Sphynx + kids

[LLevenson]

hey!

So I have noticed with Arias, that whenever we bring kids into our home, he does NOT like them, at all! My hubby and I have no kids but will hopefully in the next year or so. I am a bit concerned about what will happen when we do finally have children based off of Arias' behavior? If he meets kids outside of our house, he seems to do really well (like when we took him to my cousin's house, he played chase with their 2 year old, or when I take him outside and he sees the neighborhood kids, he lets them pet him and he is so good and patient). BUT having kids inside the house and he starts growling/hissing at them and then quickly removes himself and hides (which I praise him for, b/c at least he doesn't get aggressive, just removes himself from the situation).

A month ago, my friend brought her SLEEPING 6 month old over. Sound asleep in a carrier and Arias wouldn't go near her for the entire 45 minutes! The baby never woke up, never even made a sound and he sat about 6 feet away and just stared at this "foreign" creature like it was the scariest creature around. And then yesterday I babysat my best friend's 18 month old for the whole day. When she came in the house, Arias jumped up on her and sniffed her face. She cried b/c it scared her and he literally did it w/in 30 seconds of her coming into a new environment. He ran off once she cried out. then she was completely interested in him and when she would spot him in a chair, she would squeal which scared Arias and he would take off running and go and hide in our bedroom. The little girl is extremely well behaved and gentle. Then her parents came over to pick her up and to eat dinner with us and their 4 year old son was with them too. The 4 year old had Arias' feather toy, but Arias wanted NOTHING to do with him, and then the 4 year old chased after Arias and so Arias retreated to our bedroom to hide under a blanket for 3 hours while they were over! As soon as they left, he came out and resumed his normal behavior.

If those two kids had been adults, he would have been all over them, wanting to play, pestering them for love and attention. Has anyone else had this same experience? Is it just that he is not used to kids in his domain? Is this something that he will eventually get over once we have our own children and he has time to get accustomed to them? I hope so! It's just weird to me that out on the street (literally) he is cool but inside our house, he becomes a total grump.

 

[ElGatoLoco]

Butternuts is terrified of my nieces and nephew. They are 8, 5 and 2 years of age. If he hears them he hides. He never hides except when they come over. He'll walk right up to dogs he's never seen before but is scared of kids.

I was reading something that mentioned this can be caused from never being around children. It's good to take your cat on social outings so he/she can be familiar with social situations. Maybe it's just something kitty just has to get used to.

 

[LLevenson]

He'll walk right up to dogs he's never seen before but is scared of kids.

SAME with Arias!! Huge barking dogs don't scare him but he sees a sleeping infant and he runs and hides!

I guess I will just keep exposing him to kids and hope that by the time we have one of our own, he will realize that they aren't so bad!

 

[ypvsypvs]

I don't know with Darwin yet but my last Sphynx loved kids. I let my neighbours kid borrow him to play with and also some kids came into our home to play and pet him no problems.
I wonder how Darwin will be, he hasn't met any kids yet but this week we are going on a trip and then he will meet lots of kids, dogs and other cats we will see how it goes.

Did your cats had any bad experience with children maybe playing too rough with them or are they just for no aparent reason scared of them?

 

[LLevenson]

as far as I can tell. for no apparent reason. If the kids aren't in our house and he meets them outside, he is fine, but bring a kid in and then he freaks!

 

[sphynxie]

Nudie came into our house with my kids already here and loves them. What's interesting though is that she will choose to get love and attention from the adults first before going to the kids. I wonder if it's a size thing?

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

We had a similar experience. We had gotten our first three boys before we got married and had children. Our boys were the most loving and interactive with adult visitors, but they just hated our nephew from the time he was about 2 until he was 14. As soon as they heard "The Boy" they would run and hide until he was gone. We worried about how they would react one day to our own children but thankfully we worried for nothing. I swear those Sphynx boys understood that I was pregnant and that each baby belonged to our mixed species family. They took to our children as if they were their feline guardians from birth. They alerted us when the babies cried or when a toddler got stuck in a chair. They even kept watch with us at 3 in the morning when the kids had the flu. All of 6 of were wonderful friends and slept together in big tangles of Sphynx and footie pajamas for many years. I hope the same for you.

 

[LLevenson]

We had a similar experience. We had gotten our first three boys before we got married and had children. Our boys were the most loving and interactive with adult visitors, but they just hated our nephew from the time he was about 2 until he was 14. As soon as they heard "The Boy" they would run and hide until he was gone. We worried about how they would react one day to our own children but thankfully we worried for nothing. I swear those Sphynx boys understood that I was pregnant and that each baby belonged to our mixed species family. They took to our children as if they were their feline guardians from birth. They alerted us when the babies cried or when a toddler got stuck in a chair. They even kept watch with us at 3 in the morning when the kids had the flu. All of 6 of were wonderful friends and slept together in big tangles of Sphynx and footie pajamas for many years. I hope the same for you.

My dream is that this is what happens too-that Arias will understand that when we do finally have kids they are his kids too! Thanks!!

