I am totally against letting a cat near a baby. I have knowns some family cats who are in fact of a new baby and hide to avoid it. But on the other hand I have also seen cats who are jealous of a new person in it's territory. They sleep in the baby's crib, and lay all over it's clothes.
This puts germs on the baby's things and in turn will be on the baby . ..
I have seen cats jump in a crib and sit on the baby's face. The cat smells the milk and it draws it to the child.
I lost a baby due to suffocation last week. He was nine weeks old and I will never get over this. So I am trying to perhaps help avoid someone else from going through the same pain.
Many people have wonderful cats and kittens for pets. But please do not take a chance of any kind with a baby. They can not be replaced.
I slept in a baby bassinette outdoors in the sunshine while living on the farm. In my bassinette were the two old stray barnyard cats that snuggled in and slept with me. My baby brother had our family cat sleeping in his crib and when he would wake up would wake my mom up to feed him. Does anyone have any statistics on baby deaths or disease by cat or dog from sharing a bed??? My grandfather was 60 and my mother is now 68 and I am in my late forties. That is over 120 years of experience with cats sleeping with children and not one child received infection, bites, disease or death through 20 children.
Another big risk (one I believe more prevalent than suffocation) involves the transmission of disease. "Cat scratch fever" is a real infection, brought on just as the name suggests. If your cat were to start kneading the baby's blanket and get its claws into the child's skin, that could be enough to trigger an infection.
Also, cats (even indoor ones) can pick up germs from decaying food between their teeth or from critters they find around the house. Even if declawed, I doubt you've had tabby defanged. Baby rolling over or moving suddenly could lead to a bite. And even if there's no infection, what loving parents want their baby bitten by their cat?
Finally, if cats go outside, the risks multiply. They are frequent carriers of the ringworm fungal infection and can bear ticks, fleas, worms, and other things not good for baby.
The main risk is suffocation. Cats as we all know, like to sleep in warm places. I know my own cats will try to sleep on my face because A) they like me and B) it's warm. They're no cleverer about it if a baby is there. Sadly, there really have been cases of cats suffocating a baby to death by sleeping on the face.
So it's very important that housecats do not have access to cots with sleeping babies in them. It's useful if the cat gets the message to always keep out of the cot; this is not a cat space. Don't let the cat get into unhelpful habits.
The other thing about letting felines into cots is that, unless they live entirely indoors, the cat may pick up dirt and germs from outside that you don't necessarily want getting onto your baby's bedding.
Go to your local Walmart or Walgreens or general retail store and they usually carry sprays that pose no threat to humans, but will produce a smell for the cat that will keep it away. Humans can't smell it. Once the cat has learned that that particular area is not its territory, it won't go there anymore and you won't need to spray.
