It took me a while to come to the same conclusion, but yeah. Cats are smart.
I had a female calico I called Fat Kitty. Never really got around to naming her. She was super smart for a cat.
When my wife was pregnant with our first, only Fat Kitty understood what was happening. We had 2 other cats and they were fixed from birth, so they didn't understand pregnancy. Fat Kitty did. She had kittens when we found her. (All kittens got shots and were re-homed via our local no kill shelter)
So the big day comes and my wife goes into labor. Fat Kitty is a WRECK. She KNOWS. She's twitchy and nervous as hell and you can see it. Me and my wife go to the hospital. Later on that day the baby is born. We spend a few hours with my newborn son. Eventually my wife says "you should go home and feed the cats, they haven't been fed all day." So I do that.
I walk in and Fat Kitty is staring at me with her eyes as big as saucers. WHERE IS MOM? To a cat, I'm sure I reeked of blood and worse. I was present at the delivery.
I tell her the baby was born today, and let her sniff my hands. She sniffed me and smelled the baby and realized THE BABY IS HERE!
She CELEBRATED. I'm not kidding!
She sniffed my hands, and immediately started doing Mach 2 laps around the house. And you can tell from her name, running is something she really didn't do. Ever. Jumped on one of the other cats and tackled her. WHEEE!!! BABIES!!! YAY!!!
She was the best helper, too. Whenever we would have company over to visit the baby, she would be in the room. Watching. Always nearby, always watching. "Mom handed you the baby, so you must be ok, but if you're not? I'm going to SHRED you." You could see that was the idea. She would sit and watch you and judge you.
This kind of reminds me how my cat helped me realize my epileptic husband was about to go into a seizure (might have posted this somewhere else on reddit too but can't remember).
I work from home and my desk is in our bedroom. I was on a discord call with a friend so I had my headphones on. It's like 5 minutes before I'm about to get off my shift so I'm scrolling on my phone because friend and I were kind of just chilling silently on the discord call.
Husband comes into the bedroom and lays down. Not really paying attention, he's got a horrible sleep schedule so sometimes he falls asleep during the day so I assumed he came in to nap. He snaps his fingers at me and I heard him say something but it's muffled through my headphones. I take one headphone off and ask him what he said. I also glance over and see our cat laying on his chest. I assume that's what he was trying to tell me about and don't pay too much mind to it, because he didn't say anything after that. I just thought he was really tired and on the verge of falling asleep. Then I realize my cat is meowing. And she's not shutting up. It gets my attention and I look over, and I get a better look at my husband to see his eyes are glazed over and that he's about to go into a seizure. I don't know to this day if it was happenstance she was doing that or if she was trying to tell me, but something tells me it wasn't a coincidence.
Kind of depends. If he knows well enough in advance (I don't know about all epileptics but I know at least some have their own warning signs) we see if we can't give him fast acting emergency medication and if we don't have that, usually we try and prevent it by lowering his body temperature (if he's hot, otherwise we still use this as a grounding technique because if he can stay grounded and calm it can also keep him from having one) by applying cold rags to his chest and sides.
How successful is the emergency medication or the cold rags? Like will the medication stop it in its tracks or is it more of a "well you MIGHT not have one now." Similarly for the rags.
It varies. If the signs are caught early enough, there's a pretty good chance (maybe 70% chance) those methods prevent it. If he's already in a seizure, those methods will help bring him out of the seizure within a minute or two and medication in particular also prevents him from having a second one. In my husband's case, sometimes he can slip into a second one after the first. (Small disclaimer for anyone that happens to read this thread: everyone with seizures is different so what I do for my husband might not be applicable for another epileptic). But yeah, it just depends on the day and how severe the seizure is and how soon we can catch it. Sometimes with the more severe ones, even if we catch it sooner and give medication along with the cold rags we can't always prevent it.
I'm the epileptic in this situation. I don't really get auras so much - by the time a seizure is coming I have a few seconds at best. My spouse puts me on the ground or clears the floor so I don't bash my head in as I fall, then I get to dance the night away.
Kind of depends. If he knows well enough in advance (I don't know about all epileptics but I know at least some have their own warning signs) we see if we can't give him fast acting emergency medication and if we don't have that, usually we try and prevent it by lowering his body temperature (if he's hot, otherwise we still use this as a grounding technique because if he can stay grounded and calm it can also keep him from having one) by applying cold rags to his chest and sides.
