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Really silly Q for anyone with house-cats & babies in prams!
in Baby
Hi all
I have a seriously bad habit for worrying about stupid things but this is playing on my mind a lot!
For anyone who has house-cats, or maybe perhaps doesn't let their cats out of their front / main door because they live on a busy road or something... how do you manage to get baby in the pram out of the door without the cats making a run for it?
Our cats are house-cats and do not go outside at all - but they are curious about "what's out there" and are always waiting at the door when we come home or looking around to see if they can sneak out when we go out or something. For ages they haven't actually made a run for it but I am a bit worried about how I will handle keeping the door open wide enough to get the baby in the pram outside but avoiding them escaping!
I'm aware this bit could be an over-reaction in advance - but I thought I should write a disclaimer on my post nonetheless!!! - I am NOT asking for anyone to give me their opinion on house-cats! They are house-cats for our personal reasons (which I will share if anyone is that interested!!!) and I won't be drawn into debates about indoor cats!!! (Sorry I get quite defensive about this issue which is probably rude of me!)
Thanks for any advice and for the millionth time, I'm sorry for gategrashing!
Joo xxx
32+6
I have a seriously bad habit for worrying about stupid things but this is playing on my mind a lot!
For anyone who has house-cats, or maybe perhaps doesn't let their cats out of their front / main door because they live on a busy road or something... how do you manage to get baby in the pram out of the door without the cats making a run for it?
Our cats are house-cats and do not go outside at all - but they are curious about "what's out there" and are always waiting at the door when we come home or looking around to see if they can sneak out when we go out or something. For ages they haven't actually made a run for it but I am a bit worried about how I will handle keeping the door open wide enough to get the baby in the pram outside but avoiding them escaping!
I'm aware this bit could be an over-reaction in advance - but I thought I should write a disclaimer on my post nonetheless!!! - I am NOT asking for anyone to give me their opinion on house-cats! They are house-cats for our personal reasons (which I will share if anyone is that interested!!!) and I won't be drawn into debates about indoor cats!!! (Sorry I get quite defensive about this issue which is probably rude of me!)
Thanks for any advice and for the millionth time, I'm sorry for gategrashing!
Joo xxx
32+6
0
Replies
One of my catmen is very inquisitive (siamese) about the outside world and does go in the garden on a lead(think I'm going to get abuse too lol!!) but he was never really a problem-I think I used to push him away with my foot-gently of course as he's my baby too!!!
My problem has been that I'd love to have the kitchen door open so G could play outside safely whilst I'm in the kitchen but obviously the cats would go out then-and get lost, squashed etc, so I got locks on the gates. I could do with a screen door like they have in the US but haven't seen anything like it here.
Hope you don't get any abuse Joo-its a valid concern.
Helen.xxxx
See, you've made me really nosey now though and I want to know why you keep them as house cats think my cat would like to be a house cat, he's so pathetic these days the other cats pick on him!
xx
QB - the problem (well not problem but you know!) is that they have full run of the house, except bathrooms and the nursery of course (and our bedroom when baby is in there at night-times). So wouldn't want to shut them in one room for the many times we will be going out... UNLESS of course, you meant pop them in a room whilst we get the pram out!!! Which is a good idea - yes!!!
Helen - thanks honey! We want to get those too so we can open the french doors in the summer, we did find a place but they were quite expensive so we scraped the idea. We are currently researching window locks so we can open the windows wide enough, but without a cat slipping through!
I think getting the pram and all other bits and bobs outside the house whilst the cats are tucked in the kitchen is a good plan - and then carrying baby outside to the pram that way. Chances are, baby will almost always be in a car-seat when we go out anyway as we live in such a crappy area we are unlikely to be walking anywhere locally!!!
oooh I feel better now thank you!
xxxxx
BTW I didn't mean it to sound as if I thought house cats were wrong, I know there are all sorts of reasons to keep them in, I'm just nosey!!!
xx
QB that sounds awful, your poor cat, how could someone do that? At least he has a good home with you now.
Can't tell you how much it cost because i ended up getting it done for free when i had my back door fitted because they'd forgot about it first time, but they'd originally said it'd only be a few pounds. You could just try calling a upvc window company and asking about them because they do sell them without fitting - its just that the guy fitted it for me to be nice
As for the cats not getting out - well my cat can jump over the baby gates - both the mesh portable one and the normal ones so they'd be no good, we are planning on getting a high dog gate for the stairs so I don't know whether that'd make a good deterrant. If possible though -if your cats are escape artists I'd recommend shutting htem behind 2 closed doors as I remember when my friend first moved house and thought her cats were safely shut in a bedroom while we moved stuff in, and one of the cats still managed to escape due to the front door being open for more than the few seconds it usually takes someone to shoot in their house.
Oh and zoey... I can't believe soemone would do that to a cat.. poor thing! Some people are just disgusting!!
The alternative is to get lo into the cot or car seat first, then go outside and put the pram frame up. The cot or car seat just clips on to the frame so it's really quick when the frame is up to just carry lo outside like that. In fact I think I'll do it that way from now on!
My cats (sadly only cat now) were originally house cats purely because they're ex-breeders and had lived in a cage or house their whole lives, but they kept getting nosier and nosier so we let them out. They don't go very far for very long, and I no longer have to clean litter trays - hooray!
Bedhead - the reason isn't anything major... they are SO SO precious to us, I can't even begin to put into words how much we both adore our little cats. We live on a bit of a rough estate, well, just not that nice really - the car drivers are loonies and there would be a huge risk of them getting into an accident. Also, our cats are pedigrees and you can tell by the look of them, so we wouldn't put it past anyone locally to steal them and sell them on. Its happened with pedigree puppies around us recently - very sad. I can't bear to think of them being taken from us or being seriously injured. So whilst our reasons might be a tad selfish, we keep them in for safety. But also, we researched the breed really well (Birmans) and they are actually a breed that do prefer an indoor life and would barely venture outside anyway...
Was chatting to hubby last night and he agreed about keeping the main part of the buggy in the car boot or garage all of the time and just moving the baby around in its car seat or carrying out to the pram like you've suggested.
The treats thing is also a good idea... we used to do that a lot but since they have become less curious and less likely to sneak out, we don't need to anymore - but def. a good option to try!
Thanks so much everyone!
Joo xxx
33w today!