Hello guys,
I have joined this forum to get some advice. I have a 1 year old cat Tazzy. I love him to bits but...
I just had a baby girl 3 month ago. At the beginning it was all fine and Tazzy didn't seem to care that much. But now it all changed - he is jumping into the cot and the pram, tried to scratch her when she was lying on the bed, jumps on her...I have tried to close the door to the bedroom and not let Tazzy in (at least at night) but he's a very clever cat and learned to open the door...Blocking the door is not really an option when you have a tiny baby and you still have to do night feeds... In addition to that Tazzy started acting crazy at nights again (just like he did when he was a kitten). My husband is pretty tired of all this as he is working all day and not getting any sleep at night (not because of the baby, but because of the cat!)... I am pretty tired as well as i have to guard Lily all night...then do the night feed, then guard again and then do all the normal stuff during the day... I feel that I haven't slept for years... And on top of that Tazzy is being really noisy running around, knocking stuff down, scrtaching the furniture that he wakes Lily up...
I have spoken to my vet and Tazzy been on Zilkene for 1,5 month but that didn't seem to change anything...he is getting more and more jealous of Lily
I really don't know what to do... It breaks my heart to think that i will have to find a new home for him

I will appreciate any advice guys! Thank you!

Oh my love, what a hard time for you.. a new baby is hard work and to top it off your fur baby is being very naughty and causing a lot of extra worry..

I do not have the answers, others on this site will help you. All I can think of is buy new toys for you fur baby and try and up the fuss with him when you can!!!!
Feed him a lot of food before the last fed and maybe he will sleep longer!

He has had his nose put out of joint and is sulking..... very difficult for you.

good luck and congrat's with your baby girl Lily.

Thank you! I have bought him loads of new toys, my husband spends 2 hours playing with him every night. With feeding - he's got his own pattern so he's eating at around 4 in the morning and then goes to sleep...but it's a bit too late as my daughter wakes up at 5!

thank you anyway!

Maybe you could lock your cat in a different room in the house at night ? He may complain at first but he'll get used to it i'm sure Same goes for the daytime really as well ....

My cats all love the kitchen and whilst i don't lock them in it , they very often stay in there most of the day through choice

hope this helps ....

Maybe try a feliway plug in.
Also like Valerie says lock him in a room at night with a feliway plug in.
He will get use to it.

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Sorry I don't have any advice for you, I just wanted to sympathize with your plight. I guess I was lucky with my cats as they loved the baby and were never jealous, I bought a pram net, I needn't have bothered as they never got into the pram or cot, perhaps this was because they had each other. I'm not for a minute suggesting you get a companion for your furbaby as this could make life worse for you. But as others have said give plenty of attention to the cat and maybe the problem will sort itself out in time, no consolation I know, I remember how tired you get with a baby and being kept awake by the cat must be so frustrating for you. I wish you luck and hope the problem sorts itself out and you get a good nights sleep very soon, congrats on the baby by the way

He'll be feeling neglected by his mummy is all. He'll ahve been getting all the attention from you and your OH and now a lot of the attention is being directed at the new baby (congrats by the way )

Sounds like Only child syndrom Same as kids getting upset when they aren't the centre of attention he'll be acting out to get it and knows by doing it the attention will get directed back to him.

Feliway should be a good start to calm him a little and try little things like cuddlign up with him and the baby... try sitting close to him but not right next to him while you have the baby and gradually in stages get closer to him... a bit like kitten introduction really.

It sounds silly but try and make him feel like part of the family again and included rather than shutting him out completely.

It'll take time but sure he'll calm down and accept baby

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another idea

wipe a soft cloth over your baby - especially anywhere that is 'smelly' for a cat so soles of feet, small of back, back of neck, back of knees and under chin - and then rub the same cloth on your cat so the scents mingle - then leave this cloth where the cat can smell it and get used to the mingled scents

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Hi and welcome
Firstly huge congratulations on yoru baby. My boy is nearly 2 but i remember those early days as if they were last week. It is a very exhausting and emotional time for all of you, including Tazzy.
I think the advie given already i great. I would certainly make sure he is in one room overnight from now on. It is so hard when you are sleep deprived and some nights I remember having hardly any at all so the last thing you need is to be guarding baby. Tazzy will soon get used to being in one room.

Defo lots of attention whenever you can amd make him feel included. The scent cloth is a fab fab idea. Put this where he sleeps in his new overnight room. Feliway plugins too are great, will help puss to feel calmer and more at ease.

Does baby have daytime naps downstairs? if so, you could invest in a cat net to put over the crib. You need to be resting when baby does not worrying about Tazzy jumping in there.

It will work out with a few changes and a lot of love and attention for Tazzy. Good on you for not just "getting rid" of him as I see written on adverts all the time. Keep us posted on progress. It will be ok.

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First of all thank you all the congratulations!!! xxx

And thanks for all the advice! i will definitely try the scent cloth thing, however after 3 month I should think he is used to Lily's smell.

For all the advice to keep him in one room overnight - it is a great advice when you live in the house. Unfortunately, we live in the flat with an open plan kitchen - sitting room. So the only two doors in the house is the bedroom and toilet ones. Obviously, I cannot keep Tazzy in the toilet, and as I mentioned before bedroom door is not a problem for him - as he opens it quite easily.

The cot and pram nets are good ideas and I tried them, but it doesn't really work for me, as Tazzy still jumps on them and tries to reach Lily through them and she gets scared everytime he jumps Feliway plug ins are in every room of the flat! My vet said that sometimes cats just won't settle with the baby, but then I think he would act like this from the very beginning when I brought Lily home - but for the first 1,5 month everything was perfect! He even cuddled up to her! confused: I was so happy at first because it all seemed so good and Tazzy was good as gold...

Anyway, thankfully it was a nice day today so Lily slept in the pram on the balcony and I had a nap over a book!

My vet suggested sedatives for Tazzy, but I refused...I think it's very cruel to keep an animal sedated for weeks...