With the baby on the way - how do we help the pets adj.

Mommy2Isabella wrote: Sal and I have a dog, and a cat. We were wondering how other people who had YOUNG PETS helped them adjust to the new baby.

Our PUPPY rather is about 6 1/2 months old. Though he was taken away from his mother WAY to early he is rather clingy to me. For example, when we do allow him to sleep on the bed, he must be ALL OVER ME. I have Sal move him, but he always finds a way to have one part of his cute puppy body touching mine.

The kitten we aren't too worried about she likes to sleep near my belly, but it isn't a must like it is for Tobi < puppy.

My biggest worry is that Tobi will feel left out and start to act out. When we first got him, he was about 5 1/2 6 weeks. He was so little that he fit in my hands and would refuse to sleep anywhere other than right there. At that age it was ok. He is MUCH bigger now and can't sleep in my hands though he needs to be close to me at all times. I worry that when the baby gets here and I am trying to feed the baby, that he will feel as if someone has taken his place and he will act out and do bad things.

I know it sounds funny that I talk about Tobi like he is a person, but he acts like a child, we have a very close bond. I have been home with him ALL DAY for the most part since we got him ... so he is used to having all of my attention all the time.

I NEED SUGGESTIONS ... and help ...

luvmykids replied: I'm no expert but I don't think there's a lot you can do until baby actually arrives. One thing I've heard is to have someone (like Sal) take something home with the baby's scent a day before you and baby come home. Also to introduce them slowly and keep a close eye on puppy.

We had a similar situation, DH got me a puppy while I was on bedrest (great timing, bedrest and pt'ing a puppy!) and he was my constant companion, slept all day long curled up behind my knees while I slept (and still does). He really didn't have trouble adjusting, always wiggled in where he could and still got lots of attention from me. He's not real fond of the kids now but it's more his natural temperament than anything.

Good luck, your furry baby will be ok!

Mommy2Isabella replied: Thank you! As I was typing, I began to think, THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO THINK I AM CRAZY!

We saw on TV people got a baby doll, and set up the baby bed and put the doll in there. Which sounds neat, but I think Tobi would think the doll, was just that, and play with it ...

1lilpeanut2love replied: Pregnant Women and Cats and Dogs

Many women wonder what precautions they need to take around their pet when they become pregnant. Veterinarian Dr. Ian Sandler says the biggest risk to pregnant women is a disease called toxoplasmosis, which is a transferred mainly from cats.

Most of the time, cats acquire the infection from eating raw meat and then shed the parasite in their stool. The way it most commonly gets transferred to humans is if you touch the stool then touch your mouth - a process called fecal-oral contamination. If acquired during pregnancy, toxoplasmosis can be very harmful to pregnant women. That's why washing your hands is so important when you're pregnant.

It's important to note that it's rare for humans to become infected.

Still, there are some precautions you should take.

Make sure you keep your cat indoors so that it can't get exposed to the parasite through raw prey or another cat's infected stool.

Don't feed your cat raw meat.

Have someone else clean the cat's litter pan and pick up after dogs.

Cover children's sandboxes so cats can't use it as a litter box.

Wear gloves when you garden then wash your hands afterwards (wash up even though you wore gloves, better safe than sorry)

Don't handle or eat raw or undercooked meat while you're pregnant.(try using surgical gloves if you have to)


I WANTED TO FIND AN ARTICLE FOR YOU! HTH! WHEN I GOT PREGNANT WE GOT RID OF OUR CAT!!

MyLuvBugs replied: Our cats were pretty cool with it. They always wanted to sleep near my belly, or kneed my belly while the baby was moving. My little girl cat is starting to do that again with this one.

The only thing you'll really need to watch for with the cat is make sure the cat DOES NOT try to get in the crib or sleep around the baby. They can smother an infant without meaning too. Also, to be on the safe side, I would block off the nursery or rooms that you will have the baby sleeping in now, so that the animals get used to NOT going in there. Make sense?

ashtonsmama replied: Our black Lab is 8 months, but very mature and mellow for her age, and she hasn't had any problems with our son so we feel pretty lucky!
Good luck...not really sure what to tell you on that one...except maybe use a baby doll around the puppy and cat and see how they react when you give attention to the "baby"!

na81 replied: We have a dog and a cat too. Our dog, which is a boxer, has always been "clingy" to my boyfriend and tries to sit on his lap and always be around him. When I was pregnant with my daughter we were concerned about it too.
I think cats have some sort of sense when you're pregnant because our cat always wanted to lay on my belly which he never did until then. You always hear that cats can suffocate babies while they are sleeping, so it's natural for any pregnant woman to be concerned.
We never really tried anything to prepare our animals. When we brought our daughter home, we took her out of her car seat and let the dog sniff it out so she would get a sense of what(who) we brought home. She naturally wanted to be in the babies face, but after we let her sniff her a couple of times we would push her away and tell her she couldn't be near the baby. After a couple of days, she was really good about it. Our dog was hyper before the baby was born as all boxers are when they are young, but now she is as calm as can be. As a matter of fact, she and my daughter are the best of friends. My daughter can pull her ears and poke her eyes and she just lays there.
As far as our cat goes, he hid when we brought her home. He would hardly ever come out. He just recently, within the last 6 months or so, started coming around our daughter. Strange how they change when something like that happens. You will be surprised what a baby will do for an animal!!!
Don't worry, everything will be fine, your pets will adjust. It may take some time, but don't give up hope!! Just make sure you are firm with your pets if you think they are getting too close to the baby. Good luck!!!!

