My Cat Scratched My Baby...I Need Advice

TheRoadDog

Don't see what the problem is. Cat vs child? Child wins every time.


Had a similar situation with a cat many years ago. I took it for a ride. Had a dog that liked to dig around my gas pipe. Took her for a ride. Nobody in my family ever called me on it. They didn't want to go for a ride.

DanceFittDiva

I fear this.
My daughter is only 5m old - and so far my cats just keep away from her. I hope this continues to be the case. They dont loathe her - but they never stay in the same room.

I had those glue on caps for the claws. Two of my 3 cats - they didnt shed off properly and the nail grew so long it was pushing into the pads on their feet - I had to chew them off.
The other chewed her own off in a couple days - so not always a good solution.

I do however clip my cats nails routinely.

Wait a minute... you CHEWED on your cats claws??? How did this ever even become an option? Gross. :huh: :noway:

xFamousLastWordsx

Cats are awesome, I would get rid of the kid. The cat was there first, after all.

:laugh: This would be my first thought, only because I love cats and think children are vile.

But seriously, you had your cat first...to rehome her or to declaw her I think is unfair. Supervise them if they are together, otherwise find a way to keep them apart till your child is old enough to understand how to handle a cat, is it really that complicated? :sick:

justkate88

I've not read through all the pages here so I'm unsure what has been said.

Declawing a cat is illegal where I live (in the UK) and with very good reason (in my opinion). It's inhumane and cruel (again, my opinion, we're all entitled to them). Cats use their claws to jump and climb and to hold their food (if you feed chunks of meat, suppose it doesn't apply to dry kibble-y stuff). They are like their fingers. Would you like it if somebody chopped your fingers off?

My two cats are both indoor cats, and I keep their claws regularly trimmed, as they seem to prefer walls and furniture to scratching posts!

It's really important to make sure your child is safe, but it isn't fair to punish your cat for her behaviour either. Make sure that they are supervised when together. Give your cat plenty of hiding places and things to do. Show her love - let her know she isn't second best to this little intruder to her family (that's how she might see it!). If she has a special place she likes to sleep, or a basket, pop one of your baby's blankets in there that smells of him.

MsDover

between declawing or putting her down...

declaw....

while I love animals and I rescue (I have a rescued pitty currently), I feel that our first responsibility is to our human children's safety, then the animals.

Absolutely, this! I'd try the Soft Paws first, but if it comes down to putting the cat down and having it declawed, I'd go for declawing every time! I had a very destructive young cat that was destroying everything in my home. After some discussion it wad decided that the best option was to have her declawed, a procedure I had always been dead set against. She was FINE. Still went through the motions of sharpening the non-existent claws and could even climb very nicely using a combination of lightening speed and her intact back claws. I would still see it as a last resort because I know some cats don't do well, but again, if it's between putting her down and removing her claws, it seems like the best option.

IowaJen1979

My cat had some litterbox issues that stemmed from anxiety. After moving, losing a cat to illness, starting a new job, and adopting a dog, she was pretty wound up and would go outside of the litterbox if I was away overnight or if I had houseguests. I took her to the vet to get checked out and she was perfectly healthy, so my vet recommended a couple of things:

Feliway room diffuser. I used this before with some success. The problem is you have to have one in every room in order for them to work. I had a diffuser in the living room and she started pooping/peeing in other rooms instead.

Sentry Calming Collar. I had HUGE success with this. I change the collar once a month. She is back to her old self and is even nice to my dog (who she used to HATE). I haven't had any litter box issues since except for once when she ate some cheese sauce that I left out and got sick.

I would definitely take her to your vet to get checked out and ask their advice. It is an added expense but it is so helpful.

LoraF83

declaw the cat. I am an animal lover and have rescued stray dogs and cats just in case ppl start flaming me.

I would do this.

Me too. Pets are great - I'm a former dog trainer (positive reinforcement only!) and animal rescuer. Kids are more important than pets.

Either find the cat a new home, declaw the cat, or get those soft paws things.

KatrinaWilke

None of these options address the real issue, and all of them are, frankly, irresponsible.

Your cat scratched your child because it had no means of escape. You said yourself that the only means of escape (a door) was closed. Big red flags. Your cat didn't lash out for no reason. It felt trapped and threatened.

