Preparing the Cats To Meet the Baby

Up until now, the babies in our house have been our two cats, Riley and Tucker. They're hopelessly spoiled and adored. They have toys galore and sleep with us in bed at night. We make sure they have high quality food and that Riley gets his medicine daily (Riley has a respiratory form of herpes that we control with Lysine caplets twice daily). We worry about them while we're away and are thrilled to see them when we return.

But soon our pampered boys are going to have a rude awakening in the form of our new arrival.

So far, Riley and Tucker are becoming accustomed to the new furnishings in the nursery. They've handled it quite well, so we're hopeful that once we bring the baby home, they'll handle his arrival just as calmly. Our vet recommended sending home a piece of clothing that smells like the baby ahead of time and letting the cats smell his swaddled backside right away when he comes home. But we'll also have to be careful to keep the nursery door closed while he's sleeping, so the cats don't try to take a nap with him. They love sleeping in bed with us and snuggling up close, so they're liable to try to do the same with him. The last thing the little guy needs is a nose full of cat hair.

This adorable picture is of our cat Riley. Riley seems to love hanging out in the baby's room on the dresser in the sun. This week we put the basket that Kelly M. made for our wedding back in the room after Kelly W. was done with it for her wedding. Riley immediately made himself at home. We thought he looked pretty precious. Another favorite spot of Riley's is under the crib, because he's small enough to slide underneath, while Tucker takes a little more squirming to fit.


Tucker (seen here in his Christmas antlers) was our most recent addition to the family when we adopted him last May. He doesn't spend as much time in the nursery as Riley. His favorite places are in the living room and in our bedroom. Tucker's the one we're most concerned about showing too much affection toward the baby -- he loves to kneed people and when he lays his fourteen pounds of fluffiness on top of you, he's no lightweight. I'm sure that as long as we're vigilant, we can make sure that Tucker doesn't show the baby too much love.

We're going to be doing our best to make sure that the new addition to our family doesn't completely stress out the existing furry members of the family or make them feel that they've suddenly become less important in our eyes. Finding time for both the baby and the cats will be hard, but it's an important priority for us to have.