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/Can cats be protective over little kids?
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Most definitely. When my son was about 2 1/2 years old we were going to go outside. I was getting him ready. He was sitting on the floor. I had just tied his sneakers and stood up. We were having a lot of fun.
You know that really loud screamy kind of laugh very young children have? He was doing that. I was also laughing. However, I was standing over him.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ari came charging and launched herself at me. I still have the scars on my right calf from where she sunk her teeth in.
I, of course, stopped laughing, as did Bryce. In the two or three seconds of silence, Ari came back and put herself between Bryce and me. Thus did the world become clear.
To Ari, I was a big person making very loud sounds above the tiny human she, Rupe and Jessica had been guarding faithfully for over two years. That I was the one that the cats came and got if Bryce did something in the middle of the night ( “Mom! Get up! It moved!!” ) made no difference. As far as Ari was concerned, I had gone rogue and had to be stopped.
Bryce, by this point, has seen blood running down my leg so now he is upset. It does not help me to convince Ari that all is well.
Staying still, I explained to Bryce why she did this. She has listened to Bryce but not looked at him. I have him call her. ( I didn't want him to touch her with no warning. She was there to defend him, yes, but too upset. A touch from nowhere would have seen her turn on that hand as quickly as she had bit me. ) Once she looked, he pet. I said “See? He's ok. That was laughing, sweetie, not crying.”
She looked up at me and I stand by the statement that cats do too have expressions. She was embarrassed. Anyone who has seen their cat aim and miss knows they can look that way.
In a manner very similar to a dog, she belly crawled to my feet. I had never seen her do that before nor did I ever see it again. She had screwed up. She knew it. It was summer so I was in shorts and sandles. She got close to my feet then started washing the leg she had bit.
Mind you, all of this has only been about 5 minutes. All was done and undone. Bryce and I get up to go outside and Rupe comes out of the shadows like a bullet from a gun. It would appear that while Ari was defending my son, Rupe was deciding that I needed to be defended more. I had to grab him, soothe and thank him. Fortunately, Rupe was one of those cats that people think of as “dog-like.” A lot of the time that means that you have a cat that calms faster than usual ( or doesn't get as riled to begin with ) so while with Ari we had to be so gentle or she would get all huffy. Rupe you could practically pick up and swing around by the tail ( not that I ever did ). At that point I stopped Rupe from kicking the living crap out of Ari and then picked him up to thank him for being my valiant kitty knight.
Chances are it’s a female who’s had at least one litter of kittens before being spayed. She won’t protect just any little kid, but if she’s bonded with your kids oh yes she will protect them! There’s a video out there of a security camera’s footage showing this.
Oh this is soooo true.
I have two older boys (about 8 years) who did the initial sniff-sniff when the babies came home, ran and hide when the crying started up, but generally stayed comfortably close when they were small.
As the girls have grown, the boys became a little more interested in running away- unless I was disciplining one of them for fighting with the other. One specific kind of cry (the one you use when you get in trouble) and all 18 lbs of dark fur and gold eyes Bali would come TEARING down the hall or stairs straight at me, warning me off with growls and hisses. Didn’t matter if I’d even said anything to her, Bali was gonna tear me UP!
Over the last few years he’s gravitated away from yelling at me for perceived slights and gone on to being a willing ragdoll to over-exuberant love (very Elmya, as below) and provided I give him the treats on regular rotation, I’m on his good side.
(As an update to his attitudes, we recently adopted a little Bengal kitten named Sebastian, who’s absolutely willing to adoringly harass Bali until the “extra treats” melt right off.. You wanted the attention, buddy, you got it.)
When my Naomi was a bit over a year old, we were all outside in our large backyard. I was weeding in the garden and she was playing nearby. Suddenly a very large collie we’d never seen before raced into our yard from the woods up the hill. He started barking loudly at Naomi, who promptly plopped down in the dirt and started to cry. Our eight pound cat Elmer came tearing ass out of the grass near her, swiped that dog across the nose with his claws, and chased that dog up across our yard, our neighbor’s yard and out of sight. He then trotted back, licked Naomi’s knee, and sat down beside her, satisfied that he’d shown that dog what’s what.
They very often are protective of their own small human. Also, cats tend to react with more patience when being manhandled by babies or toddlers-- whereas they would bite or scratch an adult doing the same thing, they are less likely to do so with a small child and are more likely to just run away unless they are really being hurt.
There's a now famous video, on YouTube “Cat saves boy from dog attack,” where a little boy was riding his bike on the driveway next to the car with mom in the yard behind him. All of a sudden, you see this dog stalking the boy when from the opposite side of the car comes this dog at full speed heading for the boy. He grabs the boy by the arm and shakes him, throwing him to the ground.
Out of nowhere, and you have to see it, comes the boy's cat and leaps at the dog making him let go of the boy, then chasing the dog around the other side of the car and walking back to the boy like “Hey, I could do this shit all day. Just try and hurt my boy again. I'll take on you and your dog friends!” It's hilarious.
