Babies and pets: a lethal combination?
A new baby is on the way, you’ve tried to make the house safe, child locks on the fridge and toilet, a stair gate at the end of every flight of stairs, and a barrage of baby monitors, brand new clothes for baby in the drawers, it didn’t cross your mind you’d forgot something until you saw the cat and dog walk in.
Pets and babies may not mix. There are a lot of issues regarding pets and babies, like whether they may spread disease, whether they could harm the baby (or even vice versa) or if they will lose attention with a new baby. However don’t start looking up the number for the animal shelter, it can be done, pets and babies can be in the same house, it is all about ensuring that the right action has been taken.
It is important to minimise any risk of disease in your cat and dog, as it could be harmful to mother and baby. Anyone who is pregnant should not carry out the filthy task like cleaning the cat litter trays, bird cases, after the dog, even clean a fish tank, as there could be a risk of zoonotic diseases (spread from animal to human) like toxoplasmosis, which could cause congenital diseases, or Psittacosis, which is a respiratory infection caught from cage birds like budgies which can be cured easily, but remember that expectant mothers and babies can be more vulnerable to such illnesses. Therefore it is important to get animals vaccinnated regularly, take them to the vet a bit more often, to prevent the spread of any diseases. It may be a good idea to segregate areas for babies and pets, like disallowing the cat and dog to enter the nursery, or putting the bird/fish tank into another room.
While you are doing this, you should not neglect your pets, when the baby is asleep, play with the cat and dog, when your child is a little older they could play with them too, but make sure they are supervised, and do not be afraid to seperate them if they are beginning to get rough with each other.