Hello everyone,

I am the owner of a beautiful 2 uear old bengal female, Pixi. She is such a beautiful creature and I love her to the moon and back.

4 months ago I gave birth to a baby boy. We never had problems with her and the baby. To be honest she didn’t care about him to much.

But today something weired happened. The baby started to cry really, really bad and the cat just attacked me so bad I have deep scratches all over my leg.

Now I am wondering, was that an act of protection from her side? I am really scared to be with the baby around her now.

She is an indoor cat but we daily walk her out in a leash.

Did anyone had sonething similar?

Thank you,

Cristina

Hi Cristina.. Cat attacks are frightening. Based on your information, it appears Pixi was frightened by the loud cryhing of your baby. A cat's sense of hearing is much more sensitive than ours and what may have sounded like a loud cry to you, sounded like a thunderous boom to Pixi. First of all, I hope your scratches heal okay. Secondly, I understand your concern about Pixi being around your baby. The only thing you can do is monitor the situation and now allow Pixi to be alone with your baby. This could be a one-time occurrence. As your baby grows into a toddler, there come issues of hard petting, grabbing tails, etc. until the child learns to be gentle with the kitty. So, maybe the harder times are ahead. Know that most bengals adjust beautifully to a new baby and intelligent cats understand the child is just a child. They will tolerate a child's behavior better. Did Pixi yell out before scratching you? They will usually give a signal that they are about to lash out in some way. I wouldn't see attacking as an act of protection against anyone except the cat.

Having a baby can change the balance in a family. The cat is no longer the "sole child." And there may be jealousy over a new baby, just like a human sibling may have. Balancing it all is hard -- but I am hoping this was just a one-time incident for you.

Hi Sherry,

Thank you so much for your answer.

I am sure she attacks me because she thinks I am doi g something bad to the baby.

It happened for a few times now, when the baby starts to cry really bad she comes towards me and attacks my legs.

I hope Pixi isn't thinking you are doing anything to the baby. An infant's cry may imitate a cat cry to the cat. Or perhaps Pixi is alerting you to the fact the baby needs something, although attacking would not seem the proper way for a cat to get your attention. If you see an attack approaching, see if you can stop it with a firm and loud NO. Nobody likes to have scratches all over them, although I have them from giving Raiden medications twice a day (he hates it).

Gosh, if we could only understand what a cat is thinking.

That sounds like a pretty intense situation, and difficult to interpret. I would hesitate to prescribe a rationalized human intention to the cat's actions there. All I can really say is that it sounds like the energy and stress level is just crazy out-of-control is such circumstances, and your cat isn't sure how to handle that. Poor kitty.

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The little monsters 3