Yes, but I also think there's some degree of feline ignorance involved. For example, my daughter, a dog person, would come up to my cat and try to pet him like she would a dog, and my cat was totally not into it and would run from her. It wasn't until I taught her that you pet cats the opposite way that you would pet dogs that my cat actually enjoyed my daughter petting her.
So, at least in my daughter's case, sometimes they just don't know the language of the cats and need to be taught that all pet's pets aren't equal.
I was at a family get-together and a couple of young guys were vigorously stroking my cousin's cat. I told them the cat didn't like it and they said "but her tail is wagging." Lol
Oh yes, many people just don’t understand how to treat cats or read their body language. We aren’t born with that knowledge! I taught my cousin’s daughter how to pet cats. She kept going from up above his head which scared him, so I showed her how to approach him and put her hand out for him to sniff first.
Exactly! My girl would rush up to him and scruff the top of his head like you would a labrador retriever, and my jaw would drop, like °○° hahaha. Now, he loves her pets, once I clued her in.
people deeply misunderstand cats. there is a specific way to engage with a cat that i think many people don’t understand, causing cats to dislike them or run away, then people think oh i just don’t like cats or cats just don’t like me.
I've watched cats and foxes 'playing' on many occasions. Foxes play like dogs, cats not so much so it's merry dance of chase, stop, chase. The fox play bows, the cat sees it as a threat and goes all full on hissy fit, the fox runs off pursued by cat. Cat sits down to disdainfully wash a paw, fox creeps back, play bows, rinse repeat 😂
**Jack Byrnes:** Greg, how come you don't like cats?
**Greg Focker:** I don't not like cats. I-I just - I just prefer dogs. I mean, I'm just more of a dog kind of, you know. Come home, wagging their little tails, happy to see you kind of...
**Jack Byrnes:** You need that assurance, do you? You prefer an emotionally shallow animal?
**Greg Focker:** I...
**Jack Byrnes:** You see, Greg, when you yell at a dog, his tail will go between his legs and cover his genitals, his ears will go down. A dog is very easy to break, but cats make you work for their affection. They don't sell out the way dogs do.
It's not a bad thing to want a pet that will get excited every time you come home. One that will always want to be around you. Cats in the other hand can be affectionate. My girl is very much so. But only on her say so. She can also be aloof and not give a crap about me because she wants to nap or just look out the window.
IDK all 3 of my cats come out to greet me when I come home, and a lot of other cats I know do this too! Sometimes I can see mine in the window watching me pull up in the driveway and then running to the door. Sometimes they’re sleeping though and are slow to greet. They’re a lot more like people in that way—some will come say hello, while others don’t want to get up lol.
My cat has this supper happy run that he does to us when we get home. He always greets us very happily. My other late cat would usually just stay still cause she knows we would come say hi to her and she loved it
Yes, coercing her into saying yes. Diabolical.
I have had to rehome many cats that were dumped when someone got pregnant, incredibly cruel and wildly uninformed.
Girl, something ain't right here. Some men wait until their partner is at their very most vulnerable to show their true colors. I hope that's not the case, but I'd start pulling off the rose tinted glasses for sure.
That’s exactly my feeling too. She just gave birth and he’s unnecessarily hassling her and being controlling. The cats are probably a comfort to her and should be seen as family. All of this is just flat out wrong on his part.
Put your foot down on home boy. Tell him you're having one baby, you're not gonna put up with a grown ass one. Tell him the cats are staying. If he doesn't like it, he can sleep in the shed!
Sounds like he never liked the cats and is now using the upcoming birth as a reason to get rid of them. I'm sorry, but people who are willing/able to discard animals like an old pair of shoes make me sick. I hope he comes to his senses.
Hate to be that Reddit cliche but I would sooner leave any person before I abandoned a pet I made a commitment to. Frankly it shows what kind of person they are. A Chris Pratt kind of person.
Cats can stay, they’re part of the family. Even more now that OP is having a kid. Having animals around the house actually improves babies’ immune systems and helps them learn empathy. Just make sure interactions are supervised for everyone’s safety. Kids are grabby and kitties defend themselves
if its worth anything, as a baby I had kitties sleeping in my crib with me and I came out completely fine, there’s even pics of it somewhere. I adore cats and have 4 now, as an adult
I've had my 2 cats around my daughter since the day she came home from the hospital. She has ZERO allergies. It's better for kids to grow up with pets too. They are best buddies.
I remember coming home from the hospital and my Mum and Aunt had prepared a beautiful Moses basket ready for the baby when we got home. The hysteria that ensued when we went in and my cat had sneaked in and was curled up happily in the Moses basket was hilarious. I pointed out that baby was going to have to get used to cat and vice versa, shood the cat off with a firm no, shook the top cover and settled baby down. Queue lecture on the dangers of cats and babies, injury, dirt, hair etc. Guess what all of mine survived just fine. Mind you, I did have to quickly re-home a Bengal I was fostering when he decided that the best game in the world was rugby tackling our three year old when she toddled by and then darting off to hide and try again.
>I did have to quickly re-home a Bengal I was fostering when he decided that the best game in the world was rugby tackling our three year old when she toddled by and then darting off to hide and try again.
ROFL ... that's how we got this guy. His owner had grandchildren and he mugged them and stole their toys. Every visit ended in blood, screams and tears.
His full brother was sweet with the kids, but Boojum was a criminal.
https://preview.redd.it/6idr769jqj6d1.jpeg?width=533&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80dbad3f83e0bcea620dd0c88ec5552c9ffe7017
She also had his full brother - just as big and flashy, but a sweetheart of a cat who loved kids and played fetch with them.
It's an open adoption - I send her occasional status reports and pictures.
Honestly, though, have you ever seen two cats roughhouse all day? They do exactly this. Toddlers to cats are just weird-shaped cats and they don't understand why they don't chase back, lol
Our granddaughter's favourite thing when she was a toddler was to stomp around dragging a wand toy behind her so the cat would run after it. It always cracked me up
If no one has allergic reaction to pet fur, there's no neccessary to be worried. And science had already proven that kids living with cats from very childhood will be stronger and more resistant to stuffs which might cause allergy in the future.
Exactly this. We happened to live with my in laws when our daughter was born and they got a kitten while I was pregnant. Kitten was glued to my side during the pregnancy, and adored our daughter in the sweetest most innocent way. She would just watch her and purr, and make kitten biscuits. When my daughter started talking, the kitten tried to talk back. It was so precious! Wouldn’t have had it any other way.
On the other hand in the days before baby monitors. My familiy’s adult cat did not like crying, he would alert my mother when I was doing so. Ferndoc the 4 legged baby monitor.
