Introducing Simba (My Cat) To Livia

I’ve been thinking a lot about how Simba will react to Livia’s arrival.  Simba isn’t even a year old yet. He’s still a baby!  He isn’t aggressive, he’s just very active and playful.  I’ve been googling “introducing cat to baby” and I’ve found some great advice (all of which I plan to use).

1) Introducing ‘baby’ smells to the cat. The nursery area is completely ready, and since the diaper organizer is ready, I let him smell a few diapers to see what his reaction would be. He actually rubbed his face against them, he didn’t swat at it or try to chew it. (Sigh of relief)! 

2) Introducing ‘baby sounds’ to the cat.  I searched for ‘newborn crying’ on YouTube and played the sound clips and looked at Simba’s reaction. The first time he heard the sound of a newborn crying, he actually fell asleep. The second time, he didn’t look shocked or surprised, he just looked around a little bit. He seemed really calm, though! 

3) Using a baby doll to mimic what you will do with the baby (cradling it, talking to it) in front of the cat.  I’m seriously considering borrowing a baby doll from my job so that I can do this. I don’t want to experiment with Livia to see how Simba will react to a baby, but I’ll gladly experiment with a baby doll! 

All of this might seem a little weird, but Simba is just as much a part of my family as anyone else. I love Simba and I want to give him a real chance at being a good big brother. 🙂