A cat in the house brings joy to the owners, especially when there is a child in the family. The baby loves to play with the pet and just cuddle the fluffy little ball. Murka, for his part, also becomes attached to the baby and often begins to climb into his crib. How to deal with such a cat habit, especially if the child is still very small? Why is such co-sleeping dangerous?
Should you let your child sleep with a cat?
Children love to sleep with pets. If a cat treats a child well, she will not mind spending time together with her little owner. Don't forget about hygiene. Before going to bed, be sure to wash your animal's paws.
Children love sleeping with their pets
If the cat and child are healthy, there are no obstacles to them sleeping together. Children who spend a lot of time with pets from childhood grow up attentive and kind.
How to wean a cat from sleeping in the owner's bed?
Despite the benefits of sleeping together, not all people agree to share their bed with cats. To painlessly wean your pet from resting in the owner’s bed, follow these simple recommendations:
- Place your pet's area outside the master bedroom. It should be comfortable and safe. When an animal tries to climb onto the owner's bed, carefully take the animal to its resting place.
- If your cat jumps onto the bed and begins to get ready for bed, do not yell at it. Spend some time with your pet and cuddle her. Then take him to his own bed.
Development of allergies
How can a mother and baby get enough sleep and manage everything?
Experts say that almost a third of the world's population has allergic reactions to pets. However, allergies to cats are much more common than to dogs. The cause may be not only pet fur, but also particles of excrement, saliva and skin secretions. Allergens entering a child’s body provoke suppression of the immune system, leading to serious health consequences.
Read also: Why old people smell bad
Other places where your four-legged pet sleeps
The bed was sorted out. But our pets sometimes choose such strange places to sleep that it’s amazing! Why do they do this?
The cat sleeps on the table
- Mystical explanation. The purr “keeps” someone in the family, promising him illness or death. And if the table is in the kitchen, then the jealous young lady, through her actions, drives the man out of the house.
- Realistic explanation. From a height, the animal has a better view and control of the territory, children won’t reach the cat on the table, and the nearby kitchen is also full of all sorts of tempting smells.
There is no need to be afraid of signs. Remember: according to many beliefs, a cat can sacrifice itself in order to ward off trouble from the house. Well, will she click on her favorite owners? Of course not. However, you still need to wean your pet off the new habit. A table, especially a kitchen table, is a place that must be exceptionally clean. And a sign about a man can work if your husband has to eat food seasoned with cat hair every day.
On the threshold
Legends consider the home threshold to be the brownie's favorite hiding place. And cats are his constant interlocutors and loyal friends. Previously, in Rus' it was believed that the rodent exterminator dozing on the threshold was having a leisurely conversation with the house spirit, so there was no need to disturb them under any circumstances. This is in your own interests!
The pet doesn’t just bask in the sun, it solves important issues!
What does the choice of a cat’s sleeping place indicate?
Cats love to sleep on high ground. They feel safe there. Therefore, they often rest on window sills, the back of a chair or sofa. Just as cats are attracted to closets. If the door is open, the cat will climb inside and curl up in the back of the closet. Furry housewives love boxes and baskets in which they feel completely safe. And if you put soft things there, such as a sweater, jacket or scarf, the animal will happily sleep without its hind legs for 20 hours.
Window sill - favorite place to sleep
Cats happily sleep on ironed clothes or on a bed with clean linens.
In winter, the cat will choose a place on the radiator or next to the heater, and in summer - a cool floor.
Cats sense human energy well. Therefore, she will not kneel or sleep next to someone she does not trust.
Let's figure out why cats sleep with their owners.
Dictionary of cat sounds
Purring - calmness. Dissatisfied purring is a painful sensation. Rumbling is dissatisfaction. Meowing is a greeting and sometimes a request. An intermittent meow, similar to a squeal, is a response to human treatment. Howling is anger. A short cry is fear. Muffled purring, ending with a dissatisfied rumbling - patience has run out. Hissing is a readiness for defense, a warning about this. The restrained purr of a nursing cat is a warning to kittens about possible danger. The same thing, ending with a raised tone - a warning to a person or other creatures not to approach the kittens.
What does Dr. Sarah say?
The simple truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer: it depends entirely on the pet's personality and overall behavior. So says Dr. Sarah Ochoa, a practicing veterinarian and veterinary consultant at DogLab, a site that reviews dog products.
“Most cats are very clean animals and groom themselves and sometimes even their owners all the time,” she explains. For this reason, owners should not be too concerned about dander or debris problems. According to Dr. Ochoa, if a person finds some debris left in their bed, then this may just be a reason to select a different type of cat litter.
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Does it matter what parts of the human body a cat lays on?
Trying to fit more comfortably on the owner’s body, the cat does not always care about its comfort, but worries about the human’s health and tries to point out the problem. In the old days, it was believed that a mustachioed friend would lay down precisely on the part where there was already painful sensations or where pain would soon appear.
Indeed, there are patterns in why a pet is located in a certain place:
When the fluffy lays down on his feet, it’s worth thinking about the health of his joints or veins. If there are no problems with the limbs, then the mustachioed doctor is simply trying to relieve the fatigue and tension that has accumulated during the working day.
If a cat lies down on a person, choosing its head as a “bed,” this may indicate the owner’s weather sensitivity. The pet seeks to alleviate a person’s condition, relieve headaches, influence high blood pressure, and relieve tension.