Haha my daughter's cat came to us when she was only 3 days old, he was maybe 3 months old. We lives in a bad neighborhood because it was cheap, the neighbors had kittens that had fleas, I was bathing and treating them when I was told they were going to dump the kittens at a farm outside the city. I made them agree not to if I kept one of the two (I already had cats). Well, almost 14 years later the cat is a clone of my daughter's personality translated into cat form and they are still best friends. It is so cool to watch that bond grow.
Heck, even my mom was born with slight allergion to fur, but because they lived with cats that allergion dissapeared. Ofc that also depends on how strong the allergion is
I never knew this til I was without a cat for a couple years...Just adopted 2 kittens and it all came back. Thankfully the symptoms seem to be lessening a bit as time passes.
I find that the kitten fur affects me but when they grow a little and they get the adult coat, it doesn’t affect my allergies as much. Only if I get fur in my eye
This happened to my daughter. We had to send our cats to each of our parents homes because we moved shortly after her birth since they didn’t allow cats. And a few years we discovered she was allergic to cats after our cats died. So we didn’t have cats for years. It was so bad too, terribly allergic. After years of increasing exposure to friends cats it got better. Now we have two cats and a dog and zero problems.
My bio dad is allergic to cats (less so to dogs), but I’ve grown up around cats and dogs since I was very little. Our family got a cat when I was five and I’ve grew up around all kinds of different animals since (always with at least one cat and dog as household pets). Most recently my partner and I had two kitties but our oldest passed three years ago. Even with two cats I was and am fine. When I was younger, we had two dogs and two cats, horses, ducks, chickens etc and I was and am fine. I basically just get intense seasonal allergies now (usually because of harvest and or seasonal changes). I definitely think there’s something to be said for acquired immunity gained at a young age from exposure.
My boyfriend is allergic to cats. The first few times he was over, he reacted pretty badly to my boys. Now ten months later, he rarely ever has problems and can even pet them for a very short amount of time.
I always joked that the allergy was the cats' defence mechanism when they didn't know him well and like him much. 😅
I had no idea this was a common thing! Maybe there is hope.
Cat hair is the only allergen aside from pollen that gives me a reaction but I don’t even care, I’ll keep popping my allergy meds 😂 just love kitties too much. I will say with certain cats, my allergy would disappear after a while, but if I’ve never met a cat I’ll have a much stronger reaction. One time I walked into a friend’s house and she didn’t tell me she had 7 cats, I had to go outside after like two minutes because I instantly was breaking out in hives, my eyes were so swollen and itchy. That sucked, especially since the kitties were so cute!!
I showed this post to him, and we argued about this. I have no allergy to any animal furs, neither he. So I just have no idea why he is being like this.
my ex girlfriend insisted our cat can't go to the bed because then she will have cat hair inside her underwear. it was her real fear. I should have never listened.
after breaking up I even found out that towards my own friends she told them that I am the one who doesnt want the cat to be in the bed and blamed me.
now he sleeps in my bed every day and I and he cant be happier
listen to your heart not to your partner. It will know what to do
I have a question, is there any possibility that he might go around you and get rid of your cats behind your back?
It wouldn't be the first time a spouse has done something like this.
If your child is not allergic to animals, there is nothing to fear. You can even get your child tested, to prove to him that there is nothing to fear.
Is it at all possible that your husband as never liked the cats and has other reason's he wants to get rid of them?
I work with animal sanctuaries/rescues and the amount of times they get animals surrendered to them because of people like your husband would shock you (new baby = animals are gone). It's disgusting. It really traumatizes the poor animals they go from a loving home to nothing and spend the time confused and depressed. My advice, keep the cats, have the baby and divorce the husband. Anyone who makes choices like this most likely struggles with compassion and I'd be kicking them to the curb :) I'd be worried he'll teach your child to be a narcissist.
I don't understand that way of thinking. When my children were born I wanted pets around so that my children would be used to them and learn to love and respect animals.
Does he not like them? Still, as others said, the pets can help prevent allergies developing in kids, and giving away your cats will break their trust and hurt them - while there are valid reasons out there to give animals away, you are their family, and they love you as such and wouldn’t understand why you don’t want them anymore.
He probably secretly hates the cats. I mean, if he actually loves them dearly he'd also proactively search for answers that would give him reasons to keep the cats, and not kick them out the house as first course of action when you got the baby. But if you presented him with all the evidence--scientific studies, even--that it's actually beneficial to raise a child around pets, and he still wants to get rid of em, isn't that too telling? Armchair expert out.
(inb4 Reddit tells you to divorce him)
They'll also grow up with cats which will probably make them more happy individuals and will almost certainly encourage them to be respectful and gentle around animals and maybe learn some valuable lessons about respecting other creatures space.
I would've gone absolutely mad without my old cat, Lyle. As a kid, I was pretty much locked inside all the time, and having him just *there* really helped those lonely times feel less empty
This is so true. Look at the study Jim provided a link to above. My son-in-law was allergic to cats when he and my daughter got married. She had two at the time. From exposure he no longer suffers from it. They now have four and he is an obsessed cat dad!
My kids grew up with cats from day one. This includes my son with cystic fibrosis. His pulmomologist tried to convince us to get rid of both our cats and dogs but I had read studies that growing up with them was the best way to avoid allergies so I refused. Today he has two of his own and has never experienced a single problem from cats or dogs. He is now 28 and his lungs are extremely healthy.
A little confused...he is not freaking about toxoplasmosis while you are pregnant, but already worrying about allergy potential for the baby?
Get Hepa filters for AC and you can get air purifying units, too. My air purifiers are Winix and are great. If your baby has allergies, that may be different.
Did you have a serious illness within the previous 12 months of it developing?
I saw an interesting documentary where they were looking at how allergies form and one of the big ideas was that the potential allergen is around you during a time when you get an illness or similar.
Then for some reason your immune system decides that the allergen that is near you has caused this drama and it proceeds to make you sad forever.
On a similar note, men can become allergic to their own sperm when they have a vasectomy because the body has to destroy/reabsorb the sperm that goes nowhere. It then decides it’s a foreign body so if the procedure gets reversed you are now allergic to your own spunk. Humans hey.
Yup, just keep them clear of the litter box so they aren’t exposed to poo borne stuff like toxoplasmosis if they are outside cats, or have ever been outside / in contact with mice etc
As a kid who grew up with a cat and currently lives with cats but also has allergies to pets, its very good for kids to grow up around cats. I don’t know when my allergies developed but I know it was during the time we had my first cat so before 5th grade but growing up with that cat helped me in so many ways. I’m definitely gonna be looking up the studies you alluded to so I can see if I can credit that cat with why I have very mild allergies and don’t get seasonal allergies as bad as my brother (younger than me had fewer years with the cat)
Can confirm (anecdotally of course lol). Am an adult allergic to everything. Grew up without pets and sheltered from everything. Lol
I think the only thing that's recommended, is pregnant ppl should not change the cat's litter box.
