How are the cats adjusting to the babies?

Before my husband and I had our two little boys, we had two little girls. Their names are Bandit and Patches and they are our babies too. They sleep at the bottom of our beds, greet us when we get home and play tricks (video here and here).

For the last four years they have received all of our attention and devotion. For the last four years they have received all of our attention and devotion. So, we knew they would feel displaced and jealous with our expanding family. We tried employing some tactics to get them adjusted before the boys arrived though. First, we allowed them to thoroughly inspect the nursery, sniffing every corner. Hitting play on their musical toys. They just assumed it was a new room for them with little beds and odd cat toys.
Patches in the Nursery window
Then, once the babies were born, we brought home a hat that they wore in the NICU for the cats to smell, so they could get used to their scent. They weren't impressed, lol. I've also heard that some people even play sound files of babies crying to get them used to the sound. We didn't hear of this trick until after, otherwise we would have tried this too. More ideas can be found in the Humane Society of the United States article, "Introducing Your Pet and New Baby."
Our older cat, Patches, doesn't want anything to do with the boys and their cries have her fleeing the room. Bandit, however, is showing signs of depression and sibling rivalry. It's heartbreaking that we can't give her more attention now, I keep meaning to when I have more time, but I never have more time. She'll do a cry that's practically human and will carry her feather up and down three flights of stairs in order for us to play with her. I'm looking forward to the day the boys can play with her too. She'll also try and jump on our lap while we are feeding the babies, which is impossible to accommodate.We've cautiously let her sniff the babies heads and she'll even rub her head against theirs or lick their hair. It's cute, but most of the time she's afraid of them.
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Bandit and Logan
The other day, Bandit even took a nap in the babies' empty Pack N' Play, which the boys usually lie in. Her demand for attention couldn't have been any clearer.  Poor kitty.


  1. Awww. I'm sure that eventually things will start to even out and you'll be able to give her more time. It had really only been a few weeks, though I'm sure it feels a lot longer!

  2. aw... I know my cats were a little jealous at first, but then became very protective of my daughter when she was little. love the pic of the cat with the baby :)

  3. Aww,l. So cute! How old are the babies?



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