Clingy cats and new baby

morg_monster

I just wanted to add our experience. We have two cats that were on the scene for about 4 years before I got pregnant. They weren't exactly clingy but they did like to be near us - eg in the evenings they will ALWAYS be found in the same room as us. We moved just before daughter was born which I think upset them a bit :-( from a big long garden with a wood at the end, to a small garden with high cat density. They became mostly indoor cats. When daughter first arrived they were not at all bothered by the crying, or the change in routine. They probably felt a bit neglected (just emotionally! not physically) compared to their lovely life pre-baby, as there was so much more for me and DH to do now the baby had come along. They couldn't just sit on our laps for hours in the evening anymore. But they seemed happy.
However as she started getting mobile they got quite stressed. She loved them and would always crawl after them which annoyed them, and it was difficult for them because they always wanted to be near me, and I was always near the baby. One cat (female) had repeated bouts of cystitis for 6-9 months due to stress. However over time the baby got less fascinated by them, and learned not to bother them, and now she is 2.5 years old, she understands that one cat doesn't like being stroked on her sides, while the other one loves it, and she knows not to interrupt them when they are eating etc. I don't think they will ever be best mates, they generally avoid her, and actually she still gets jealous when they they try to sit on my lap! however I've noticed one of the cats has started seeking her out like they do me and DH, so maybe there'll be a friendship there of sorts.

My main point is that there were several points during the past 3 years where I thought, are we doing the best for our cats? They seem truly unhappy, would they be happier somewhere else? But each time it always passed and I'm very glad that we're all fairly settled now.
The other point is that in our experience the newborn days didn't affect our cats so preparation for that would've been pointless, it was the mobile/toddler stage that they found hard, but it's over fairly quickly.