Prego/cat Question?

I have 3 cats. And I kept them all and didn't do anything different from what I normally do. And nothing bad happened. I will write more later when I have more time. ;)

I have never owned a cat, but one thing my sister did when she was pregnant was put a mesh "tent" over the crib to keep her 2 cats out. Not so much for fear of the cats smothering the baby, but to keep the cat hair off the sheets/blanket and avoid the cats "mistaking" the crib for a litter box. Her kids are now 10,7, and 4 and they have never had any trouble with the cats. As others have said, just don't clean the litter box without proper protection to avoid toxoplasmosis.

Oh jeez you have been talking to my ex mother in law haven't you.

They don't do anything to the babies. I have had four kids always having at least one cat in the house, they are all still alive.

Just make your husband clean the litter box and you both will be fine.

I didnt change a thing. I had 2 cats when pregnant and they lived long lives and my boys grew up with them.
Just wash your hands if you deal with the litterbox, but that's a no-brainer anyway.

I jumped on the opportunity to have someone else clean the litter box, and that's the only thing I did. I had two cats when my daughter was born, one could have cared less he just wanted to be loved on. I think he thought "one more person to pet me" and would rub up on her and look at her funny when she didn't oblige him with ear scratches, but bless him he kept on trying. The other cat was mostly curious and would sit at the foot of her crib for hours staring at her while she slept. Every time the baby would move the cat would jump back in surprise then slink up and look at her face, then settle back at the foot of the crib and stare some more. It was actually pretty funny. That cat was 7 when my daughter was born and lived to be 19. Her and my daughter were great friends and let me tell you it was a bad bad day in my house when we lost her.

She'll be fine! The only thing you have to do is tell your OB you have a cat so they can test you to see if you're immune to Toxoplasmosis. It's a simple blood test they can do with your other labs. This is something that generally will only affect you if your cat is an outdoor cat, in regular contact with wild animals that carry a multitude of diseases...there is a slight risk, if you turn out to not be immune to it, that you will have to abstain from scooping the litter throughout your pregnancy (oh bummer!). Your hubby will be endowed with that luxury. :) Very simple, very routine, just tell your OB. In terms of the cat jumping on the baby in the night, if that's what you're worried about, I think that's an outrageous myth. I've had 2 babies and our cats have been with us before both of them. They've all lived harmoniously together! My babies are now 2 and 4; the kitties turned 9 this year. :)

Nothing really. The cat herself can't hurt you. SOME cats carry bacteria(??) in their feces which is dangerous. So, I had my husband change the litter and I washed my hands if I petted her. I also didn't roughhouse with her so I wouldn't get scratched, which she never has done anyway. If you have to change the litter, wear gloves. Don't worry. I feel so bad for cats - there are a lot of myths about cats and pregnancy and a lot of lovely animals are put out of their homes because of it.

My cat was even more lovey-dovey with me than usual when I was pregnant. Aside from being a tripping hazard, I didn't do anything unusual. Just because "they say to" my husband took care of the litter box, but your cat has to carry toxoplasmosis, you have to NOT be immune to it, and then you have to ingest it for you to get the infection. Lots of big "ifs" have to add up, so it is just a standard precaution but not a huge risk.

Unless your cat is aggressive toward people, she shouldn't be a problem with a baby. We have pictures of our cat sitting in all the baby equipment trying it out, sniffing the newborn in the carrier, and generally just being a part of our family. Our cat has always had full access to our house and slept in the kids' beds (including the crib, but not once the kids were mobile and pulled his hair). If you're still worried, you can also talk to your vet about your concerns. He or she knows cats better than most of us.

The only change we made was my husband always changed the litter box. We had a mature female cat when our son was born and my parents had a younger cat. Neither of them caused any trouble. We "introduced" the baby to both cat and they were a bit curious,but otherwise fine. We found a kitten when our son was about 6months old and the biggest problem with the kitten was he thought he should have the same food as my son. 10 years later, he's still that way. Talk with your doctor and good luck.

Ok, so I worked for a vet and she still took care of her cats while she was pregnant. What the woman before stated is the absolute truth!! You only have to be worried about scooping the poop and only if your cat is an outside cat. If you are concerned, make your hubby do it, again as was already said. You will get a nice break from it :) I have 2 cats and now 3 kids and NO problems what so ever!! My cats were and are fantastic with the baby/my girls. They love my kids and the kids love my cats dearly. It is very precious. I got tested, but only b/c I worked for a vet, otherwise, it wasn't necessary. Good luck!

The only thing I did was give litter duty to someone else :)

We kept her. And if our poor cat had not died a month ago, we would still have one. Cats can be great with babies. Just make sure someone else changes the litter pan. if you must, then wear disposable gloves and a mask and wash your handds very thoroughly after. When we had triplets, our cat could not care less. She should come over and sniff them, then go hide somewhere. If they were moving around, she would watch. It is not true that a cat will try to smother a baby because of the milk scent. If anything, they might try to cuddle to the baby for warmth. With my little one, our cat checked her out and that was it. Of course, as a toddler my daughter was a little rough and the cat would defend herself but not terribly and only got rough right back when she really could have gotten hurt but never really did anything to my daughter. For our first cat, we did end up getting rid of her because she was being neglected. With triplets you can get so busy. We were both asking each other "did you feed her-no thought you did" and we ended up moving to an apartment not allowing her. But she got a great home through PAWS with a woman looking for an older cat.

I worked in an animal hospital when I was pregnant, and I cleaned litter boxes every day, several times a day. I also had two cats, and cleaned their litter boxes. I just wore gloves and washed my hands after.

