Baby/kids displacing animals

One thing I've been really aware of with having Cuinn is to make sure that our animals' place in the family has remained as unchanged as possible, aside from a shuffling down the ranks. I didn't want inside/outside dogs to become outside dogs because of him, or to miss out on their walks etc because we were knackered or running short of time or whatever, or the cat to be locked out of the house to be kept away from him - that sort of thing. The cat is nearly 10, the dogs 7 and 6 respectively, and so they've been around a long time before Cuinn.

But, holy hell, is it hard?! Being Winter, the door is shut to keep Cuinn in (and the cold out ) and I've got both dogs each at the cat door to go out, then at the cat door to come in straight away because it's cold out, then at the cat door again to go out and so on and so forth all day. I couldn't tell you how many times they've woken up a bad sleeper to the point where I just wanted them put down (not really - I adore my dogs, but you know what I mean!), and the cat ... she's just become obsessed with scratching at Cuinn's closed door, and is waking him from just about every sleep he has. If we get a rare day nap, he gets woken and the other day spent 4 and a half hours wailing about it, and most mornings he's woken early - any time from about 5am to 6am or just after, by her scratching at his door ... and is grumpy because he's tired. And doesn't day nap to make up for it

It's sort of a whinge, but also me realising that where I've looked at displaced animals in the past and thought judgemental thoughts    I can totally see how it happens!!

I totally understand! We have 2 burmese cats and they can be very naughty meowing outside my baby's door and playfighting up there too. I generally have them outside most of the day now and then inside for the evening and shut in the garage overnight.
I even found one of my cats asleep on my baby in the bassinette when Daniel was about 8 weeks old! They'd pushed his door open and gotten in. That was the turning point for me!
Dont feel too badly, its pretty normal and not forever and im sure your animals are still looked after better than most.

Totally understand. Our dog barks at almost every car that goes past the house fast or if it sounds like it is going to come up the drive, and she barks when she thinks she hears some noise that requires being barked at. Luckly Ds is sort of used to it by now and hardly ever gets woken up by her but in the early days it was such a pain.
I am staying at my mums at the moment and the dog is even worse up here. She barks at every little noise that comes from outside. And then sets off mums dog. I honestly think it would be easier if we didn't have her, even though I do like having her around for security reasons.

And we don't pay her the attention that she used to get, though DS does give her cuddles.

As for the cat well she spends all day outside then all night inside so is no trouble.

We had the same problem with our dog. He's four and half so had a few years of being the center of attention. He's really sensitive and was just so put out with DD when she arrived. He would just ignore her and pretend she wasn't there. Then he turned into the neediest dog in the world and was so competitive for attention, it was unreal.

It totally stressed me out as I hated to see him so unhappy. He even went off his food a refused to eat. So we did what we could and made a fuss of him once DD went to bed at night.

now that she's on solids and dropping food everywhere he's finally almost back to his normal self. only taken 8 months!

i guess it's a big adjustment for them. I'm hoping they will be best buddies when she gets a bit older. He already cracks her up and she squeals with delight at him.

sorry not much help
disco

I've been wondering about this....our cat is a total sook and gets loads of attention and I think she's going to hate it when our little one arrives! My DH works from home and she sits beside him, or on him, all day (he's as big of a sook as she is!) and sleeps on our bed most nights. There are very view parts of the house she does not feel are her's to roam in anytime she likes, and if one of the doors is shut and she wants in she'll scratch. thankfully, the room that will be the nursery has up until now been a bit of a junk room and the door is always shut, so hopefully she'll refrain from scratching at it to get in once it's a nursery. I'm a bit worried about where she'll sleep at night though..if we have the bassinet in our room at night I won't want her in and I just know she'll scratch at the door!

With the cat scratching his door.. our cat would meow at the door until everytime I heard it happening I went down with a pump bottle and sprayed her. Only took about 4 times and she hasn't done it since

Also just thought I would add I can sympathise completely. My first cat ran away 1 week after bringing my oldest into the house. We also have a schnoodle and a cat now and the dog is mainly outside as she is so hyper. Put her in a room with three kids and it all goes to custard pretty fast. They just feed off each other. However she was a purchase after the three kids so she hasn't known any better.

Hehe, I worried about our cat when DS was born, he is 14 years old this year and is a really cuddly, sooky cat....but he has adjusted so well. He sometimes sleeps in DS room during the day, keeping him company..so cute...and then he gets all worried and meows when DS cries! I was worried that he would jump in the bassinet but he was not at all interested. He lets DS pat him and buts his head up against DS too for 'pats' lol...

hmm no help at all, just wanted to share lol! I love my cat haha.

We have 2 cats and 2 dogs. The dogs became outside dogs over summer so they would be OK sleeping out in the kennel when bubs arrived. We have set up a playpen that they cant get into in the lounge. They were just too destructive to keep inside, I never knew what I was going to come home to/wake up to.

One of them is driving me nuts! He does the in/out thing all day. If I dont let him out in time he pees on the floor, and if I dont let him in he barks and scratches at the door. He is SUCH a pain but DS adores him

Our cats have been outdoor cats since the above dog came along...

kiwi2 wrote: Is it possible with your house set up to use a baby gate at the beginning of the hall to keep the dogs in the family areas.

I'd have a riot on my hands    But, having said that, the cushion from the couch is a really good idea - I might try putting that in another room for her to curl up on! Ta!!