 

[sydkat7]

Wow, that is so strange...both of my sphynx cats LOVE kids and will actually seek them out. Piglet not only visits kids regularly through her therapy visits, she even lets my sister's BF's 3-year old son pet and hug her, albeit awkwardly. And Peppe will hang out and play with my 7-year old niece like he's known her all his life. My sphynx cats are so good with the kiddos, I just assumed all sphynx cats are.

Makes me wonder if it's an exposure thing....both Piglet and Peppe have been exposed to kids since they were kittens. Maybe the sphynx who are afraid of kids haven't been around them very much, so they don't know what to make of them.

 

[MissMySphynxBoys]

Wow, that is so strange...both of my sphynx cats LOVE kids and will actually seek them out. Piglet not only visits kids regularly through her therapy visits, she even lets my sister's BF's 3-year old son pet and hug her, albeit awkwardly. And Peppe will hang out and play with my 7-year old niece like he's known her all his life. My sphynx cats are so good with the kiddos, I just assumed all sphynx cats are.

Makes me wonder if it's an exposure thing....both Piglet and Peppe have been exposed to kids since they were kittens. Maybe the sphynx who are afraid of kids haven't been around them very much, so they don't know what to make of them.

I think you're right. The more positive exposures to babies and kids the easier they adapt to their noise and awkward movements.

 

[ilovemysphynx]

First as with anything new I am sure it will take some time to get used to. We have 2 kids and our cats just love them as the kids love them to. Our daughter is always putting cloths on them and caries them around wrapped in blankets like a baby. Our son likes to make them dance and holds them up doing all kinds of crazy stuff, his favorite is pretending Leo is french and talking for him with a accent. (mind you he is 15 so this can be quite funny)
We have had kids of all ages in our house and have never had one our cats did not like. Grown ups on the other hand well there was a cable man once that called Leo ugly and lets just say he was not to happy about that.

 

[TotenEngel]

We have no children and have no plans at all on having any (other than the furry kind!)
Our 7 year old nephew came round on Saturday and Laz hid (he does if there is anyone other than us in the house - woss!)
But Smeagol, oh my word... what joy! Joe (our nephew) was playing with balls and dangly toys with him for at least an hour or so and was giggling so hard I thought he might wet himself! Even when Smeagol was jumping at him! It really was a pleasure to watch (especially with a child who spends his life glued to computer games!)
The other 2 just looked on slightly bemused!

 

[ckutkuhn7]

Well from my experience its even more confusing. I'm not trying to sound mean in the following, just stating it how it is....
Snuffie loves my kids, however, she doesn't tolerate my boyfriends son very well. Now mind you he is ADHD and can be manic and loud most of the time and I think this is something Snuffie dislikes. Not to mention he follows her around (trying to play with her) and can just be annoying in general(he also stomps when he walks??? ). However, SoBe loves him to death yet he seems to push her away because she is the type of kitty who likes to be "in your face"..literally!
I chalk it up to difference in personality. Snuffie is more laid back and he seems to be a little much for her, yet SoBe is pretty much just like him and people like that annoy him. Weird.

Now I cant speak of Sphynx and having babies since I'm done having kids but when I had my children I always had DSH kitties. Some liked kids, others didn't. However, I never had to worry of my kitties hurting the kids,,I always worried of my kids hurting them. They sat and stared at first and after a while they become a fixture in their life just as you did and they will adapt.

 

[Nofuratu]

Cats are territorial, so it makes sense that your kitty would dislike kids more on his own turf!
When you have your own kids though, your cat will most likely see the kids as "his" and consider them part of the territory he has to protect!
Foreign kids visiting your home can be different though. I take nofuratu to other peoples houses a lot, with young kids so he gets exposed to the loud noises, and running around etc. Our kids at home are teen and pre teen so we dont have many little kids coming onto his territory.
Maybe you should try bringing him to visit other babies houses? You may find he will remember them if they are kids that you visit often or they visit at your home and this may help his reaction later on his turf if he reccognises the baby.
I wouldnt worry about your own future babies at all though.

 

[Melonie]

All my cats love my son but he has been around them from day one. they let him haul them around and run around and do whatever. They dive for hours. There is one/two that are his cats and prefer to sit with him then me.

 

[susi794]

We had a similar experience. We had gotten our first three boys before we got married and had children. Our boys were the most loving and interactive with adult visitors, but they just hated our nephew from the time he was about 2 until he was 14. As soon as they heard "The Boy" they would run and hide until he was gone. We worried about how they would react one day to our own children but thankfully we worried for nothing. I swear those Sphynx boys understood that I was pregnant and that each baby belonged to our mixed species family. They took to our children as if they were their feline guardians from birth. They alerted us when the babies cried or when a toddler got stuck in a chair. They even kept watch with us at 3 in the morning when the kids had the flu. All of 6 of were wonderful friends and slept together in big tangles of Sphynx and footie pajamas for many years. I hope the same for you.

What a lovely post! I was moved by the mental picture this left me with....thank you.