The social behaviour of cats has changed a great deal since the process of domestication started. They are still capable of living a solitary life, but for the most part, cats will form a positive relationship with the person or people they live with. This helps to explain why cats are such ideal family pets, and children can play a very significant part of that role in a cat’s life.
While this can be lovely to see, however, cats can sometimes struggle with living in a home with small children. This article will explore this subject further and share a few tips to help cats and children coexist together.
Understanding Your Cat’s Behaviour & Preferences
As we just mentioned, it’s certainly possible for cats and children to form a positive bond together. However, living in the same space can also cause problems for both the cat and their humans. There are a number of reasons for this, but there are things we can put into place to encourage a positive relationship rather than a negative one.
Experiences and Socialization
When looking for a cat to live in a household with children, it’s important to make sure the cat has been well-socialized during their kittenhood with children of different ages. It’s also important that they have had good experiences with children since then, or at least have had no negative experiences. This will set them off to a good start and they should be more open to forming that human and cat bond we are hoping for.
Human Behaviour
Next, the children’s behaviour is important too. It can often be quite unpredictable, particularly with preschoolers. Adults should supervise smaller children around cats to prevent any unwanted interactions. For example, this could include grabbing, poking, or just stroking in a way your cat is not happy with.
Even when not specifically trying to interact with your cat, the behaviour of small children can still be startling. Children spend a lot of time on floor level, their movements can be unpredictable as they find their feet, and they can be noisy - laughing or crying and playing with noisy toys.
Creating a Safe & Reassuring Environment
At this stage, your cat should be provided with ways to avoid any children and to cope with a potentially challenging situation. FELIWAY Optimum can come in useful here to help your cat feel calm and relaxed in the home.
Cats should also have areas to rest where they will not be disturbed, both around children and in an area away from them. Cats are usually very sociable and want to be around their humans, so providing a space such as a tall cat tree will allow them to spend time in the most sociable areas of the house while being out of reach of little hands. This will help them feel more confident spending time around children.
Your cat’s food, litter tray, and other resources should also be located in quiet areas, so they aren’t forced to come close to the children when they need to use them. This will help your cat feel in control of the interactions, and means they only have to approach the children when they choose to do so.
Encouraging Positive Interactions
As children get older, time should be taken to teach them how to interact with your cat appropriately, as well as how to manage their behaviour. This should include inviting your cat to interact by holding out their hands and softly calling the cat over, instead of reaching out to stroke them. Getting a cat’s consent before stroking will make them a lot more open to it and will keep them a lot happier during the interaction, helping to build a human-cat relationship.
Children should also be taught which areas of a cat’s body are okay to touch, which are not, and what signs to look for to check whether a cat is in a good mood. This will help avoid a negative response from your cat and make sure everyone remains happy.
Children can also engage with cats in other positive ways, such as playing with them using ‘hands-off’ toys including fishing rod toys or ping pong balls. They can also design and create toys and activity feeders to play with together, for example by using scrunched-up paper or toilet roll tubes. Or children can get involved with the feeding and brushing of your cat, helping to educate them on how to care for cats in general.
Growing up with a cat and building that human-cat bond can be a very positive experience for a child. The companionship and emotional support this offers can improve mental health and help children cope with the challenges they may experience as they grow up. All in all, cats and children can definitely coexist with a whole heap of benefits if approached in the right way!
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