Random -pregnant with pets!!

[babyblue_eyes]

Ok guys got a bit of a random question /rant.

i am an animal lover and i have 2 dogs and 2 young 7 month old kittens.
well it really bugs me what certain ppl have said since finding out im pregnant, that ill have to get rid of the cats and possibly the dogs i was furious. they are not disposable they are living breathing lil personalitys who are a big part of our family which we love to pieces.

obviously we have to be a bit cautious when the baby does come along even though our dogs are the most placid gentle natures but you can never trust any dog 100% !
and i have heard storys that cats will smell the milk on the baby and smother it by sitting on it- dont know if that is true or not ? the pets will be kept away from the baby room anyways.

it just does annoy me when i see adverts for poor dogs up for sale because the owners are expecting a baby surely when u have a dog you know the life expectancy so why get a dog if u know further down the line your simply going 2 get rid!! ooofff it annoys me.!! sorry rant over lol

my question is do any of you have pets and a new arrival?? and if its really hard or easy to cope.??

obviously atm my oh is on poop duty which i think shes thrilled at pmsl

 

[Chaos]

We have two cats, we got them before the baby arrived and would never dream of getting rid of them.

If they are indoor cats that do not dig in the garden or eat small mammals they are at a lot less of a risk of having toxoplasmosis.

Even tho ours are indoor cats, 90% of the time, the DH would scoop the tray, and when I did, I'd wear some gloves and just wash my hands well afterwards.

Just use common sense. As long as you aint licking the litter tray or scooping it then going to eat with out washing your hands, you'll be fine.

 

[Clara85]

Hiya

I know exactly what you mean - I was brought up with animals my whole life and now have 3 cats and 2 rabbits , and would love to get a dog in the future!

So long as you are careful there is no reason not to have animals with babies in the house, I am preg with our first so I only have the experince of looking after friends and familys babies but cats just stay away or when I was a baby our cats would sleep at the door to my room!

 

[carrieanne]

i have no 5 on the way 9 dogs 2 cats and never had a problem some people are so ignorant where kids and animals are concerned take the correct precautions and you cant go wrong xxxx

 

[Razcox]

Gerrr this is a pet hate of mine! We knew when we got our dogs that as a young couple babies were on the cards in our dogs lifetime, so before getting them we decided if we would be able to cope or not. Now i have 3 dogs and 2 are dogs i show and plan to breed, they are a huge part of my life as well as members of our family. When my MIL found out about the she said right away that we will have to convert the shed for them!!! My furbabies are not living in a SHED!!!

 

[veganmum2be]

i have 5 rats at the moment, and a ferret, however the ferret is actualy going to a new home tonight.
she was OH responsability before he left, now i have the burden of her and the rats, which is alot of cage cleaning! she is also a biter, and i couldn't possibly keep her with a baby, she would just be in her cage to long.
so upset today though, i love her. but shes not going to get the life she deserves being with me now.
ee the stress of animals! but couldn't be without one. xxx

 

[Kitten-B]

That would annoy the life out of me! We have 2 cats (2 years old), and hope when we tell people about being pregnant that we don't get any comments like that. I am looking forward to our little furry babies being our own baby's first pets! They are indoor cats - totally not what we intended but on a main road and it's too hard to let them out! No doubt my mum will give me grief about letting them outside at the very least.

We got the kittens from an animal santuary and i think one of the questions on the application form was will you keep them should you become pregnant etc.

I guess we just have to be careful about leaving them alone in a room with the baby - shouldn't be too hard, quite used to not being able to leave them alone in a room with anything breakable already!

 

[midori1999]

We have 4 dogs, 2 cats, around 50 snakes and about 100 rodents. (mice, rats, multimammates and a hamster) No one has suggested any of them should go, as they know I am as likely to rehome any of them as I am my existing children, it just won't happen.

Sadly, I am now on bedrest until I deliver, so DH is in charge of caring for them all, but he doesn't complain and also wouldn't dare suggest I get rid of any of them.

 

[Mei190]

My family haven't suggested I get rid of my pets but I think they are definitely worried about my Chi. She does have a tendency to play bite with everyone apart from me, but I would never dream of getting rid of her! She is gentle with me so she will just have to learn to be with the child. My parents had Dobermans before I was born and unfortunately one snapped at me when I was a baby so my mother is a lil' bit paranoid about my pets situation. I also have a conure, not a problem though

 

[Razcox]

i have 5 rats at the moment, and a ferret, however the ferret is actualy going to a new home tonight.
she was OH responsability before he left, now i have the burden of her and the rats, which is alot of cage cleaning! she is also a biter, and i couldn't possibly keep her with a baby, she would just be in her cage to long.
so upset today though, i love her. but shes not going to get the life she deserves being with me now.
ee the stress of animals! but couldn't be without one. xxx

Its hard to rehome any pets but sometimes it is for the best for them. My ferret a few years ago got out of her hutch (still no idea how she did it, i checked all 6 ft of the thing and could find a gap or hole anywhere!) and got bitten by the dog. She was ok but it made her very nery and bittey as well as being terrified of the dogs. So i rehomed her to a working home with other ferrets where there were no dogs.

I love rats and this is the first time we dont have any since i was 15, our last old boy died about 8 months ago and we decided the dogs were taking up to much of our time as well as the risk to the little furries for us to get anymore just now. I do miss my furry little friends and will be getting some from a proper bredder not a pet shop next year i hope.

