Pets
mommyof4boys
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
How do I kid proof my cats?
in Pets
Gwen Tennyson had her kitten appointment today. I was in the room with the kids as I have been since getting the kittens, and I caught Chris being rough with her. I caught him being rough with Super Kitty yesterday. He's 4 but has significant special needs. Christopher's speech is that of a 2 year old and what we understand is around a 18 month level. He functions around a 2 year old level. I took him aside and told him to use gentle hands with the kitty both times. I put him in a time out as well both times.
Re: How do I kid proof my cats?
Do the kittens have a safe, child-free space they can go to when they're stressed? That would probably help a lot. We use a lot of baby gates in our house, but I'm not sure if your son is already able to open those or not. If gates don't work, maybe a tall cat tower in a quiet part of the house?
Other than that, close supervision and consistent reminders of the rules are the best thing to do. We have a 14 month-old, and while he doesn't always remember consistently to be gentle, I can already see he's made a lot of progress in the past couple months. We spend a lot of time practicing gentle pets together, while I hold his hand, and we talk about how the kitty likes gentle pets but grabbing and pinching him make kitty sad. Usually with a little direction, he gets it right and everyone is good. If he's in a grabby mood and can't leave the kitty alone, we usually gently find the kitty a quieter place to nap (or he goes on his own).
We supervise interactions closely, and if we know we'll be doing something where we can't supervise, we usually try to keep pets and DS totally separated. That might be a good idea in the early stages, especially if your kittens are still small and easily injured.
GL! I am sure with more practice and more chances to talk about it, your son will enjoy learning how to handle the kittens gently.
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
5 cats. 1 baby.
They do have a few areas to be alone. Gwen usually goes by my computer area and Super Kitty likes my bed. I told them that the kittens are babies and he has to be gentle with them. He has an 11 month old cousin and he knows to be gentle with her. It's more he doesn't know how to say something and can be a bit rough if he wants them to move and he doesn't know how to say it. He's the same way with us.
Demonstrate gentle over and over and over and over and over and over. My 14 month old knows how to be gentle, but sometimes just gets way too excited. So I have to give reminders and demonstrations...and she's gotten a reminder or two from the cats as well. I don't take her aside unless she will not stop with a reminder and is hurting the cat. I would prefer she stay in contact with the cat (cat willing) and pet the kitty correctly.
I personally would not do too much time out when it comes to pets unless he is being intentionally nasty. You want to keep the interactions between your children and pets positive! Good luck!
And make sure the cats have a real space that your LO can't get to. My cats like the basement. I also usually keep Ro in the play room so the cats and Guinness have the living room.
The other posters have great advice. I'd also try to find some toys that your son can use to play with the cats without actually touching the cats (feather teasers, laser pointer). And maybe get your son a stuffed toy that you can redirect him to when he wants to "hug" a cat.