I asked the vets I worked for about toxoplasmosis, and was told that cats get it from ingesting infected mice and birds. If your cats are indoor only, you don't have to worry about it. It's also extremely rare, so even if your cats go outside and hunt, there is very little chance of their picking it up.

If you're not ingesting the cat feces, you really don't need to worry about it.

We didn't do anything different with our cat when I was pregnant. My DH cleaned the little box and I wore gloves if I had too. She was also declawed so I didn't have to worry about getting scratched. She was almost 9 years old when my son was born and she really didn't care that he was there. I did allow her to check out the nursery (did the same with the dogs) and she never when in there after that. Sadly she passed away earlier this year at the ripe old age of 12.

I have 2 cats and I am due anyday now. I never had any problems with the cats with my first so I am not worried about the second. When I was in the hospital my husband brought home my daughters hat so that they can smell it. They were so good with her. Everytime she cried they would both come and stare at her. It was almost as if they were checking to make sure she was ok. When she was in the pack n play they would look in and watch her. One of my cats would lay by her crib and when she cried he would meow as if to tell her mommy and daddy are coming. Later on one cat wanted nothing to do with her cause she threw the remote at him. But he is starting to warm up to her again. She is 3 1/2 now and she helps me to feed them. When I was pregnant the first time the cat would lay on my tummy and purr. My daughter kicked him and he starred at my belly for a while and then laid back down. It was too funny. With this one he kicked the other cat and he sniffed my belly and laid back down.
I was alittle worried in the beginning about the cats also. My doctor told me that when I came home from the hospital to have my husband carry the baby and for me to go in first and give them some attention. Which I did and everything turned out fine. Alot of what you hear is old wives tales about cats. Like they steal the babies breath. That is not true. As long as you keep giving your cat some attention and don't ignore him once the baby comes you will be fine. They will adjust to the changes. Best of luck!

Um, nothing. I had cats through both my pregnancies and cats and kids are just fine. I didn't change the litter box because of the feces, but that's it.

I was worried, too. I watched my daughter's cradle the entire night to ensure the cat didn't jump in. I thought for sure she would be jealous. But since my cat loved me, she tolerated the hard petting, the blocks being left next to her while on her cat bed and even tail pulling. She never showed interest in going into the crib (perhaps due to her advanced age). The cat accepted that there was a new member of the family. Besides, the cat knows that you're pregnant. She knows what is coming.

I had 4 cats when I got pregnant. I heard all the old wives tales about cats and babies and had many unsolicited opinions on the dangers my cats would pose to my baby. Um, I was not getting rid of my pets. :)

I did abide by the rule of not changing the litter boxes - my wonderful neighbor and best friend at the time came over every day and did that for me throughout my entire pregnancy.

I did keep the cats away from the baby's things and out of his room while I was getting it is ready. And I did keep them confined to the spare bedroom when I first brought the baby home. But, what I discovered was the cats had absolutely no interest in the little human that I brought home and they went out of their way to avoid him.

The one cat that was particularly attached to me would wind up laying next to me while I nursed because he was used to being in my lap whenever I was sitting down. That cat became my son's squish toy - he would lay on the cat, hug the cat, I think the cat was the first thing my son crawled to. I have many pictures of him, with a paci in mouth, laying on top of that poor cat. When my son started walking he would pick the poor thing up and carry it around the house - the cats back legs would be dragging across the floor - and the cat never once snarled, hissed, or swiped at my son. He just tolerated it all. The other ones - eh, maybe a little smarter, they avoided the boy :)

I honestly never had any issues with the cats and my son.

Really, it will be fine.

God Bless

unless you have your cats outside, they eat raw meat or you do a lot of gardening - you have very little to worry about. Toxoplasmosis is in soil too in larger amounts than in cat feces (and dog, cow, any animal that is outside often!!).

I have 13 cats this 2nd pregnancy and had 6 cats my 1st pregnancy. 1st pregnancy I was alone and did my own kitty litter. 2nd my husband thankfully took over that yucky chore. You can wear a regular white mask over your nose and mouth and wash your hands thoroughly after doing the kitty litter.

Cats will love getting into the crib, carrier, etc but will most likely avoid the actual baby. My cats pretend my baby isn't even here, unless it's crying and it's more of an annoyed "what is that sound?!"

We had 2 cats when I had my first baby. My husband changed the litterbox pretty often so I didn't do it much if at all while pregnant. I kept the babys room closed when she was sleeping in her crib, and we got a baby monitor so we could hear her if she cried at night. Neither cat EVER jumped in her crib, I basically made babys room off limits anyway just in case.

Nothing. The rest of the family already took care of the litter and while they were curious, a few squirts of the water bottle and they stayed out of the crib and swing but they did check it out. Didn't have any trouble at all, and ours are not declawed or anything. OB said I would be more likely to get parasites while gardening than from indoor-only cats. Cats learn pretty quick to move when Baby gets moving. Unless they like being chew toys. ;) We have a hilarious picture of DD with this evil look in her eye, and two fists full of the one cat's hair. He has a "uh oh" look on his face, but he just took it. I think she was more of a problem for THEM (pet NICE, DD!) than they were for her.

We had an indoor cat when I was pregnant. She passed away before my son was 4 months old, so I can't give you any info past that. But she wasn't even interested in him at all and he wasn't mobile enough to annoy her. If your cat is an indoor cat, there are no issues with litter box changing because the parasites that are an issue during pregnancy come from outside/other animals. But heck, make the hubby do it cause you're not gonna want to bend over as you get further along (LOL!).