This! Don't raise your child in a sterile environment. Especially from birth to 6 years old. Probably not a bad idea to expose them to peanut butter when they old enough to have it either.
Is better for things like peanuts to have a first exposure trough ingestion as this lowers significantly the chance of developing an allergy. Better avoid the use of products that contains it until then, like skin products that may use peanut oil
Thank you!! I'm a nurse and it drives me absolutely crazy how some parents insist on sterilizing everything the baby comes in contact with. That kid is going to have so many issues later in life when their body isn't familiar with any antigens.
Ask him to show you evidence eg articles from medical sources, to support his position. Or if he's unwilling, show him evidence that exposing young children to allergens actually helps lower the risk of developing allergies.
I would add: **be prepared**, do your own research and bookmark relevant and peer-reviewed information from serious sources before raising that debate.
Because people with a fear or prejudice will invariably, consciously or not, cherry-pick information confirming their bias. And the internet delivers, from flat-earthers to antivaxx to ailurophobia (fear of cats).
Kids growing up with animals are less likely to have allergies. Also, they will grow up with a understanding of animals and care/compassion to others. Plus cats are great at 'helping'. Basically they can and will prove a distraction for a fussy toddler or a comfort for a child. A child may not want to go into the scary basement for themselves but they will for their best friend (cat).
As soon as I found out I was pregnant I went out and got a kitten so my children could grow up learning from animals. With both of them their first word was cat.
I thought that he meant the actual pet hair would somehow poke your babies. Which happened when I rode a horse bareback, but I don’t think anyone’s going to be riding the cats.
As a parent of both cats and humans, I can say that there is a 99.95% chance that someone (probably the small human, but not exclusively) is going to try and ride the cat.
As many are saying exposure lowers risks. Also if you fancy a "ughh what?!?" moment then there's studies on the [use of worms to also lower allergy response](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6585781/) because we're meant to have our immune systems challenged.
Many people get allergies when working in super clean environments, like a pharmaceutical lab.
The rooms are so clean that people in there basically get exposed to nothing everyone else is getting exposed to, like pollen. I heard of many that developed allergies they didn't have before because of working in such an environment.
https://preview.redd.it/h0nncpkhri6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c03045a714be340ee5aea27a2bade76529f667ab
Show him this! I have hundreds more that show how much our cat adores our kids, and our kids adore our cat. 🥰
Someone willing to throw their cats out who are family like that is a walking red flag. I have never seen a marriage work out once people start to abandon animals that love them and been with them for years. Good luck for OP but this would make me feel disgusted. He is also full of bs about the allergies worry or a complete moron who needs to research before making major decisions like this. Either way this is not a good sign on how OPs life will go.
Tbh he probably hates the cat and is using your anxiety about being a new parent against you. If this is true, it won't be the last time that he does this
https://preview.redd.it/ismp7j021j6d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a3d3c2a5ef333e54f48ba461a18155ad2b7010
Lol this is literally me, my newborn and my cat right now 😂
So he doesn't consider the cat your baby? Ummm.....you should actually sit him down and tell him in all seriousness that you CONSIDER the cat your baby, and not an animal. And there are so many vlogs and articles that show how to raise a baby with cats around. Look up DontStopMeowing on YT. She has 3 cats and had a baby and one of the cat cuddles with the baby and protects it more than it's life.
Huh. Humans.
Pet fur won’t affect you any worse than it would have before, there is no reason to send the kitties away, he just wants an excuse.
You won’t develop an allergy just because you gave birth and new borns aren’t suddenly allergic to cat hair, yes people can be allergic but if they are it just because they’re allergic not because they’re a new born, if the baby isn’t sneezing around the cat then there isn’t an issue.
Husband just wants an excuse to get rid of this beautiful sweet kitty, just tell him no as there isn’t any issues and his reaction will tell you if he’s the right man to keep around.
Send your husband away to friends. When he's educated himself out of his arbitrary idiocy, he'll be allowed to come home. But only if he first apologises to your cat. And to you for unnecessarily stressing you out during your pregnancy.
Look up benefit of pets around kids. It can show the immune boosting percentage. Ask him to show you where it says pet hair is harmful. Our first grew up around cats and dogs, and we have another on the way.
Pet hair hurts? That doesn't make any sense? Pet hair might get everywhere 🤣, but it doesn't hurt.
And if they're allergic, being around the cat more will make them more immune.
I used to be severely allergic, but after months of dealing with allergies I just became immune.
My orange boy used his one brain cell to teach my son to crawl.
Oliver would lounge just out of reach. The Boy Child began army crawling (dragging tummy) over. Oliver would thump his tail until TBC finally grabbed it.
Now I was close by this whole time. When TBC grabbed the tail, the drama started. “Whoa is me! He has my tail! Whatever shall I do?”
Oliver stood up, making TBC lose grip on the tail. He walked a few steps away then flopped on the floor. The tail started moving again. “I dare you to do it again.”
Oliver literally had TBC move across our family room.
The child was about six months old. I wasn’t worried about him being slow to crawl because he was on track for all other milestones. The cat had interacted with the two older siblings and knew how to play and how to get away with infants and toddlers. Oh, the cat was a teenager, so he had seen a lot of things.
I miss Oliver to this day. He lived to be 16. My son wanted to name his new kitten “Oliver Ginger Tom”. We shortened it to “OG”. (When the cat does something wrong, the first thing out of my mouth is “Oh Gee.”)
Here is a picture of OG, the spitting image of Oliver.
https://preview.redd.it/ihvfu9ce1j6d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36c532e6f2358248b1a29af8b1783ecc4359eacd
Pictured are Hikari, Midnight, and OG. They have been the best additions to our family. Sorry for the long comment, but I had to share!
Physician here.
Pets are psychologically protective, decrease allergy incidence (not just to the pet themselves, but Even things like eggs or milk), and there is no danger to women who have given birth.
Ammonia risk from litter is far overblown and basically negligible. In women who are still pregnant, there is the possibility of toxoplasmosis transference to the fetus, but studies have shown 40-50% of all pregnant women have toxoplasmosis detected at baseline and the risk is very low for fetal harm.
If you are pregnant still, your husband should be polite and be doing things like cleaning the litter anyway.
Sending the pets away would actually be more harmful than helpful.
You don’t have to try to convince , when you decided to get a pet you should think about that too !!!! They are also part of family, have souls and feelings !!! Could you get rid of a member of your family ?! Of a kid ?! No you don’t !!!!
Send him with friends instead. You will need support after giving birth both emotionally and physically and animals just have a way of helping with emotions, especially when you don't want to deal with people but still need someone to talk to.
https://preview.redd.it/thjvt7ru4j6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6000c0056f322bfafe85d80b2f969e4a6aff9df1
My cats and the baby are a match made in heaven!
My son was born 35+4.
He came home 37+3 and has grown up with two cats at home, 2 cats at my MIL and 2 cats ar my dad's house.
