My Cat Scratched My Baby...I Need Advice

What about shutting the door for the room that your son sleeps in so the cat can't get in by him?? I have 2 cats and they were both declawed when they were a baby. I don't think it would be good to declaw a cat who is as old as yours is.

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.

thirded. Every cat I've ever owned has been declawed & spayed. They were indoor cats.

^ This. If you really find it difficult to choose between declawing a temperamental cat that has already hurt your child, and your child, then I think a little contemplation of priorities is in order.

I am a veterinarian, and declawing is not sick! I don't agree with it 100% of the time, but if it is a means to keep a cat in the home instead of turning it loose outside, giving it away, or relinquishing it to a shelter, I am for it. But, you must take into consideration, cats have teeth too, and even if you declaw, a cat that does not like a child may still find other ways to express this behavior.

I don't think it is fair to replace your cat with another kitten. You're just perpetuating the idea that pets are disposable if they do something you don't like or agree with. I understand the risk to your baby, but think of the emotional trauma it may have to your cat.

Declawing is an option, there are pain medications, and if done properly, all cats heal and do just fine.

Consider this, the new kitten you get may in the end decide it does not like your baby either.

I would accept responsibility for the one you have, or find a loving home for it elsewhere.

If it's a territory issue isn't it a risk to have her around the baby, declawed or not?

yes, and no.
if you declaw a cat, and it feels threatened, it will bite.

but cats can be trained.

I would declaw the cat. Your toddlers safety should trump the comfort of your cat. Then you get to keep the cat without worrying about this or something worse happening. Especially if you plan to have more kids.

Honestly, getting a new cat that is raised around kids isn't going to solve your issue. The cat could still get pissed off and scratch your child.

Giving your cat away seems more inhumane than declawing it at this point. I am all for declawing because that is what we have done with the multitude of cats we have rescued, but if you are truly against it then I would file and cap the cat's nails.

I am glad that your son is okay. Very fortunate! I think you see lots of suggestions beyond giving your kitty away or declawing her. Animals - even non cranky ones - sometimes bite and scratch. They don't mean it. If you love the kitty and want to keep her as part of your growing family, trim or cap those claws, give her a place to escape that is kid-proof so that she isn't "bothered" by curious little ones and as early on as possible, teach your babies that "kitty is afraid of you" so they don't approach her. Just my thoughts...good luck with this and again, I'm glad your son's injury wasn't super serious (even if it is still super scary!)

My advice is to get a dog.

Agreed! And a puppy at that. (Sorry, we take from the OP's post what we want to!)

We had a dog that had to be re-homed when he started growling at our then 7 month old daughter. The other dog she could pull the ears off and he'd let her but I'll never leave them alone together.

My cat has scratched my son on multiple occasions, never with the intent to hurt him, but merely as a byproduct of her swiping at him.

She's never been big on kids (namely loud, screechy kids like my kiddo), and we knew this when we had our son. But giving her away was never an option, and frankly, my son eventually needed to know that you need to respect the personal space of animals as well as people.

Unfortunately, he's going on 3, and has selective hearing, LOL.

So when we tell him, "Ben, leave Sabrina alone," and he doesn't, and continues to pester her, yeah, he gets a little scratch on the leg or hand or arm. He gets his feelings hurt more than anything, we clean it up and put an Angry Birds bandage on the scratch.

As time has gone on, though, he's learning more and more to just leave her alone. If it had been more of an issue, say, if she were scratching him out of pure evil malice, yeah, we'd take more drastic measures.

What it sounds like is your cat was scared and reacted because you guys didn't make sure his perceived "safety" was handled. That's more operator error than kitty's fault, in my opinion.

Take the time to really socialize your cat with baby, to show your baby that firstly, kitty needs their boundaries respected, and to show kitty that, despite the loud noises, baby is mostly harmless. Getting rid of a cat because of something like this is really unfair to the cat.

I had this situation when my older daughter was younger. And believe it or not, it worked itself out. Your kid is not stupid, he will learn to leave kitty alone. In no way am I trying to minimize what happened, but it probably isn't as bad as it seems.

Now my grumpy cat gets along great with my now twelve year old daughter. But my now 16 year old cat hates my two year old with the intensity of the sun. So we relearn how to leave the kitty alone and everyone is happy.

I would never declaw.