So they quit smoking for 9 months, then started back up again? Why? And I guess she decided smoking was more important than breast feeding? Because obviously you shouldn’t smoke while breast feeding.
You’d think that in a family who had a baby die of cancer, people would rid themselves of cancer-causing habits. But instead they rid themselves of a harmless cat and keep smoking? :dubious:
I have eight cats. Seven of them were considered unadoptable and were scheduled to be put down. The other was tortured with her ears cut off, with cigarette ashes embedded in burns on her skin.
That’s what I have done, cleaning up after people who abandoned animals, people who couldn’t be bothered to spay or neuter, people who couldn’t refrain from torturing a cat.
I had a friend who had two cats that she loved; called them her babies and so on. Then she had a baby girl, and one of the cats decided it didn’t like her. It was actively hostile towards the baby. The mom got rid of the cat in nothing flat.
I would not personally pre-emptively get rid of a pet before having a baby without some concrete reason (not that I have furry pets anyway–we only have fish), but neither am I going to scream and shout about someone who chooses to do so.
In re: if they’re still smoking, they’d be wise to change their clothes before getting near their infant. Studies have shown blah blah toxins blah blah - it’s recommended.
I mention this because a dear friend of ours, who never smoked, was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. It kills more women than breast cancer (but fewer than heart disease, studies have shown, blah blah).
You should really think about reading the thread. It would clear a few things up.
Crazy, I know.
The baby is inside with either his father or his paternal grandmother, who lives beside them. Unless I’m lucky enough to be there.
She quit smoking for the term of her pregnancy. If you care to open an anti-smoking thread, feel free.
I never said she dumped the cat. “Dumped the cat” is the dishonest phrase that you’re using in order to misrepresent what I said. I said that she contacted friends, family, and neighbors, as well as placing ads. And giving it “a chance” to what? Claw? Scratch? Sneeze? Spit? Bite? Spray?
No, according to my post, I love cats. I took in a very old cat that was here when we bought the house. I adopted a very old cat that belonged to my wife before we married. I also adopted a stray kitten who owns our upstairs suites. What you have done is misrepresent, twist, lie, and shit all over the MPSIMS thread after Lynn’s intervention. And now you’ve come in here to spew bile and insult my daughter, painting her as a cat hater.
You are truly a jerk and a troll.
May your goddess bless you for your good work. Thanks for sharing that. 
See also: babies.
You can pretend not to believe it, but there it is.
Sorry, y’all and Lib - don’t mean to hijack, but I had to respond to this cause it pissed me off.
In MY case it was because of PPD. So?
And everyone breast feeds? I couldn’t.
And my grandfather died of cancer, and my grandmother had cancer, and I’VE had cancer - and I smoke - and you presume to look dubious about why people would make certain choices that they do? Based on what? Your complete lack of knowledge of any of the people involved and lack of knowledge about any of the circumstances surrounding things? Who the hell are you?
:rolleyes:
Babies grow up and feel differently. Cats get old and feel exactly the same.
Cats do have emotions and do get attached to their people. I believe (with admission that I could be wrong) that they are fully capable of feeling abandoned, betrayed, lonely, etc. Certainly there’s a period of adjustment when they go to a new home with new people.
Hey, you stop that.
Crap. Wind? Gone from sails.
Drat you. 
I think we should just merge this thread w/the pit bull one.
There is a bit of confusion here I hope you can clear up. Was there a specific reason she thought the cat would likely be bad for the newborn, or does she fall into Unregistered Bull’s category of people who think you should get rid of all pets before bringing home infants? What are your thoughts on this?
I’m not saying that a cat can’t occasionally (rarely) pose a danger to infants, but for the most part, all the hand-wringing is pure paranoid hysteria. Getting rid of your cat just because you’re having a baby, and maybe, possibly, hypothetically, someday, the cat might give the kid a boo-boo, is classic overprotective parenting. I’d love the to know the statistical incidence of any kind of serious injury by cats to infants. I’d be dollars to doughnuts it’s somewhere in the range of babies drowning in the bathtub or by household chemicals. In other words, you take precautions, but do try not to panic, huh?
OK let’s say that is the case with Liberal’s daughter. That doesn’t explain why the father quit for 9 months and took it up again.
Well you certainly won’t be any good to your baby if you’ die from cancer… just something to think about.
This is not true. Cats and dogs are both social animals, though cat heirarchy is much different than dog. They become attached to the other members of their social groups. Cats do not just become attached to anyone, and they will not just accept food from anyone.
Ditching a pet just because it may become an inconvenience is wrong. There are plently of ways to combine your human and non-human pack members together that will protect the least of them.
Damn, I hate people.
Why should others be responsible for your daughters’ 'problem"? She dumped the cat.
You act like she’s mother of the year for getting rid of the cat, yet she didn’t quit smoking (except for the 9 months she was preggo).
Did the cat have a history of biting, scratching…etc? If it didn’t why did she think it would start? That is what I meant by giving the cat a chance. Cats and babies can get along fine.
The same could be said about you, shitting in a happy cat thread.
Aside from the real or imagined dangers pets pose for infants, I think it’s possible that re-homing pets can easily be in the pets’ best interest.
My SIL had an adult cat who was pretty anti-social. When a premature baby entered the picture, suddenly the only human the cat had bonded to quite simply had no time. It would probably have been happier in a home with no children at all, but instead became increasingly unhappy to the point it was being given kitty tranquilizers. The additional stress in dealing with the cat added to the general level of stress in the home.
We’ve adopted two adult cats, one of whom came from a home with several children and other cats and dogs. For the first two years she was with us she was a demanding little tyrant; it’s taken a lot of time and energy to get her settled in, and she’ll always be high maintenance, which means she would never have been a good fit with her previous home.
We’ve also had to surrender a dog who had dominance issues despite obdience training and was extremely jealous if I was on the floor and had a child in my lap. It was hard, and in hindsight I may have had more options than I realized at the time, but at the time it was the right decision.
I’ll agree that getting an animal knowing it will be given up when circumstances change is awful and pit-worthy, but I don’t see anyone promoting that view here.
I was with you right up to here.
I have seen no one say don’t have kids because you have pets or telling people to base life decisions on their pet ownership in this thread.