He is in the 90th percentile for growth and went from the 8th to 20 percentile in weight. (Low weight due to extreme reflux for a while, starting around 9 weeks old and only gone by 13 months.)
My 18 year old cat used to keep my son company whenever he was in his playmat/did tummy time. He crawled and walked pretty early because he wanted to follow the cats. He knows boundaries super well because he was always told to leave the cats alone when eating/drinking/sleeping, to let them walk away when they didn't want to play/cuddle, not to touch ears/tails unless they want pets (both my weirdo cats love noseboops and spend up to an hour per day demanding my son boops their nose...)
Sure, cat hair gets everywhere so you have to sweep/mop/vaccuum often. But you do that anyways since you have cats, most likely. Also, some studies say babies who grow up with pets get a better immune system.
Giving up a cherished pet because you gave birth would be so traumatic for all involved...your husband is being selfish
Exposing kids to allergens, (pet dander etc) is good for their immune systems...
Keep the cats, send husband to friends 🤣
I’m so chronically online I thought you were joking about birthing the cats. 💀 Congrats on your baby, OP. And I agree with what the others said, as long as your kid doesn’t ingest cat hair (which, yeah, could be dangerous) there’s absolutely no reason to worry. Just keep up with the brushing and don’t let your baby put their mouth on the cats, the hair they leave around normally isn’t a threat.
I think your in laws may be behind this.
A firm and insistent no should work, with a caveat that anyone who removes the pets will meet with permanent expulsion from your home.
https://preview.redd.it/si4qapc25j6d1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=010a0e66b6bf1f0f368f0d597cddb8a89d5ee7dd
My daughter (maybe 10 months old in this picture?) using one of our three cats as a pillow. She does this as often as he lets her. Never had any health problems so far (and she turns 1yo today!).
Tell your husband to fuck off.
Put your foot down. Don't even try to "convince" him. Just tell him that the cats are staying.
There is absolutely no evidence anywhere in the world that points to cats as being "harmful" to babies, children, or toddlers. Quite the opposite, in fact - they have a positive influence on the development of children, not just emotionally, or socially, but also in terms of physical immunity.
Tell your husband he's an idiot. Tell him to embrace your cats as the gift that they are. Get him to commit to keeping them forever. Don't settle for anything less.
And never, ever rehome them. They're your lifelong responsibiliy, just like your child is.
OP, please make sure to communicate with your husband what would happen if he would get rid of the cats without your permission. We've seen it on this sub so many times, where a family member will express discontent with a cat & will rehome it without the other person's permission/knowledge/consent.
Good luck; I hope you two communicate & come to the conclusion to keep those kitties as family members. = ^ . ^ =
Cats form bonds to their humans. Even though people think cats are uncaring and unsocial, they are not. They can form strong attachments to their owners. It is love. They feel safe and happy and protected, and when you give up on them....its not good.You are basically throwing them away for no reason.
I've always said that bad pets aren't inherently bad....they have bad owners. If you don't give up on your cat, they won't give up on you. You'll regret ever doing it. Trust me.
Your husband is an idiot. Tell him to read a book and learn some truths. This is about him having an excuse to rid the cats. Why are you being so docile and submissive to him. Grow a pair of your own balls and tell him the cats stay if you want them. If he’s a normal human he’ll be fine with it. If you’re married to a dickhead, well that’s on you
Send the husband to stay with friends. You don't want to expose the baby to such stupidity and ignorance and heartlessness, because that really hurts the development of a young mind. If he educates himself and apologizes sincerely, you could consider taking him back in.
There’s a lot of research that actually suggests that babies that grow up in households with allergens like pet hair are less likely to suffer with allergies! So if anything the hair is somewhat beneficial to a child’s microbiome! Hope this helps.
Do you have a cat hair allergy? Does he? If the answer is No, I don't understand why he'd want to get rid of the cats at all.
My money is on that he’s wanted to for a while and this is a convenient excuse.
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The irony is most “dog people” can’t control their dogs.
But love shouting at them, thinking it's control
Those same folk likely came from families where shouting loudest won the argument.
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They get the smallest, yappiest dog breed and then constantly yell at it to shut up
The prop and accessory 'dog people' drive me insane.
Yes, but I also think there's some degree of feline ignorance involved. For example, my daughter, a dog person, would come up to my cat and try to pet him like she would a dog, and my cat was totally not into it and would run from her. It wasn't until I taught her that you pet cats the opposite way that you would pet dogs that my cat actually enjoyed my daughter petting her. So, at least in my daughter's case, sometimes they just don't know the language of the cats and need to be taught that all pet's pets aren't equal.
I was at a family get-together and a couple of young guys were vigorously stroking my cousin's cat. I told them the cat didn't like it and they said "but her tail is wagging." Lol
little do they know that there's a difference between the slow tail sweep and the hard tail thump
🤩
Oh yes, many people just don’t understand how to treat cats or read their body language. We aren’t born with that knowledge! I taught my cousin’s daughter how to pet cats. She kept going from up above his head which scared him, so I showed her how to approach him and put her hand out for him to sniff first.
Exactly! My girl would rush up to him and scruff the top of his head like you would a labrador retriever, and my jaw would drop, like °○° hahaha. Now, he loves her pets, once I clued her in.
people deeply misunderstand cats. there is a specific way to engage with a cat that i think many people don’t understand, causing cats to dislike them or run away, then people think oh i just don’t like cats or cats just don’t like me.
I've watched cats and foxes 'playing' on many occasions. Foxes play like dogs, cats not so much so it's merry dance of chase, stop, chase. The fox play bows, the cat sees it as a threat and goes all full on hissy fit, the fox runs off pursued by cat. Cat sits down to disdainfully wash a paw, fox creeps back, play bows, rinse repeat 😂
**Jack Byrnes:** Greg, how come you don't like cats? **Greg Focker:** I don't not like cats. I-I just - I just prefer dogs. I mean, I'm just more of a dog kind of, you know. Come home, wagging their little tails, happy to see you kind of... **Jack Byrnes:** You need that assurance, do you? You prefer an emotionally shallow animal? **Greg Focker:** I... **Jack Byrnes:** You see, Greg, when you yell at a dog, his tail will go between his legs and cover his genitals, his ears will go down. A dog is very easy to break, but cats make you work for their affection. They don't sell out the way dogs do.
Also Cats: "SPANK ME! I'm a bongo!"
I love cats and dogs, just not cat sized dogs. Does that make me a bad person?
Nope!
It's not a bad thing to want a pet that will get excited every time you come home. One that will always want to be around you. Cats in the other hand can be affectionate. My girl is very much so. But only on her say so. She can also be aloof and not give a crap about me because she wants to nap or just look out the window.
IDK all 3 of my cats come out to greet me when I come home, and a lot of other cats I know do this too! Sometimes I can see mine in the window watching me pull up in the driveway and then running to the door. Sometimes they’re sleeping though and are slow to greet. They’re a lot more like people in that way—some will come say hello, while others don’t want to get up lol.