ilovemybaby replied: We have three cats and never had any problems with them and Abby. Kitty and Cleo actually really liked her... that was before she grew up and started chasing them around and pulling their fur or trying to lie on them LOL Cleo still likes Abby though. She is very tolerant and will let her basically crush her when she wants to cuddle and lie on her. She has had many scratches from the cats when she gets too rough and she never seems to learn... just goes back five seconds later. But the cats will take off and go somewhere where she can't get to them when they've had enough.

I always wore gloves when cleaning out the litter box.
I don't think you need to get rid of your kitten/cat just because you are pregnant. Wear gloves, wash your hands afterwards and you will be fine.
I read an article on the internet that actually says most people have developed an immunity to Toxoplasmosis as a kid because kids play in the garden etc... and they can get it and therefore like Chicken Pox, they develop an immunity to it.
We grew up with a cat too. So did my mother and her siblings.

My3LilMonkeys replied: We had 1 cat when Brooke was born and she did ok. I had DH bring a receiving blanket that Brooke had been wrapped in home the first night so she could smell it. And when we brought Brooke home I walked in the house first and went to the cat, picked her up and petted her while DH quietly brought the baby in so that she would know she was still important. Then I carried her over to show her the baby. She was just fine with it.

holley79 replied: Jessi my little dog was the same way. He had me for 12 years of his life before Annika came along. I started slowly but surely moving him to his own bed. I bought him a huge pet pillow and gave him his favorite blanket that I slept with. The only time it was a little stressful for our "furkids" was the first night home with her. Peanut is blind so he thought I brought home another "stray" and that it would be temp. He soon realized that it was another person. I found myself not spending enough time with him nor Gyspy (black lab female) and had to remind myself to show them attention also. I have a HUGE oversized chair that I sit in nursing Annika during the day. I would allow Nut next to me while I nursed her on occasion. He's fine with her. I tell him to get down and he gets right down. They get use to it eventually.

Edward's Mommy replied:
This was what we did with Gruff and Edward. And the dog has been so protective of Edward since we brought him home from the hospital. Gruff has never had a problem with the baby. Never growled or snapped at him. He's been wonderful with the baby. When Gruff is eating a treat or playing with a toy and Edward comes up and pulls his hair or something, Gruff just picks up his treat/toy and moves away. But he's never snapped at the baby.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Well as hard as it may be for both you and Tobi, I would suggest getting him used to sleeping on the floor as soon as possible. Our dog Owen liked to sleep with us too, but I broke the habit when I was maybe 5 months pregnant. It took a lot of "no's" and "get down", but at least it wasn't happening at the exact time the baby came, kwim? You gotta give them time to get used to the adjustments. Also, as crazy as it sounds, we put a teddy bear in the baby Bjorn and walked around with it before the baby came. Owen was very curious, but somehow he seemed more gentle to the teddy bear and would sit patiently by my feet when I rocked the bear. Just so you know, Owen is a gentle dog most of the time, but he's an Akita, so he's a big dog and likes to jump on people, plus Akita's are total alphas. Anyhow, when Wil came, we just introduced them slowly and kept a good eye on Owen at all times. I used the word "gentle" when he got close and let him sniff, but never ever let him lick or lay next to Wil. Owen did mope around the house for the first week (they understand something is different), but he was back to his old self in no time. And now the two are close buds, like two little brothers who wrestle all the time!

CantWait replied: The most important thing is to do it NOW before the baby comes. If you wait, then the pets will only resent the baby. Basically what mysweetpeaWil said. A lot "no's" and "get down's". Don't leave the baby alone with the animals, I could only trust our lab after about 8 months or so when Anthony was finally crawling around. Before that he would growl everytime I placed the baby beside him. So if they growl or hiss, wait to take those cute pictures together until everyone is a happy little family and use to eachother. Don't give the cat or dog the baby's blankets ever either because they might feel territorial. You're lucky cause your dog is still at a young and trainable age. If you can afford it, take him to puppy training classes now. They also have classes for dogs in some areas where babies are entering the house. Good Luck.

PrairieMom replied: My Mutt "Lycos" was my baby before The Boy was born. We were best budds and did everything togeher. The morning I went into labor He stuck right beside me, it was like he knew something was "wrong". Ever since I brought the baby home Lycos and I really haven't been speaking. its been 3 years! He just waits until DH comes home. I try to play frisbee and all that with him, but he won't retrieve for me any more. my dog can really hold a grudge!

The one thing that we did was put the car seat in the Jeep early. Lycos would ride with us everywhere we went, and the seat needed to go where he liked to stand. I think it helped him adjust that way.