Prep your pets before bringing home baby

  • By Sue Manning Associated Press
  • Monday, March 26, 2012 9:00pm
  • Life

Parents have months to get ready for a baby. Experts say the countdown should include prep time for pets too.

A baby changes everything for a pet, from how its home looks, smells and sounds to what the rules are.

Low energy, friendly, social dogs are the most adaptable pets, while independent, excitable, high maintenance, busybody dogs are the least adaptable, said San Francisco veterinarian and animal behaviorist Sophia Yin.

“Little dogs can be more jealous and more snippy,” said Lynn Sullivan, community health program manager for The BirthPlace at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital.

Yin said making some changes before the baby arrives can help a pet and ease new parent anxieties.

Maybe your dog needs to learn some basic commands like sit, down or stay, she said. If your dog is used to jumping in your lap or up onto furniture, new boundaries should be set before the baby comes home. Maybe you have to move the cat’s litter box to make way for a crib.

If your dog is uncomfortable around visitors, add some social activities like trips to the dog park.

You can buy CDs or find online recordings of baby sounds, including rattles and cries, Yin said. Pairing noises with treats will make the newness easier to accept.

Use baby powder, shampoo and lotions before the baby is born. While the baby is still at the hospital, take a shirt or blanket the baby has used and let your pet get familiar with the scent, Sullivan said.

A trip to the vet will assure that pets don’t have fleas, parasites or other problems, but cat owners who are pregnant must also guard against toxoplasmosis, Sullivan said. The parasite that causes it is most often found in cat feces, so use gloves or get someone else to change litter boxes.

Cats can be an ideal pet for new parents because they often ignore the baby, but they are also curious and can jump and crawl, Sullivan said, recalling an incident when her son, now grown, was an infant and her cat wouldn’t stay out of the crib. “When she scratched the baby, that was it,” Sullivan said. She immediately found a new home for the cat.

“Infants are helpless,” Sullivan said. “No matter how good-natured a pet is, never leave any pet alone with a baby.”

Yin said when she talks about cats and babies, the same question always comes up: Can a cat suck the life out of a baby while trying to lick milk off the infant’s face?

Not true, she says: “Cats will not suck the air from a newborn, but they do like to snuggle up to a warm body.”

Cats don’t like sticky surfaces, so to keep cats away from a crib, cover the outside with sticky paper or double-sided tape.

When babies start moving and crawling, that poses new challenges for pets, especially fearful dogs.

“Their first response is to get away,” Yin said. “As long as they can do that, it’s OK. But when the object keeps coming after them and corners them, they might become defensive.”

Most dogs will accept their new roles as pal and protector, Yin said, but there might be reasons they can’t, don’t or won’t.

Maybe you have an older dog with arthritis. Getting pounced on by a young child could hurt, causing the dog to snap. Dogs may also lash out in response to rough or even mean-spirited behavior from children, like spitting or wrestling.

If a dog pants for no reason or won’t lean into a child for a hug, that could be a sign that the dog feels stressed by the child’s presence, Yin said. “Some children are very aggressive with animals and they need to learn early how to treat animals,” she said.

New mothers might also consider a dog walker or even doggie daycare to give everyone a break, Yin said.

Finally, don’t take on a baby and a puppy at the same time. “That,” said Yin, “would be like having twins.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.