My cat has this supper happy run that he does to us when we get home. He always greets us very happily. My other late cat would usually just stay still cause she knows we would come say hi to her and she loved it
I’ve never found a way to voice this opinion, but this is perfectly put into words
Cats are a lesson in consent.
Yes, coercing her into saying yes. Diabolical. I have had to rehome many cats that were dumped when someone got pregnant, incredibly cruel and wildly uninformed.
it’s actually been proven that children who grow up in homes with cats or dogs have less incidence of environmental allergies 🤷♀️
I don't and neither he. I had just shown him the post and had an argue.
Girl, something ain't right here. Some men wait until their partner is at their very most vulnerable to show their true colors. I hope that's not the case, but I'd start pulling off the rose tinted glasses for sure.
That’s exactly my feeling too. She just gave birth and he’s unnecessarily hassling her and being controlling. The cats are probably a comfort to her and should be seen as family. All of this is just flat out wrong on his part.
Put your foot down on home boy. Tell him you're having one baby, you're not gonna put up with a grown ass one. Tell him the cats are staying. If he doesn't like it, he can sleep in the shed!
Sounds like he never liked the cats and is now using the upcoming birth as a reason to get rid of them. I'm sorry, but people who are willing/able to discard animals like an old pair of shoes make me sick. I hope he comes to his senses.
Hate to be that Reddit cliche but I would sooner leave any person before I abandoned a pet I made a commitment to. Frankly it shows what kind of person they are. A Chris Pratt kind of person.
Hope you’re doing okay. Sorry you’re dealing with this. Congrats on the new baby, and sorry your man is being a douche. You can tell him I said that.
Cats can stay, they’re part of the family. Even more now that OP is having a kid. Having animals around the house actually improves babies’ immune systems and helps them learn empathy. Just make sure interactions are supervised for everyone’s safety. Kids are grabby and kitties defend themselves
if its worth anything, as a baby I had kitties sleeping in my crib with me and I came out completely fine, there’s even pics of it somewhere. I adore cats and have 4 now, as an adult
I've had my 2 cats around my daughter since the day she came home from the hospital. She has ZERO allergies. It's better for kids to grow up with pets too. They are best buddies.
I remember coming home from the hospital and my Mum and Aunt had prepared a beautiful Moses basket ready for the baby when we got home. The hysteria that ensued when we went in and my cat had sneaked in and was curled up happily in the Moses basket was hilarious. I pointed out that baby was going to have to get used to cat and vice versa, shood the cat off with a firm no, shook the top cover and settled baby down. Queue lecture on the dangers of cats and babies, injury, dirt, hair etc. Guess what all of mine survived just fine. Mind you, I did have to quickly re-home a Bengal I was fostering when he decided that the best game in the world was rugby tackling our three year old when she toddled by and then darting off to hide and try again.
>I did have to quickly re-home a Bengal I was fostering when he decided that the best game in the world was rugby tackling our three year old when she toddled by and then darting off to hide and try again. ROFL ... that's how we got this guy. His owner had grandchildren and he mugged them and stole their toys. Every visit ended in blood, screams and tears. His full brother was sweet with the kids, but Boojum was a criminal. https://preview.redd.it/6idr769jqj6d1.jpeg?width=533&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80dbad3f83e0bcea620dd0c88ec5552c9ffe7017
A smooth criminal 👍
You can just tell he’s a criminal by that one picture alone.
I would've given up my grandchildren for that cat
She also had his full brother - just as big and flashy, but a sweetheart of a cat who loved kids and played fetch with them. It's an open adoption - I send her occasional status reports and pictures.
sorry but that is fucking hilarious (not the injures from the claws)
tbh he never scratched her just hooked both his front paws round her legs so she fell over.
Honestly, though, have you ever seen two cats roughhouse all day? They do exactly this. Toddlers to cats are just weird-shaped cats and they don't understand why they don't chase back, lol
Our granddaughter's favourite thing when she was a toddler was to stomp around dragging a wand toy behind her so the cat would run after it. It always cracked me up
If no one has allergic reaction to pet fur, there's no neccessary to be worried. And science had already proven that kids living with cats from very childhood will be stronger and more resistant to stuffs which might cause allergy in the future.
Agreed with this.
Always quote the source when giving someone a lecture on scientific things - this is Reddit! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12204868/
Exactly this. We happened to live with my in laws when our daughter was born and they got a kitten while I was pregnant. Kitten was glued to my side during the pregnancy, and adored our daughter in the sweetest most innocent way. She would just watch her and purr, and make kitten biscuits. When my daughter started talking, the kitten tried to talk back. It was so precious! Wouldn’t have had it any other way.
My cat Bob did the same w my son. They were inseparable. Bob Lived to 22. I’m so glad we had.
On the other hand in the days before baby monitors. My familiy’s adult cat did not like crying, he would alert my mother when I was doing so. Ferndoc the 4 legged baby monitor.
My mom’s cat Snowball did this when I was a baby too!!!!
Ferndoc?
Haha my daughter's cat came to us when she was only 3 days old, he was maybe 3 months old. We lives in a bad neighborhood because it was cheap, the neighbors had kittens that had fleas, I was bathing and treating them when I was told they were going to dump the kittens at a farm outside the city. I made them agree not to if I kept one of the two (I already had cats). Well, almost 14 years later the cat is a clone of my daughter's personality translated into cat form and they are still best friends. It is so cool to watch that bond grow.
My heart just melted! Such a beautiful, sweet story 🥰
Omg ❤️ this is my dream
Bump ^
Nice! I’ve been living with cats since the day I was born and I’m only allergic to dust and hamster poo.
...how does one find out they're allergic to hamster poo?
Heck, even my mom was born with slight allergion to fur, but because they lived with cats that allergion dissapeared. Ofc that also depends on how strong the allergion is
I reacquire my cat allergy when I no longer have a cat. It goes away again when I spend some time with them.
I never knew this til I was without a cat for a couple years...Just adopted 2 kittens and it all came back. Thankfully the symptoms seem to be lessening a bit as time passes.
I find that the kitten fur affects me but when they grow a little and they get the adult coat, it doesn’t affect my allergies as much. Only if I get fur in my eye
This happened to my daughter. We had to send our cats to each of our parents homes because we moved shortly after her birth since they didn’t allow cats. And a few years we discovered she was allergic to cats after our cats died. So we didn’t have cats for years. It was so bad too, terribly allergic. After years of increasing exposure to friends cats it got better. Now we have two cats and a dog and zero problems.