 

[Jo_banana]

Well we had 2 cats when my so was born and it was fine. One poor cat died (knocked down!) soon after so we then just had the one. When he was a tiny baby I would never leave him alone with the cat, nor would I leave him sleeping in a situation where the cat could get to him. I was careful to supervise when they did "play" (you know, pieces of string dragging along, that type of thing). All fine. Fast forward 8 years. He bloomin' loves the cat and is wonderful with animals. He has grown up learning how to take care of the cat, how to handle him and how to consider a pet's needs - in that we, the owners, have a big responsibility to feed, water and make sure the pets under are care are healthy and happy. You can't learn that type of thing from a textbook.

 

[veganmum2be]

i have 5 rats at the moment, and a ferret, however the ferret is actualy going to a new home tonight.
she was OH responsability before he left, now i have the burden of her and the rats, which is alot of cage cleaning! she is also a biter, and i couldn't possibly keep her with a baby, she would just be in her cage to long.
so upset today though, i love her. but shes not going to get the life she deserves being with me now.
ee the stress of animals! but couldn't be without one. xxx

Its hard to rehome any pets but sometimes it is for the best for them. My ferret a few years ago got out of her hutch (still no idea how she did it, i checked all 6 ft of the thing and could find a gap or hole anywhere!) and got bitten by the dog. She was ok but it made her very nery and bittey as well as being terrified of the dogs. So i rehomed her to a working home with other ferrets where there were no dogs.

I love rats and this is the first time we dont have any since i was 15, our last old boy died about 8 months ago and we decided the dogs were taking up to much of our time as well as the risk to the little furries for us to get anymore just now. I do miss my furry little friends and will be getting some from a proper bredder not a pet shop next year i hope.

hehe! yes i have had rats sinse i first got 2 at 15, i've had well over 50 rescues, fosters and pets.
i'm at my lowest ammount in a long time with having only 5.
i too got my first 2 breeder rats last year, and am amazed with the 'quality' so to speak, they really are like different animals compared to the pet shops and the rescues. i still will always take in rescues though, i like rats with troubled pasts and weird habbits lol!
xxxx

 

[brunettebimbo]

Yeh I know what you mean! It is so annoying!

We have an 19 months old Labrador and she is so gentle and placid, my sister said I will have to get rid! I mean why do I? She is ok with H2B's other 2 children and is brilliant around babies, she even gets upset when a baby crys!

I also have a cat which I guess she is going to be my main problem, she doesn't like being touched unless she comes to you and she keeps bringing animals into the house I still won't get rid of her though!

 

[Flower]

I can't understand why people get rid of pets just because of a baby - to me the animals are part of the family!

I've got 2 x elderly cats and 2 x house rabbits (who live free-range, but locked in a room at night). Didn't really do anything differently, but the moment one of the cats got in the buggy, I shooed her out. I know my cats, and one of them sleeps in the nursery chair with LO, but LO is older now. (not when he was younger tho)

When he was first born tho - I think one of them got jealous and tried to sleep next to him all the time, (on the sofa etc) which was fine, because I was always there and never left them unattended.

Now tho the cats avoid him, all they want is peace and quiet!

Just ignore what people say, you're an adult with common sense and you know you're pets.

 

[jojoD]

People have been saying to me, 'Oh the dogs will be out on their ear now!'

I'm like NO they flaming well wont be!!!!!!!!
I love my dogs and they've been part of our family for five years. They are going no where. Of course I'll be careful and all that but I will love my dogs just the same. I think its wonderful for children to grow up with pets!!

 

[flutterbaby]

got a cat and dog and i'd never get rid of them just watch them carefully lol my cousin bit her lil sisters tip of finger when she was a baby but my aunt didn't get rid of her and my big bro dragged me out of the bouncy chair as it was his old one off the side in kitchen and my mom still kept him although i don't know why lol some people lol

 

[birdy]

i've heard this too huni i have a giant rotti lol she is the most loving dog in the world, and i've had people telling me that my dog will bite and my when it arrives!!! just don't listen if u trust ur pets then u won't have a problem xxx

 

[babyblue_eyes]

Thanks guys for all ur lovely reply's seems like alot of you are as mad as me for having more than 1 pet lol.

I cannot wait to watch the baby interact with my lot he/she will learn so much about pet care and not only that but a family isnt really a family without a pet in the mix.
i grew up with pets around and so will my child it will be hard trying to watch them all of the time but well worth it bring it on i say!!!

 

[Babeonthego]

I defo wont be getting rid of my snow doggy however I will have to make some changes. A major issue when baby arrives is the amount of hair that he sheds. Its extremely un hygenic to have that around a baby. However we will be building a big doggy run out the garden for him with his toys and everything. It saddens me that i cant keep him in the house but huskys love the outdoors anyway

 

[Razcox]

I have Northern Inuits that moult as much as our old husky did but a combo of a good hoover and a furnimator keep the hair down. They are about £15 for a comb type thing but they are great.

I think people get a bit over paranoid about things now with babies, i grew up on a small holding with all sorts of animals and slept in the dog basket! I was forever covered in mud and hair but now as an adult i have no alligies and when i was little i was never ill. Maybe we are all a bit too eager to be too clean these days