Babies and Pets?

Babies and Pets? 2

During my pregnancy I did have concerns over how my pets would react with a baby. Not concerns of them showing signs of aggresion but concerns over how they would feel  and jealousy. I was worried for my pets not for the safety of my then unborn child. We gave them as much attention as possible but tried to get them used to a new regime, access to certain rooms etc. We did this as a gradual process so I don’t think it had too much of an effect on them. I wanted them to be a part of things and not feel left out.

We have Sandy, our large German Shepard, she is a gentle giant and dare I say it, very maternal. Then we have Jasper the cat, he is a total softy but he is very giddy/hyper which is to be expected as he is very young. Both very spoilt animals and treated as our own children.

Along came Isabelle and we needent have worried, Sandy barely notices we have a baby and Jasper has soon become Isabelles furry protector and faithful best friend. At first Jasper was quiter than usual but he was used to being the baby but over a couple of weeks he was back to his usual inquisitive self. Now he seezes every opportunity to be near Isabelle, even during bath times and putting her to bed at night.

Now for the reason behind me writing about my pets. I have witnessed others rehoming their animals when they have discovered they are expecting a baby. Personally I couldn’t even think of rehoming them unless they were to show signs of aggression towards my baby and that would only be discovered when the baby arrived. How can you rehome your loyal companion for something they havent actually done. I have heard many excuses to justify people rehoming animals i.e my cat has started to wee in the corner of the room or y dog has started to bark at night. These are behavioural problems and can easily be rectified, please dont get me wrong I am not saying to put your child at risk but I could never rehome my pets because I have chosen to start a family. To me, my pets are my family.

 

Babies and Pets? 3

 

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