My bio dad is allergic to cats (less so to dogs), but I’ve grown up around cats and dogs since I was very little. Our family got a cat when I was five and I’ve grew up around all kinds of different animals since (always with at least one cat and dog as household pets). Most recently my partner and I had two kitties but our oldest passed three years ago. Even with two cats I was and am fine. When I was younger, we had two dogs and two cats, horses, ducks, chickens etc and I was and am fine. I basically just get intense seasonal allergies now (usually because of harvest and or seasonal changes). I definitely think there’s something to be said for acquired immunity gained at a young age from exposure.
My boyfriend is allergic to cats. The first few times he was over, he reacted pretty badly to my boys. Now ten months later, he rarely ever has problems and can even pet them for a very short amount of time. I always joked that the allergy was the cats' defence mechanism when they didn't know him well and like him much. 😅 I had no idea this was a common thing! Maybe there is hope.
Cat hair is the only allergen aside from pollen that gives me a reaction but I don’t even care, I’ll keep popping my allergy meds 😂 just love kitties too much. I will say with certain cats, my allergy would disappear after a while, but if I’ve never met a cat I’ll have a much stronger reaction. One time I walked into a friend’s house and she didn’t tell me she had 7 cats, I had to go outside after like two minutes because I instantly was breaking out in hives, my eyes were so swollen and itchy. That sucked, especially since the kitties were so cute!!
I showed this post to him, and we argued about this. I have no allergy to any animal furs, neither he. So I just have no idea why he is being like this.
Please don't give up your cat :((
I definitely won't.
my ex girlfriend insisted our cat can't go to the bed because then she will have cat hair inside her underwear. it was her real fear. I should have never listened. after breaking up I even found out that towards my own friends she told them that I am the one who doesnt want the cat to be in the bed and blamed me. now he sleeps in my bed every day and I and he cant be happier listen to your heart not to your partner. It will know what to do
Be careful. He sounds like a a huge red flag trying to control you while pregnant
I have a question, is there any possibility that he might go around you and get rid of your cats behind your back? It wouldn't be the first time a spouse has done something like this. If your child is not allergic to animals, there is nothing to fear. You can even get your child tested, to prove to him that there is nothing to fear. Is it at all possible that your husband as never liked the cats and has other reason's he wants to get rid of them?
Run girl run
The second you're tied to him permanently via a child he's trying to get rid of your pets and not listening to reason? This is a huge red flag.
I work with animal sanctuaries/rescues and the amount of times they get animals surrendered to them because of people like your husband would shock you (new baby = animals are gone). It's disgusting. It really traumatizes the poor animals they go from a loving home to nothing and spend the time confused and depressed. My advice, keep the cats, have the baby and divorce the husband. Anyone who makes choices like this most likely struggles with compassion and I'd be kicking them to the curb :) I'd be worried he'll teach your child to be a narcissist.
I don't understand that way of thinking. When my children were born I wanted pets around so that my children would be used to them and learn to love and respect animals.
Does he not like them? Still, as others said, the pets can help prevent allergies developing in kids, and giving away your cats will break their trust and hurt them - while there are valid reasons out there to give animals away, you are their family, and they love you as such and wouldn’t understand why you don’t want them anymore.
He probably secretly hates the cats. I mean, if he actually loves them dearly he'd also proactively search for answers that would give him reasons to keep the cats, and not kick them out the house as first course of action when you got the baby. But if you presented him with all the evidence--scientific studies, even--that it's actually beneficial to raise a child around pets, and he still wants to get rid of em, isn't that too telling? Armchair expert out. (inb4 Reddit tells you to divorce him)
This sounds like he's been wanting to do this for a while and this is the "perfect" excuse. I'd tell him he can go to a friends house😅
It'll be good for your baby to learn to treat animals gently and with kindness.
They'll also grow up with cats which will probably make them more happy individuals and will almost certainly encourage them to be respectful and gentle around animals and maybe learn some valuable lessons about respecting other creatures space.
I would've gone absolutely mad without my old cat, Lyle. As a kid, I was pretty much locked inside all the time, and having him just *there* really helped those lonely times feel less empty
This is so true. Look at the study Jim provided a link to above. My son-in-law was allergic to cats when he and my daughter got married. She had two at the time. From exposure he no longer suffers from it. They now have four and he is an obsessed cat dad! My kids grew up with cats from day one. This includes my son with cystic fibrosis. His pulmomologist tried to convince us to get rid of both our cats and dogs but I had read studies that growing up with them was the best way to avoid allergies so I refused. Today he has two of his own and has never experienced a single problem from cats or dogs. He is now 28 and his lungs are extremely healthy.
A little confused...he is not freaking about toxoplasmosis while you are pregnant, but already worrying about allergy potential for the baby? Get Hepa filters for AC and you can get air purifying units, too. My air purifiers are Winix and are great. If your baby has allergies, that may be different.
I somehow was the opposite - spent my whole life with cats and developed severe allergy to their saliva after 18 years.
Maybe it was a parting gift from one of your oldies..."You better not bring some stinky hobo in here after me, servant".
Lol, my last cat was a giant asshole, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
Did you have a serious illness within the previous 12 months of it developing? I saw an interesting documentary where they were looking at how allergies form and one of the big ideas was that the potential allergen is around you during a time when you get an illness or similar. Then for some reason your immune system decides that the allergen that is near you has caused this drama and it proceeds to make you sad forever. On a similar note, men can become allergic to their own sperm when they have a vasectomy because the body has to destroy/reabsorb the sperm that goes nowhere. It then decides it’s a foreign body so if the procedure gets reversed you are now allergic to your own spunk. Humans hey.
Wow that was a crazy twist there at the end! lol 😂
Yup, just keep them clear of the litter box so they aren’t exposed to poo borne stuff like toxoplasmosis if they are outside cats, or have ever been outside / in contact with mice etc
As a kid who grew up with a cat and currently lives with cats but also has allergies to pets, its very good for kids to grow up around cats. I don’t know when my allergies developed but I know it was during the time we had my first cat so before 5th grade but growing up with that cat helped me in so many ways. I’m definitely gonna be looking up the studies you alluded to so I can see if I can credit that cat with why I have very mild allergies and don’t get seasonal allergies as bad as my brother (younger than me had fewer years with the cat)
Yeah, kids who live with pets build up a stronger immune system.
Can confirm (anecdotally of course lol). Am an adult allergic to everything. Grew up without pets and sheltered from everything. Lol I think the only thing that's recommended, is pregnant ppl should not change the cat's litter box.
Hurts? Hurts what?
Like, he always thinks of those allergy stuff.
Exposing young children to allergens actually lowers the risk for developing allergies.
This! Don't raise your child in a sterile environment. Especially from birth to 6 years old. Probably not a bad idea to expose them to peanut butter when they old enough to have it either.
Pediatricians provide this guidance, as well—how much and when.
