Introducing the baby to the cats
The cats knew something was coming.
Patch and Libby have been the light of their Mommy’s eyes for well over a decade. They are set in their ways. They barely tolerate me. Barely.
Their little lives have been upset a few times in the past couple years, with my arrival, two moves and all sort of other disruptions.
Over the past few months, Mommy’s lap has disappeared and all sorts of new stuff made its way into the home. Then, Mommy disappeared for five days.
I (and I still resist calling myself “Daddy” in relation to the cats) still came home every night, but it wasn’t the same. They started acting weird, hiding in closets, crying continuously. You can see Patch here, sitting inside the nightstand, looking mighty unhappy.
On the morning of the third day, I rolled out of bed and found both of them sitting in front of the bedroom door staring at me. I shudder to think how long they had been waiting.
Four days in, I brought Sadie’s little hat home for them to smell. I then left it on the couch so they would know that this smell was part of the family. This worked really well. They know that she’s an “approved” smell, and they don’t attack her.
After two weeks, they tolerate the baby, mostly by ignoring her. They don’t like some of the high-pitched sounds coming from the screamy baby, though.
