door of the baby's room. Good idea too for keeping them out. You should be able to see the cat going near the baby whenever you have him/her in the lounge (or whatever room you're in)

[Rockett]

We have a screen door on my bubs room.It's the only way to keep my cat out,and also still be able to see/hear bubs.
You don't have to spend a fortune on a brand new door,if you know any handymen they can knock one up pretty cheap,my dad did mine for around $30,he just made the door frame to fit the door,attached some fly screen, laquered the frame,and attached a latch to close it.

[Goosie22]

We got a cheap security screen and replaced the door with it(as our cat likes to shread the wire on fly screens) but it is the same idea essentially.:)

[reAllytee]

I actually gave up trying to keep my cats out of bubs room once he arrived as i didnt want them to become jealous & end up hurting him in any way. My male cat is now bubs fav thing as from the moment he could put his arm out my cat realised he could score extra pats LOL whereas my female cat goes & checks him out every now & then but otherwise stears clear.
They werent too worried about getting into his cot as he made too much movement & noise which always scares them. A lot of owners comment on the same reaction when they have a new arrival. I only ever had one nite when i found my girl cat in bubs cot & that was because it was very very cold but she only slept at his feet to which she got kicked out immediately ! Otherwise they actually keep an eye on him & sleep on top of his wardrobe LOL They then get very stroppy with me if ive taken too long to get a bottle etc like giving me those looks like "cmon what are you doing he is crying !!!!" LOL
Another good tip someone gave me on here is to teach them not to get into a cot or pram before bubs arrives is to fill them with balloons so if they do jump in they will burst the balloons scaring them thus stopping them from ever wanting to jump in there again !
But if your really wanting to keep her out as the others have suggested a fly screen door if probably your best bet even look for them second hand in the newspapers or trading post.

[BabyJoy]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. DH thinks we'll take the screen door off the back door since we don't use that doorway much (we also have a sliding door that goes out to the back) and put it on the baby's room. It's got security grill on it so it will at least stop her jumping on the screen (which she has a habit of doing sometimes).

Hopefully this is a temporary measure till she gets the message that she's not welcome. I might even try that balloon trick! :)

[InfiniteDreams]

I know how you feel, I have two cats that are very curious indoors. They are very affectionate and I was scared they would jump into the cot etc.. aswell as the germs the little darlings carry...

What we did was get a mosquito net for the bassinet/cot and keep the door open, so they didnt think they were missing out on anything exciting. and with the net over the cot, the silly things thought that they couldnt get in there... they tried a couple times and I told them off (they are good with rules) and we never had a problem since. as long as you keep bubs drawers shut so kitty doesnt sleep on the clothes etc then things should stay germ free....

The more you hide the room from kitty, the more kitty will want to go in there, and it is best that kitty explores before bubs gets there!!

Hope this helps

and Congratulations :)

Pruey and Hannah

[MonkeyMum05]

Hi!

We have two cats, and I had the same kind of fears while I was pregnant!

One of the cats climbed in the cot before bub came along and as shes a bit of a timid cat, just to stamp my foot and yell was enough to frighten her away.

Also, Bubs cot was in our room for the first 7 mths (only just moved him out!), so we just shut the door at night... and during the day for his sleeps too.

Our cats have turned out to be great for Bodhi, as I am sure that is what motivated him to crawl so early... he loves to chase them and 'pat' them etc. He thinks they are big furry toys!
(I will mention that after a severe tail pulling, Bodhi got a tiny scratch on the arm... which I went off about... (luckily I have a calm, sensible husband).
Usually, if the cats are getting annoyed, they will just get up and walk away.
It was also very easy to teach them not to sit on Bodhi's play mat when he was littler.



I was seriously almost considering giving them away before Bodhi came along... I was so scared about it....
but am so glad that I didn't!

Cats are very smart creatures...!