Anything wrong with babies and cats sleeping together?

I would keep the cats claws trimmed short, to avoid accidental scratches. Kittens don't really have good jugement. If something moves, it is there to be pounced on. Cats, okay - kittens with constant supervision.

No worries about sucking breath (sheese!) or smothering. No cat has the lungpower of a newborn.

If a newborn can suffocate because of the inability to turn their head, I think a cat can prove just as deadly.

All they have to do is snuggle a baby. It's not like they planned it. Cats snuggle. They have to in order to make that prrrrr sound.

Momma - smothering a kitten is certainly a danger! I experienced myself with my first kitty. When I bought my first condo, shortly after I adopted a kitty from the shelter. At night she would use her claws to climb up the bed and snuggle close to me. One night, I was having this dream that something was attacking me. When I woke, my kitty was under me clawing and fighting her way out. I had rolled on top of her during the night and she was trying to get out from under me. Fortunately she was fine.

As far as a five year old and a kitty sleeping together. My now seven year old has one of our cats that always sleeps in her bed. They have been sharing a bed for several years now. They both seem to love it and there has been no problems with either cat or little girl.

As far as toxio...., I think it is also more a concern for out door pets as it typically occurs as a result of eating raw meat. Most cats that go outdoors will catch small animals from time to time and that is what causes it (at least as far as my vet explained it to me).

Linkat,

I am so glad that kitten was okay. I did that once as a child and still remember it.

Happy New Year's Everyone!

But like others said, I would not let a cat sleep with a baby. It is unlikely, but just the chance of them being smothered would be concern enough or clawing accidently like some have said. When I was pregnant, we bought a tent - netting object that covers over the top of the crib to prevent a child from climbing out and prevents animals from jumping in.

I think everyone's missing the larger issue here. Now this baby and this cat, they aren't the same sex are they? Because same sex baby and cats sleeping together, well that's just wrong.

<hits forehead>

How did I miss that?!

I recently heard on the channel that always does those Baby Story shows... that there are a few cats that really take a maternal instinct to infants. So as a result, they will lay on top of or extremely close to the baby to protect and to keep him/her warm.

As I mentioned in another thread, my doctor told me it really was a hit or miss. If your kid was going to get asthma,... the cat may trigger it. However, all of the doctors in family practice say they would avoid letting the 2 sleep together BUT don't see anything wrong with it if mommy and daddy aren't allergic. Their concerns had nothing to do with the cat sleeping too close. They said that if the parent is there, they imagine you can learn how the cat will react to it.

The asthma "triggering" ....can happen up to the age of 2. This made me feel a little better about putting the 2 together when they are in the living room. Meaning.. I don't freak if the cat tries to walk by and smell baby. That's a long time to keep cat and baby apart. Though for my baby (so young) ...doctor said he's too young at the moment to even be triggered by any allergy.

When I researched this one the big no-no part seemed to be toxoplasmosis, not asthma.

Cat transfer of toxoplasma to the baby, is a possiblity of the baby sleeping/playing with the animal.

yeah, that's what I thought, but I was just throwing all that out there

People can just have their cat tested because depending on where the cat came from (lived outside or handled by owner since birth, etc, etc) ...it may not even have it which could eliminate some concern.

Nice post! Thanks for sharing such an interesting thing with us. I liked your post!