The boy was not injured badly thanks to his beloved cat, Tara, who he loves dearly. Mom didn't realize how serious it could have been or what the cat did until she watched surveillance video of the episode.
When I was young, my mom said emphatically, “Never trust a Chow.” This dog was Chow/Lab mix, the exact mix that bit my son in the face and required sub-q and surface sutures. I loves Labs, but it seems their half of the equation when mixed with something more untrustworthy, takes a back seat.
Those of you who say animals don't feel for their humans, here's proof, especially for those who doubt a cat's love! Because when nine pounds of love attacks 40 pounds of mean, there's no stopping the power of love.
My story is similar to one posted here. One day my son and I were talking quite loud, not even arguing, but just being very loud, he was sitting in the sofa with the back of the sofa facing me, I was standing couple feet behind the sofa, and I guess Perla thought I was upset at my son or something because she just came bolting like a thunder, ran up to the back of the sofa (back protecting my son, she facing me), she hissed and puffed and clearly told me not to dare continue whatever I was doing to “her kid”. Both my son and I shut up and look at her and each other like “[email protected]?”, thankfully she was pleased of the ensuing silence, once we went silent she stopped hissing and go back to whatever she was doing upstairs.. We loved that crazy cat !
RIP Perla 2004-2018
I think so. If a cat likes you and hangs around you, he will at least hiss at anyone trying to bother you and at most scratch as well. I had a very protective cat that I had found just hours after its homeless mother was scared away by the lower elements of the human race. I nursed him to adulthood and he only became accepting of other human beings when he was 6 or 7 years old. Until then, he would hiss and try to scratch anyone who visited me in my home. You can imagine how my friends just hated him. I found it amusing; he never hurt anyone and just loved me. It made me feel special. It also got some revenge for me, as he really hated my mother, who, may she rest in peace, was a real b—-h.
Absolutely. Our cat Sarah was the constant companion and protector of my youngest son beginning when he was a newborn. She only trusted my husband and me with the baby.
I’ll never forget seeing my sister-in-law holding my newborn with Sarah’s paw on her leg claws extended. She didn’t scratch but was prepared to defend the baby should it be necessary.
Most cats, especially female cats, understand when they are dealing with an infant. Some will absolutely protect a child if they sense something is a danger to them. When my daughter was born my small female tabby would not allow our German Shepherd anywhere near the baby. She once attacked the dog by jumping on its face while the dog retreated trying to shake the cat off of her face. The dog was afraid of getting near the baby for a long time. Oftentimes cats will act very nervous around children I think because they are afraid of hurting them.
OMG Yes! A number of kids were at our house playing. Our cat at the time, Ms Sansa-yes we were a GOT household, was smaller than most cats, but feisty. She actually would hop on my bed, curl up on the small of my back and sleep. Anyway, the kids were playing, when suddenly, I literally felt the dining room wood floor vibrate.
One of those kids had hit my 5 year old grandson. I had never heard her growl before, so it took me a couple of seconds to realize that the sounds came from her. By this time, the other kids had begun to tell me what happened. I put the pieces together just in time to stop her as she charged the kid. Fortunately, she loved her “Granddaddy" enough to sheathe her claws when she realized I was standing between her and the little boy. She tried to charge the kid again. Again, I stopped her.
I am surprised that I didn't get clawed or bitten during all of this. She ignored the rest of the family, but came to me when I called her. I took her and put her in my room. I left her alone for a while, then we watched TV for a while. I know that sounds crazy, but I swear she loved Discovery Channel & National Geographic-especially the shows about her distant cousins, the great cats.
Finally, the company left and I let her out. She had calmed down, so I thought she had forgotten about the incident. She actually searched the house looking for the kid. Then she spent a good 10 minutes rubbing faces with my grandson. I honestly believe that Sansa was checking the boy out to make sure he was ok.
BTW, they can be very protective of their adult humans, too.
There is an awesome video of a cat driving off a dog that attacked her little boy (little boy, attacking dog, defending cat). It is still out there and I invite you to look it up. The dog, which was later put down, was quite a bit larger than the cat, who flew out of right field and drove it off! That isn't typical of cats in general, but this cat was a hero.
Absolutely. My favorite cat (her name was Skeets) adopted my eldest son the moment we brought him home from the hospital.
She slept in the crib with him and protected him like a mama tiger.
She was beside him when he learned to crawl. He held her tail when he was learning to walk. It was hysterical. She looked for all the world like she was towing him around the room. :)
She would not let ANYONE she did not know anywhere near that boy.
She was like a third parent to him until he was 12 years old. She died that year at 21 years old and we were all heartbroken. My son had never known a day without Skeets and I had not known a day without her since I was 12 years old.
She is buried in the backyard of my parents' home with a granite headstone.
We visit her grave often and still get tears in our eyes when we remember this extraordinary being. She was one in a billion.