Is Having a Pet Beneficial to Children?
Cats and children are not necessarily incompatible - at least not irrevocably so. The main argument against mixing cats and small children is that youngsters often abuse the animals. This can be true. Some small children seem to have an innate cruelty toward cats and other pets. Others are simply too young to differentiate between a cat and a stuffed toy, and still others ill treat cats because they have not been taught otherwise.
Therefore, if you have young children and want a cat, you will have to shoulder the extra responsibilities that go with the situation. It will be necessary to take proper safety precautions for both cat and children, starting the first day the cat enters the home. A child needs tube taught that a kitten or cat is a living creature, not a toy. Young kittens cannot stand or long survive severe maulings. You will have to be on the lookout to prevent rough handling, kicking or hoisting the cat by the tail. The over-aggressive child who insists on ill-treating a cat will, of course, get bitten or scratched.
Kindness to the cat can be taught; however, here again, it all depends on the child and the parents. The child should be shown how properly to lift and hold a kitten or cat. Firmly discourage any abuse of the animal and, whenever possible, allow the child to help with some of the easy chores in caring for the cat.
Remember that children imitate their elders. If a tot sees an older brother or sister—or parent—ill-treating the cat, the chances are he or she will do the same. My advice is to put kindness into action by treat-in the cat kindly at all times. When a child learns respect for the cat, lasting friendship is possible.
If you have very small children and are unable or unwilling to take the necessary time to supervise the cat and children, my advice is to postpone getting a cat until the children are able to understand that they are not to ill-treat the animal. Or, if you still insist on having act, then at least get one that is five or six months of age, or older, and able to get out of the way of the children.
Another question that arises in the matter of children and cats is the old wives’ tale about a cat sucking the breath of young children or babies. Such action on the part of a cat has never been demonstrated, at least to my knowledge. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, for a cat to accomplish this feat. A cat, to suck the breath from a child, would have to adjust its mouth in such a manner as to cause a vacuum. Anatomically, the cat cannot do this. Also, to suffocate a child com-politely, a cat would have to cut off breathing through the child’s nose. Clever and agile as cats are, they cannot manage this trick.
However, it is possible for a cat to lie on top of the child’s face and cause suffocation. But that can be prevented by placing a strong net over a baby’s crib or by keeping the cat out of the nursery. It is true that cats will curl up close to a baby, but their intent is not to harm. In my own ex-patience with cats and children, I have found that cats cuddle up to a child for warmth and will lick a child’s - especially a young baby’s - face because of milk or other food that may cling to it.
Another consideration that should not be overlooked before obtain-in a cat is the matter of the home containing a dog. This is not to imply that because you have a dog, you can’t have a cat. But the situation will - in most cases - be analogous to that of cats and children: until the cat and dog have accepted each other or arrived at a truce, you will have to keep a sharp watch for altercations. If you have had the dog for any length of time, you should be able to. Gauge its probable reaction to a cat, or at least know whether to expect a “hot” or “cold “war between the dog and new cat. At any rate, the presence of a dog in the house will have a definite bearing on the kind of cat to bring home - that is, a kitten or older cat.