You need to 1. Teach your child to leave the cat alone. Period. When your child is older, then they can be reintroduced. 2. In doing number 1, you should be able to ensure that your child NEVER traps your cat anywhere. Period. The cat should always have a means of escape, and not just "oh, kitty can go out the door." There needs to be cat trees, shelving, something that the cat can get up off of the floor onto and get out of reach of your child completely at all times. Also, you could probably stand to divert your cat's attention away from the child with more exercise - this is one way that you can reintroduce them later. Make the child part of the play time for the cat. It's part of the bonding process.

Don't get rid of the cat and then replace it with another cat. Just because a kitten grows up with children doesn't mean that it'll like them or that your child won't get bitten or scratched, and you don't seem to understand enough about cat behavior to know why this is happening - so what's going to happen to that kitten when it bites your child? It's going to end up at the pound too. Your cat's behavior is totally normal in a fight or flight situation, and to replace a cat because you can't address the issue at hand is irresponsible. If you aren't willing to address the issue, which is really with your child and the cat's lack of safe space, not with the cat, then rehome the cat and stay a cat-free home. Declawing is an awful practice, and your cat shouldn't be punished.

^^Perfect!!! :flowerforyou: My dog Cocoa is 7 years old and loves all humans including children and babies. When she was a puppy, my 5 year old neice cornered her and was pushing her and shoving her face against her. Cocoa started to growl warning her to get away. As I was rushing over there to separate the two of them, I repeatedly told my neice to stop. Of course what 5 year old listens to anyone! So my neice kept on messing with the dog and she got nipped on the cheek. There was no blood and the skin didn't break, it just caused a red scratch. But I didn't even think for a second about getting rid of my dog. Things like this happen. Animals learn to socialize with humans and kids learn to stop torturing animals. And most importantly I learned how to monitor my dog and kids better!!

YAYJules

Haven't read all the replies, but the right answer is

* Teach your child, even at 14 months old, to respect your cat's autonomy. Do not let him chase her or grab her or manhandle her the way toddlers will. Supervise them when they are together in a room. All pets and small children should be supervised when they are together. Pets are animals, and they react instinctively without understanding the consequences. Always allow your cat an escape route to a safe place. Do not let your child disturb the cat when she is in her safe place. Be a responsible owner and a vigilant mother and control the interactions between your child and your pet.

All of this. Owning a pet requires responsibility. So does having a baby. You took on those responsibilities when choosing to adopt the pet and have the baby. Punishing the cat for your mistake is asinine. Retrain yourself instead, since that's the problem.

ldrosophila

Declaw.

It's a better option than having her euthanized destroyed, giving her to a home and hoping they take care of her, leaving her outdoors to fight the elements, dogs, cars, and other cats. It also gives you a chance to breathe and an opportunity for your toddler to grow and learn how to handle an animal. Yes, he's too young now to handle the cat but he can observe your interaction and learn how to have empathy for another creature. I was always the kid with my face in the dog or my nose on the cat's tummy. I suffered my fair share of bites and scratches it taught me about animal behavior and how to read body language.

squirrelzzrule22

Yikes you guys are sensitive! I used to pester the cat ALL the time when I was really little and that little feline scratched the crap out of me. My mom would wash out the cut and tell me to stop pestering the cat. There was NONE of this freaking out involved. Give the cat a space or room it can be alone in if you are seriously concerned it is going to do serious damage but its not a wild tiger, its not going to prey on the kids so the real concern is kids being kids and running around pulling its tail and whacking it and all the other things that ANY normal kid would do when trying to play. A house cat is simply NOT going to kill a child or seriously maim it. A scratch, even near or on the eye, is not going to destroy your kid as long as its properly washed (kitty claws are nasty.) There are definitely ways to keep them both safe. Give the cat a space it can be alone, raise your kid to not pester animals. I know he's not old enough yet, but it seriously shouldn't be that hard to separate them. I'm massively perplexed by this entire thread.

Lifting_Knitter

We had to get rid of ours because her jealousy was so high and she kept attacking everyone. It was hard but she really was angry (prior abused animal) and we couldn't handle it.

melbot24

"If you do get her declawed, you may also want to rip out your child's fingernails so that they can't scratch themselves. It's only fair."

Seriously?
Gosh, cat people can be such weirdos.

odusgolp

I fear this.
My daughter is only 5m old - and so far my cats just keep away from her. I hope this continues to be the case. They dont loathe her - but they never stay in the same room.

