I have two pets - a labrador x border collie and a domestic shorthair tortoiseshell cat.
The dog is just a beautiful, well trained dog who loves kids and adults alike. I really feel that when bubs arrives he will welcome him in to the family and enjoy his company (especially once he learns how to throw toys for him!!) Naturally of course, he won't be left unsupervised, but I just think he has the right training and temperament to cope with a new baby.
My cat on the other hand might be a whole other story. Being a tortie she has an attitude and rebellious streak. She isn't one of the nasty types, but she doesn't let anyone bully her. It is very nice that she is independent and isn't really a sooky cat. She likes a quick cuddle and then off she goes. She loves to cuddle up to the dog though and they sleep n the same bed. The problem now is that we have changed her favourite room in the house in to the nursery. It is her favourite room because it is the only room in the house with a north facing window which lets lots of sunlight in all day and makes it lovely and cosy. Since setting the room up we keep the door closed, but of course we sometimes walk in and out and forget to close the door and sure enough she can be found in the cot. Other than physically removing her we can't seem to discourage her from that room. Loud noises don't scare her (she doesn't even run away from the vacuum cleaner!) and water squirting is highly ineffective. She just looks at us with a "What did you do that for?" look and goes back to doing what she was doing.
Someone in my bellybuddies group mentioned that putting tin foil on the mattress freaks them out and they won't go back again so I will be trying this one tonight and I have heard about the netting around the cot. I'm not sure about the netting, i can imagine my cat jumping up and shredding it to ribbons before climbing in to the cot through her newly made hole and settling down for a nap! Does anyone else have any other suggestions? I want to discourage her from that room so that if the door does get left open then it is no big deal.
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