Whoa-Whoa and Boh-Boh. That's what Evelynn calls the cats. I thought maybe I should blog about them, because I hadn't in a while, and I know that some of you come just to hear their exploits. Also because when I first was pregnant, I couldn't find any info on BABIES AND BENGALS. I put that in uppercase in hopes that if someone googles BABIES AND BENGALS they will come here, instead of just really cute pictures of Bengal Kittens. Which, don't get me wrong, were a lot of fun to look at, but not informative at all.
So what did we do once we were pregnant, well we asked the vet about it, and he really didn't have any info about preparing them for it. Seth's Mom got us a CD of baby noises, specially made for pets to get them used to it. They kind of just looked at the computer speakers and found somewhere else to be.
From the get go the cats were protective of my pregnant belly. We spent many a nights cuddled together and me pushing them off the top of my belly with Evelynn alternately kicking them thru the womb. I remember I felt like they knew before we did that I was pregnant because for the first time ever, they felt they had to sit RIGHT ON TOP OF MY LAP.
When we brought Evelynn home, they were very curious. They peeked thru the slats of the crib at her, climbed into my lap to sniff her. Slowly though, they became less tolerant of her and a little more possessive of us. These days, its a fight for attention and lap space when Seth and I sit down anywhere.
In the mornings we can always count on Bagheera being right on top of us, looking for love and attention as soon as he hears us stir.
Bagheera is VERY tolerant of Evie. He lets her lay on him, pull his fur, sit on his head, smash her face into his side, and any number of things I haven't really seen. I'm sure she has pushed his meow button once or twice. Willow tries to stay out of her way and off the floor so Evelynn doesn't get to close to her. Every now and then she will allow Evelynn to yank on her tail. She loves all the baby toys. She spends her time stealing foam letters to gnaw on and batting at lose balls from the ball popper. The other day she brought Evie her "mousy" to play with, so I think she is coming around.
When Evie went mobile the cats were definitely freaked out, but now they have accepted her in their space and know they aren't getting rid of her anytime soon.
We put all of their food and cat pans in protected spaces, so a lot of times you can find them hanging out there.
By and by, we will make it work. We are all family, right?
Love (fur babies and real babies),
Carrie
DVD Momma posted this comment and my fat fingers acccidently deleted it when I tried to post it! Dang it! It is a really great comment so I wanted to make sure you all saw it! Thanks DVD Momma!
ReplyDeleteI hope you take video of your baby laying on the cats! My daughter does that same thing. ;)
It's sounds like your Bengal cats react to a baby like a combination of a cat and dog. My cats are more curious, the dog more possessive. But, all in all, they know from smell that the baby is part of the family pack.
Since your post is also to help preggies searching for info on babies and bengals, I will add my info:
1.While preggy put a stuffed animal or babydoll in the baby swing or bouncy chair with vibrate on. Make sure you are hanging around in the room like watching tv, or doing chores you will do while baby is in these items (on the computer, cooking in the kitchen, folding clothes.) The purpose is to make sure the animals do not react and attack the item. It's not a toy for them. The hope is that they will tune it out.
2.While mom and baby are still in the hospital, have dad bring a peepee diaper (I know, gross) and a used baby blanket home. Let the animals smell it.