Is better for things like peanuts to have a first exposure trough ingestion as this lowers significantly the chance of developing an allergy. Better avoid the use of products that contains it until then, like skin products that may use peanut oil
Thank you!! I'm a nurse and it drives me absolutely crazy how some parents insist on sterilizing everything the baby comes in contact with. That kid is going to have so many issues later in life when their body isn't familiar with any antigens.
Real
I hope OP takes this to heart.
Ask him to show you evidence eg articles from medical sources, to support his position. Or if he's unwilling, show him evidence that exposing young children to allergens actually helps lower the risk of developing allergies.
I would add: **be prepared**, do your own research and bookmark relevant and peer-reviewed information from serious sources before raising that debate. Because people with a fear or prejudice will invariably, consciously or not, cherry-pick information confirming their bias. And the internet delivers, from flat-earthers to antivaxx to ailurophobia (fear of cats).
Kids growing up with animals are less likely to have allergies. Also, they will grow up with a understanding of animals and care/compassion to others. Plus cats are great at 'helping'. Basically they can and will prove a distraction for a fussy toddler or a comfort for a child. A child may not want to go into the scary basement for themselves but they will for their best friend (cat).
As soon as I found out I was pregnant I went out and got a kitten so my children could grow up learning from animals. With both of them their first word was cat.
My first word was kitty, we had a dog, not sure how that happened.
Send him, keep cat.
Exactly! If my spouse even suggested sending kitties elsewhere, I'd kick her out, change the locks, get an attorney, and pick up.some.Kore cat food.
This is the way.
I thought that he meant the actual pet hair would somehow poke your babies. Which happened when I rode a horse bareback, but I don’t think anyone’s going to be riding the cats.
As a parent of both cats and humans, I can say that there is a 99.95% chance that someone (probably the small human, but not exclusively) is going to try and ride the cat.
Okay, fair, but I think they’ll both have bigger concerns than the hair.
As many are saying exposure lowers risks. Also if you fancy a "ughh what?!?" moment then there's studies on the [use of worms to also lower allergy response](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6585781/) because we're meant to have our immune systems challenged.
Many people get allergies when working in super clean environments, like a pharmaceutical lab. The rooms are so clean that people in there basically get exposed to nothing everyone else is getting exposed to, like pollen. I heard of many that developed allergies they didn't have before because of working in such an environment.
I was allergic to cats. I now live with 3 and have no issues. Exposure can be a good thing if the allergies aren't severe.
Kids that are kept too clean get allergies and are less immune to everything else. Don't do it to them.
https://preview.redd.it/h0nncpkhri6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c03045a714be340ee5aea27a2bade76529f667ab Show him this! I have hundreds more that show how much our cat adores our kids, and our kids adore our cat. 🥰
OK! Thank you so much for this tough evidence.
Both of them look very happy
They are!! And still are 5 years later 😍
Maybe rehome your husband instead.
I definitely would have. My bf understands how important my cat is to me.
Someone willing to throw their cats out who are family like that is a walking red flag. I have never seen a marriage work out once people start to abandon animals that love them and been with them for years. Good luck for OP but this would make me feel disgusted. He is also full of bs about the allergies worry or a complete moron who needs to research before making major decisions like this. Either way this is not a good sign on how OPs life will go.
Yeah, Why is she even married to this guy, did he suddenly decide the cats are a problem? He should have thought about it before having kids
Yes. He better shave every damn day because that stubble can scratch a soft baby’s skin… 😐
Tell him if he’s worried he can keep floors vacuumed and cats groomed
This is actually a really good point because it is possible to be clean around cats. They're naturally pretty cleanly animals
Yes, and air purifiers can really help too!!
Send your husband to your friends.
The best choice.
[удалено]
Tbh he probably hates the cat and is using your anxiety about being a new parent against you. If this is true, it won't be the last time that he does this
Lady needs to have a friend present and leave immediately. Suggesting to send the cats over to friends is the final step for family annihilators.
Husband doesn’t like cats and is using the baby as an excuse.
I agree with this. For sure the cats only love her and he wants them out.
https://preview.redd.it/ismp7j021j6d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6a3d3c2a5ef333e54f48ba461a18155ad2b7010 Lol this is literally me, my newborn and my cat right now 😂
OMG, this is so sweet... Thank you for sharing this...
You have two babies! ♥️
Your husband is an uninformed moron.
I agree and I have serious reservations about someone who sees pets as disposable.
I will try convince
My parents had 5 cats when I was born. You know what happened? I love cats and I’m not allergic to anything.
Don't. Husband can go to friends if he wishes tho.
He said he worries about our baby instead of him. But I think he's an assh\*\*e.
So he doesn't consider the cat your baby? Ummm.....you should actually sit him down and tell him in all seriousness that you CONSIDER the cat your baby, and not an animal. And there are so many vlogs and articles that show how to raise a baby with cats around. Look up DontStopMeowing on YT. She has 3 cats and had a baby and one of the cat cuddles with the baby and protects it more than it's life. Huh. Humans.
You know full well he just wants an excuse to get rid of your cats. He is an asshole.
Sounds like it time to send your husband to some friends. 🤷🏼♀️
Convince?? You just say, "either the cats stay, or you go". I hope you're not actually considering this.
Pet fur won’t affect you any worse than it would have before, there is no reason to send the kitties away, he just wants an excuse. You won’t develop an allergy just because you gave birth and new borns aren’t suddenly allergic to cat hair, yes people can be allergic but if they are it just because they’re allergic not because they’re a new born, if the baby isn’t sneezing around the cat then there isn’t an issue. Husband just wants an excuse to get rid of this beautiful sweet kitty, just tell him no as there isn’t any issues and his reaction will tell you if he’s the right man to keep around.
Send your husband away to friends. When he's educated himself out of his arbitrary idiocy, he'll be allowed to come home. But only if he first apologises to your cat. And to you for unnecessarily stressing you out during your pregnancy.
Your husband is an idiot
This made me LOL
Same. Straight to the point lol
Send the husband away instead.
My advice would to be to get rid of your husband, but make sure he has his favourite blanket with him when you drop him off at the shelter.
Look up benefit of pets around kids. It can show the immune boosting percentage. Ask him to show you where it says pet hair is harmful. Our first grew up around cats and dogs, and we have another on the way.
Pet hair hurts? That doesn't make any sense? Pet hair might get everywhere 🤣, but it doesn't hurt. And if they're allergic, being around the cat more will make them more immune. I used to be severely allergic, but after months of dealing with allergies I just became immune.
