Free to good home etc etc

Mossop93 · 28 June 2013 at 3:03PM

Grr its midwives saying that that means these kids don't learn to respect animals. Then they end up either pulling their tails etc or believing pets are temporary!

(Obviously not ALL will, equally people with pets can be the same.)

My son has been around cats and dogs and birds. He's pulled their tails so we taught him to play nice. He now knows how to pet them nicely. Unfortunately can't shake his habit of "making the bird dance" by sticking his fingers in the cage and poking his feet! Grr. He's been taught not to, the bird has bitten him but he laughs and does it again! Luckily it now only happens once a month or so. Any advice lol?

I plan to get another dog soon. And when I have another baby in the future that dog will be staying. There would be some changes sure, like changing walking route/time to accommodate the baby. Likewise the cat will lose "free reign" of the house as bedroom will be off limits.

If your child had a problem with your new baby would you get rid? No. You'd teach them to get along, you'd set boundaries where needed and show them they're still loved even with the new baby. Why should it be any different if that's a pet?

Pupnik · 29 June 2013 at 5:36PM

There's one thing I hate more than the baby excuse and that is the opposite - when someone goes on maternity leave and gets a dog for company during that time, then goes back to work a year later and gets rid of the dog. Presumably they knew they were intending on going back to work?! I see it so often and it makes my blood boil.

Ellie83 · 1 July 2013 at 9:36AM

When my cousin was pregnant, she got asked what would happen once the baby is born (they have a JRT), implying that it was time to get rid of the dog.

She feigned concern and asked the midwife if she knew of a reputable rescue where to put the baby once it was born :rotfl:

shortdog · 1 July 2013 at 9:54AM

Ellie83 wrote: »

She feigned concern and asked the midwife if she knew of a reputable rescue where to put the baby once it was born :rotfl:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:I have to remember that one, brilliant!

Talk · 1 July 2013 at 10:02AM

About a year ago my OH and I moved closer to my parents and were staying with them while we found a nice 2 bed place to rent. There had been a woman with about 6 cats living in the area before we moved there, and she just upped and left one day, leaving behind the cats. All of them.

One of them was so skinny he would slip into our bedroom window, even when we only had it open with the child lock on, and he would sneakily sleep on a shelf in our room. We started feeding him and let him in the door (lol

) and eventually we decided he needed a forever home, especially with the cold winter coming up, so we adopted him. We got him up to date with his jabs, got him microchipped, neutered, etcetc and a year later he is a completely different cat. :T

He's a complete pain in the bum, he's claimed almost all of the baby stuff we've bought (expecting a baby this month, eek), including the moses basket, cot, play gym, etc. He even ate chunks out of the moses basket, who knew cats like wicker, lol.

He wakes us up early morning just so he can sleep on the bed without us in it, refuses to let you do a jigsaw without him, pulls off and eats our wallpaper and he has been known, on occasion, to jump on your knee, fart, and run away. :eek:But he's family, and even with a baby on the way we wouldn't change that.
Our midwife knows we have a cat and she never mentioned getting rid of him, just to take care when cleaning out the litter box, etc so it's definitely not ALL midwives!
But I agree, I see a lot of posts on facebook where people want rid of their pets and don't really seem to care where they go. I hate spiders, and always have OH remove them quickly, but I still tear up if he ever accidentally hurts a leg while putting them outside! There would have to be a pretty damn big reason for us to ever rehome Charlie!

jess1974 · 3 July 2013 at 10:12AM

My cat used to sleep in my daughters moses basket too, i can remember cleaning out her pram to sell, i put it in the back garden for someone to come and view it, and when we went to look inside it, my cat was curled up inside fast asleep !!!

stir_crazy · 3 July 2013 at 10:31AM

There was an advert on FB a while ago (one of those buy swap and sell groups). The owner's cat had kittens and she was advertising them at £20, needed to go that week. They were 6 weeks old

She thought that since they were weaned they wouldn't need their mum any more. Such ignorance makes my blood boil - and other people's too thankfully because she got so many complaints that she had to remove the advert and got banned from the group.

paddypaws101 · 3 July 2013 at 11:16AM

Talk, you Charlie is a lovely....and very lucky!....cat.
I have read that studies have shown that babies brought up with pets in the home are less likely to develop allergies and asthma....so if anyone ever questions your decision to keep cat and baby together, throw that one at them!