If your pet stomps and then lies down on its chest, this may be a signal of problems with the cardiovascular system. By choosing the left side of the chest as a bed, the mustache tries to alleviate suffering, relieve tension and normalize the heartbeat.
We must remember that the cat most often chooses one family member as a sleep partner, whom he cares for and protects. Therefore, observing the behavioral characteristics of a fluffy and his desire to lie on another person gives another reason to think about his state of health.
Main reasons
Cats come to sleep in their owner's bed for a variety of reasons.
Cats feel safe when they fall asleep at their owner's feet. In this case, the legs are like a box that protects their body while they sleep.
If a cat sleeps with one person, it remembers his smell well. Over time, it is this smell that will give the cat a sense of security while sleeping.
Cats are independent creatures. However, they also become attached to people. The animals spend most of the day waiting for their owner. At night they come to the master's bed to make up for the lack of communication.
Kittens love to cuddle from birth
While the kitten lives with its brothers and sisters, they sleep together, hugging tightly. This way they feel protected. Therefore, the habit of hugging someone remains with them into adulthood.
Cat treats
Communication with cats has a therapeutic effect. For example, if your blood pressure is high, sitting your cat on your lap and petting it for a while can help lower it.
Fluffy pets sense if someone close to them is sick. They come and lie on the sore spot, relieving the pain. This fact can be explained in another way. With inflammation, the temperature rises. Cats, with their love for warm places, will lie down on the sore spot. The heat from the cat's body will act as a heating pad, providing some relief from the pain.
The animal wants to dominate
By sitting next to a person on a warm bed, cats show that the owner is their property. No one has the right to be around anymore when they are together.
It's normal for a cat to be dominant in a relationship.
They leave their scent on bedding, marking their territory. They can also scratch the headboard. A fluffy living ball on the owner’s chest eloquently says: “You are my slave.”
Attention deficit
A cat that constantly tries to share a bed with a beloved family member, despite his protests, simply needs attention. The owner, who is absent from home all day, is required to allocate 20 minutes to communicate with the pet. Games, head and ear massage, belly stroking are simple actions that will give your cat positive emotions. A satisfied animal will go to sleep somewhere else, and the question “why does she come to my bed again and again?” will disappear by itself.
Cat looking for a comfort zone
A comfortable place for a mustachioed pet is a safe place. Who, if not the owner whom the cat has chosen, will protect it?
The master's bed will be a salvation for a furry friend if strangers often visit the house and even stay overnight. Do not drive the cat away in such cases.
It’s better to let her nestle at your feet one more time than to collect fur that has fallen out of stress in the corners.
Cats are being treated
Doctors say that with some diseases the temperature of human body tissues increases. And the fluffies sense it and lie down right there.
An interesting fact is that cats love to lie on a pregnant woman’s stomach (and the woman may not even know that she is pregnant).
- Cats also like to sleep on their owners' clothes.
Here is my cat recently sitting and sniffing my robe:
Thus, they want to “absorb” the smell of a loved one in order to become closer to him, to become even more related.
Preparation
Cats are quite tolerant of newborn children if you prepare them in advance for the arrival of a new member of the community that lives in this house or apartment. To do this, you need to take the following preventive measures :
- for a cat, one of the main stresses is noise, which is inevitably associated with the appearance of a newborn baby in the house, so you need to accustom the animal in advance to these loud sounds that a baby makes when inviting friends who have small children home;
- accustom your pet to the sounds of a rattle, give the opportunity to smell those substances and objects that will be associated with the child: powder, baby cream, lotion, shampoo, cats receive almost half of the information through smell;
- You need to talk with your pet about future changes, naming the name of the future child, if it has already been chosen.
For a pet, the appearance of a new family member, especially one of such small size, will always be a surprise to which he needs to get used to.
© shutterstock
Is it true that cats lie on a sore spot and heal it?
Conducted scientific research and experiments have repeatedly proven the ability of adult representatives of the cat family to heal. The special energy transmitted by animals has a positive effect on human health. There is even such a treatment method in medicine. It has different names: pet therapy, animal therapy or zootherapy. Specifically, cat healing is called feline therapy.
Even official medical institutions around the world use feline therapy. Fluffy “doctors” can lower blood pressure. In clinics and rehabilitation centers in the UK, they help patients after injuries, patients with autism or cerebral palsy.
The pet tries to place itself in the place where the person has unpleasant sensations. Many people note that after the pet lies down on the suffering part of the body, the pain goes away or is significantly reduced. The mustache relieves pain thanks to the warmth and positive energy emanating from it. Massaging the aching joint or muscle with your paws also brings relief to the sufferer.
It has been proven that fluffies emit biocurrents that are created due to the friction of fur hairs. Microcurrents have a beneficial effect on sore joints or injured muscles. For women suffering from inflammation of the appendages or menstrual pain, the influence of such energy is recommended. The furry doctor is placed on the lower abdomen for half an hour. After this, significant relief comes.
The vibration from purring also has healing powers - research is still being conducted on this matter. But there are already versions that cats purr precisely at those frequencies that relieve pain and spasms.
The emotional background created by furry couch potatoes has a beneficial effect on an upset and sick person. The feeling of warmth and calm transmitted from a cat sleeping next to you relaxes and creates a positive mood.
Older people who own a pet are believed to live longer and stay active longer. This is not surprising: caring for a cat is not difficult, and the pleasure from communicating with her is always abundant.