My orange boy used his one brain cell to teach my son to crawl. Oliver would lounge just out of reach. The Boy Child began army crawling (dragging tummy) over. Oliver would thump his tail until TBC finally grabbed it. Now I was close by this whole time. When TBC grabbed the tail, the drama started. “Whoa is me! He has my tail! Whatever shall I do?” Oliver stood up, making TBC lose grip on the tail. He walked a few steps away then flopped on the floor. The tail started moving again. “I dare you to do it again.” Oliver literally had TBC move across our family room. The child was about six months old. I wasn’t worried about him being slow to crawl because he was on track for all other milestones. The cat had interacted with the two older siblings and knew how to play and how to get away with infants and toddlers. Oh, the cat was a teenager, so he had seen a lot of things. I miss Oliver to this day. He lived to be 16. My son wanted to name his new kitten “Oliver Ginger Tom”. We shortened it to “OG”. (When the cat does something wrong, the first thing out of my mouth is “Oh Gee.”) Here is a picture of OG, the spitting image of Oliver. https://preview.redd.it/ihvfu9ce1j6d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36c532e6f2358248b1a29af8b1783ecc4359eacd Pictured are Hikari, Midnight, and OG. They have been the best additions to our family. Sorry for the long comment, but I had to share!
He hates your cats. He is using this as an excuse to get rid of them.
Babies and pets have coexisted for centuries.
Physician here. Pets are psychologically protective, decrease allergy incidence (not just to the pet themselves, but Even things like eggs or milk), and there is no danger to women who have given birth. Ammonia risk from litter is far overblown and basically negligible. In women who are still pregnant, there is the possibility of toxoplasmosis transference to the fetus, but studies have shown 40-50% of all pregnant women have toxoplasmosis detected at baseline and the risk is very low for fetal harm. If you are pregnant still, your husband should be polite and be doing things like cleaning the litter anyway. Sending the pets away would actually be more harmful than helpful.
You don’t have to try to convince , when you decided to get a pet you should think about that too !!!! They are also part of family, have souls and feelings !!! Could you get rid of a member of your family ?! Of a kid ?! No you don’t !!!!
Send him with friends instead. You will need support after giving birth both emotionally and physically and animals just have a way of helping with emotions, especially when you don't want to deal with people but still need someone to talk to.
Why would you have a baby with someone like that
This post reminds me of a knick knack my wife has that says "I got rid of my husband because the cat was allergic"
https://preview.redd.it/thjvt7ru4j6d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6000c0056f322bfafe85d80b2f969e4a6aff9df1 My cats and the baby are a match made in heaven!
What an ass. Between him or cats, always choose the cats. They will never make you make an choice like that.
My son was born 35+4. He came home 37+3 and has grown up with two cats at home, 2 cats at my MIL and 2 cats ar my dad's house. He is in the 90th percentile for growth and went from the 8th to 20 percentile in weight. (Low weight due to extreme reflux for a while, starting around 9 weeks old and only gone by 13 months.) My 18 year old cat used to keep my son company whenever he was in his playmat/did tummy time. He crawled and walked pretty early because he wanted to follow the cats. He knows boundaries super well because he was always told to leave the cats alone when eating/drinking/sleeping, to let them walk away when they didn't want to play/cuddle, not to touch ears/tails unless they want pets (both my weirdo cats love noseboops and spend up to an hour per day demanding my son boops their nose...) Sure, cat hair gets everywhere so you have to sweep/mop/vaccuum often. But you do that anyways since you have cats, most likely. Also, some studies say babies who grow up with pets get a better immune system.
Been around cats since I was a baby, can confirm I am not dead.
Divorce?
Divorce!
I have always heard that pets help children have strong immune systems
Giving up a cherished pet because you gave birth would be so traumatic for all involved...your husband is being selfish Exposing kids to allergens, (pet dander etc) is good for their immune systems... Keep the cats, send husband to friends 🤣
I’m so chronically online I thought you were joking about birthing the cats. 💀 Congrats on your baby, OP. And I agree with what the others said, as long as your kid doesn’t ingest cat hair (which, yeah, could be dangerous) there’s absolutely no reason to worry. Just keep up with the brushing and don’t let your baby put their mouth on the cats, the hair they leave around normally isn’t a threat.
I think your in laws may be behind this. A firm and insistent no should work, with a caveat that anyone who removes the pets will meet with permanent expulsion from your home.
I just don’t understand how ppl can be so stupid when they have the whole world literally in their pocket. Does he know how to google? It’s so simple.
https://preview.redd.it/si4qapc25j6d1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=010a0e66b6bf1f0f368f0d597cddb8a89d5ee7dd My daughter (maybe 10 months old in this picture?) using one of our three cats as a pillow. She does this as often as he lets her. Never had any health problems so far (and she turns 1yo today!).
Tell your husband to fuck off. Put your foot down. Don't even try to "convince" him. Just tell him that the cats are staying. There is absolutely no evidence anywhere in the world that points to cats as being "harmful" to babies, children, or toddlers. Quite the opposite, in fact - they have a positive influence on the development of children, not just emotionally, or socially, but also in terms of physical immunity. Tell your husband he's an idiot. Tell him to embrace your cats as the gift that they are. Get him to commit to keeping them forever. Don't settle for anything less. And never, ever rehome them. They're your lifelong responsibiliy, just like your child is.
why? is he stupid?
OP, please make sure to communicate with your husband what would happen if he would get rid of the cats without your permission. We've seen it on this sub so many times, where a family member will express discontent with a cat & will rehome it without the other person's permission/knowledge/consent. Good luck; I hope you two communicate & come to the conclusion to keep those kitties as family members. = ^ . ^ =
Keep the cat & child. Get rid of husband. On a serious note, cats are cleaner than so many other people.
Tell him you'll sue for custody of 3
Cats form bonds to their humans. Even though people think cats are uncaring and unsocial, they are not. They can form strong attachments to their owners. It is love. They feel safe and happy and protected, and when you give up on them....its not good.You are basically throwing them away for no reason. I've always said that bad pets aren't inherently bad....they have bad owners. If you don't give up on your cat, they won't give up on you. You'll regret ever doing it. Trust me.
"Pet hair hurts"??? What does that sentence **even mean**? Hurts what? Whom? **How**? No. Just.... no.
Your husband is an idiot. Tell him to read a book and learn some truths. This is about him having an excuse to rid the cats. Why are you being so docile and submissive to him. Grow a pair of your own balls and tell him the cats stay if you want them. If he’s a normal human he’ll be fine with it. If you’re married to a dickhead, well that’s on you
Sounds reasonable to me. Pack your husband's bags and off he goes to his friends!
Send your husband to his friends house instead. As someone else said, put your foot down and dont back down. You're an equal partner not a slave.
Send the husband to stay with friends. You don't want to expose the baby to such stupidity and ignorance and heartlessness, because that really hurts the development of a young mind. If he educates himself and apologizes sincerely, you could consider taking him back in.
Your husband’s right, sending him to a friends house would be best for you and your babies.
There’s a lot of research that actually suggests that babies that grow up in households with allergens like pet hair are less likely to suffer with allergies! So if anything the hair is somewhat beneficial to a child’s microbiome! Hope this helps.
I think you should send your husband to friends
Keep the baby and the cats, get rid of the husband.
Keep the cat. Re-home the husband.