I had those glue on caps for the claws. Two of my 3 cats - they didnt shed off properly and the nail grew so long it was pushing into the pads on their feet - I had to chew them off.
The other chewed her own off in a couple days - so not always a good solution.

I do however clip my cats nails routinely.

Wait a minute... you CHEWED on your cats claws??? How did this ever even become an option? Gross. :huh: :noway:

WHOA. How did we miss this! This is WAY more fun to critique than the OP. :glasses:

msaestein1

You made a commitment to the cat when you brought it home. I understand that you want to keep your kid safe, but that means making sure the cat has an escape route or a "safe zone". In my opinion, getting rid of your cat isn't an option.

BUT, I'll tell you that I had a cat for 16 years that was the meanest thing that ever lived. He bit me all the time, we weren't allowed to pet him (my husband could sometimes, but never me), often I'd be asleep and would wake up to him biting me through the comforter so hard he broke skin because my leg accidentally touched where he was sleeping. A few times he went nuts and acted feral, attacking us and acting like he didn't know us. We had a vet visit after the first time and they couldn't find anything, the other times we had to have them do a house call to sedate him. No vet could explain it, but the closest thing we got to an answer was that there was just something wrong with his head.

Since we brought him home as a kitten, so tiny he fit into the palm of my hand, we committed to taking care of him. Getting rid of him was never an option.

When I had my son the cat learned to hide, my son learned to avoid the cat, once my son was bitten so hard it broke skin and we had to have a course of antibiotics, but for 4 years we made it work and my son learned not to bother the cat. When he was too young to understand this we used a baby gate with a cut out place in the bottom so the cat could go in and out of our bedroom (his safe zone) and my son couldn't get in there. He died last year of cancer, when he got sick we did everything we could for him because we chose to bring him home 16 years before and that was a commitment we made, in the end he could no longer eat or walk and we had to have him put down. It was really sad, and even though he was a beast, we miss him. I would never get another cat again because of this experience (not a kitten, at least), but when you make a commitment to an animal you don't have the right to throw them away just because you changed something in your life. We moved a lot, we sometimes had to pay more to keep him, we sometimes had to pass up beautiful apartments because they didn't allow cats, but getting rid of our cat was never an option. I volunteer at a shelter and the number of people who take on a pet and then dump it when they decide they want something else in life makes me sick. I met a dog yesterday who was the sweetest thing ever, 8 years old, his family had him since he was a puppy and he never did anything wrong. They dumped him at the shelter because they were moving and didn't want to bother with him, they were just "too busy" to have a dog anymore.

So, make it work.

I commend you and agree with you about not dumping animals. I had a friend who dumped her dog because he would pee when she was at work. if she had trained him the right way, he wouldn't have done it! However, I agree with getting rid of an abusive animal. I could never put up with the abuse you endured from your cat. Sometimes, animals just don't like their owners. I think its not right to 'force' the animal to stay with you in that situation. I know your situation was different, because your cat was sick, but some people have to get rid of abusive pets. You are a better woman than me.

Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door

get rid of the cat

bgelliott

No bainer...good bye kitty! Find the cat a good home with an older family who have grown kids and don't plan to have more!

Rivers2k

If our cat ever did that, he would be dinner.

Agreed!

I love my dog but if it ever harmed my children its all over for the animal! Children are more important than animals.

Iron_Feline

I've not read through all the pages here so I'm unsure what has been said.

Declawing a cat is illegal where I live (in the UK) and with very good reason (in my opinion). It's inhumane and cruel (again, my opinion, we're all entitled to them). Cats use their claws to jump and climb and to hold their food (if you feed chunks of meat, suppose it doesn't apply to dry kibble-y stuff). They are like their fingers. Would you like it if somebody chopped your fingers off?

My two cats are both indoor cats, and I keep their claws regularly trimmed, as they seem to prefer walls and furniture to scratching posts!

It's really important to make sure your child is safe, but it isn't fair to punish your cat for her behaviour either. Make sure that they are supervised when together. Give your cat plenty of hiding places and things to do. Show her love - let her know she isn't second best to this little intruder to her family (that's how she might see it!). If she has a special place she likes to sleep, or a basket, pop one of your baby's blankets in there that smells of him.

I agree with this 100%

I'm also from the UK and here we think de-clawing cats is barbaric and so its been made illegal - as it is in a large number of countries.

melbot24

To further prove my point...

http://www.amazon.com/Crafting-Cat-Hair-Cute-Handicrafts/dp/1594745250