My Cat Scratched My Baby...I Need Advice

rachie25half

Declawing a cat is akin to cutting off fingers in a person. I agree with two of the suggestions: lock your cat up at night or whenever the child is sleeping and use the claw covers. Eventually your cat will probably get used to the child or else the child will grow up:) If you just get a new kitten, you don't know the personality s/he will have. If you ever get another cat, I would suggest an adult cat who you know gets along with kids and who needs to be re-homed. I agree that you have a responsibility to your animal.

newdaydawning79

I agree with the posters that say keep the cat, give the cat a place to hide from the kid, and the kid a place to play away from the cat. It's not that difficult. And cap the claws just in case. If you're afraid the cat will scratch you when you do it....wrap the cat in a towel, one person holds the cat firmly while the other takes one paw at a time out of the wrapping, clips the nail and puts the cap on. I have 3 cats, one with a rare auto-immune disease that makes her pads open wounds, always. This is what we have to do because the poor darling HURTS when we trim her claws, but we have to so they won't get embedded in her pads. She is the happiest, most loving cat in the world any other time but trust me, I've gotten scratched when we've tried to do this. Hence the towel. Works wonders.

vim_n_vigor

And I have both! Would still put my kid before my cat!

Teaching the baby that he is not allowed to play with the kitty is NOT putting the cat before the kid!!!

Right. But if kitty continues to scratch baby, then you have to make a decision about what's more important. Sounds like most people would choose to put the "feelings" of the kitty first (getting it declawed is cruel, getting rid of it is horrible, etc). If the kid is getting hurt because of the kitty, the kitty has to go.

I'm sorry... but if the cat was running away and trying to hide then it obviously wasn't the aggressor.

Nope, I still don't care who the aggressor was. Baby got hurt by the cat. Don't care why! The cat is the one that needs to go. My puppy learned to let my toddler climb on him, pull his ears and tail, without an agrressive response. Usually just a lick. It isn't that my baby is naughty, but because he is 20 months old and learning the world and testing his boundaries (and thinks the dog is fun to play with!). I live to protect my children, especially since they are at an age that they cannot protect themselves. As I've said, if my dog ever hurts one of the kids, it is him who leaves. No questions. My kids safety is #1 priority, not my dog's "feelings".

While we did train our puppy to not be aggressive to the kids at all, we also completely pulled the kids away from her if they ever tried to climb on her, pull on her, or do anything else that causes discomfort to her. When the kids were that young, the dog was just never allowed in the room alone with the kids because she deserved to be protected as much as they did. We showed the kids the proper way to treat an animal and the signs that the animal was done playing. IMO, letting your 20 month old do stuff like that to your dog is irresponsible.

OP - I'd do everything possible to have escape routes for your cat, and make sure that you don't live your child alone in the room with your cat. Take the cat out with you when you leave the room and put her where she can't get to your child. When you do have the two of them in the same room and your cat is calm, try to get a few minutes here and there where you and your child play with your cat together. Teach them how to interact together in short sessions.

As far as the claws - I don't feel it is inhumane to declaw a cat, but I don't know that it will really be helpful. As others have noted, the cats tend to bite for protection after the claws are removed. I think keeping them apart and making sure they are never alone in the room is the best approach.