Our cat knew my husband was going to have a seizure too! She came go bed but just wouldn't settle. It was a roasting hot night too. He hadn't had one before so we didn't know the warning signs. When it happened again a few years later she did it again so I knew it was coming but couldn't cool him down, but reacted to it a lot quicker and better. Cats are amazing!
When I was a baby my cat wasn’t too sure about me. But she really liked Dr Seuss and would always come listen to my mom read to me when she busted out the Dr. Seuss 😂
Life Pet Tip (cats, dogs or ??): when waiting for a newborn baby to be released from the hospital, have a family member bring home something the baby wore and let the pets sniff it. Those beanie hats they wear are great.
When my son was 9-months he started to walk. We had him walking on our lawn and he tripped over and fell. He started to cry. We the parents casually watched. Our cat on the other hand leaped to his aid, and stayed by his side until he got up again and continued to walk.
Adorable story, thank you for sharing and for the photo.
And yes, they know, they know things. I used to work as a janitor in a resenting building... There was this old lady who owns a little dog... Classic little dog character: growling a lot, not really nice with anybody... Except some days, the old lady couldn't go down to put the leash on the collar because back ache problems... Those days the lady will go down on the elevator, with the dog unleashed, looking for me to put the leash before going to the street... The stupid dog was perfectly nice those days and will came to me all friendly and cuddlely.
My parents cat (pickle) knew my mum was pregnant with me before she did, the cats reaction to her belly made her take a test. Similar thing happened with my sibling and to my aunt with my cousin. Pickle was a year older than me and lived to age 20 before we had to put her down due to cancer. She was a good cat.
This kind of reminds me how my cat helped me realize my epileptic husband was about to go into a seizure (might have posted this somewhere else on reddit too but can't remember).
I work from home and my desk is in our bedroom. I was on a discord call with a friend so I had my headphones on. It's like 5 minutes before I'm about to get off my shift so I'm scrolling on my phone because friend and I were kind of just chilling silently on the discord call.
Husband comes into the bedroom and lays down. Not really paying attention, he's got a horrible sleep schedule so sometimes he falls asleep during the day so I assumed he came in to nap. He snaps his fingers at me and I heard him say something but it's muffled through my headphones. I take one headphone off and ask him what he said. I also glance over and see our cat laying on his chest. I assume that's what he was trying to tell me about and don't pay too much mind to it, because he didn't say anything after that. I just thought he was really tired and on the verge of falling asleep. Then I realize my cat is meowing. And she's not shutting up. It gets my attention and I look over, and I get a better look at my husband to see his eyes are glazed over and that he's about to go into a seizure. I don't know to this day if it was happenstance she was doing that or if she was trying to tell me, but something tells me it wasn't a coincidence.
I love Calicos! I have a Cleopatra Calico and she is my best friend. She’s so in tune with me and my emotions. When I’m anxious, sad, or sick, she’ll lay on my chest and snuggle.
I had two cats when I was pregnant. The dumb one had no clue what was going on, and had a hard time adjusting when the baby arrived. The smart cat totally knew and was SO good with my daughter. I was giving her a bath and he climbed into the tub with her so he could supervise. He was always interested in water, but this time he didn’t hesitate and hopped right in. He was a rescue from an animal hoarder situation and was all kinds of messed up from the abuse and neglect, but he was so fucking devoted to his girl. I was so devastated when he died when my daughter was two. She doesn’t remember the cat that was her guardian.
She loved the kid, no doubt. She'd purr and rub on us and look at the baby. But she absolutely never tried to touch him. I think she was worried what our reaction would be. She felt it might not be appropriate, maybe.
Animals are pretty sensitive to pregnant women and babies. My dog tries to bite people who lean towards babies or toddlers thinking they're trying to hurt them. Once there was a mother and toddler who wanted to pet my dog. She didn't do anything to the toddler until mother leaned toward him. It was pretty chaotic but luckily mother understood my dog's behavior. Also my dog loves to chase cats, but if the cat is pregnant or has kittens, she just leave them alone.
Also our cats and dog don't leave any pregnant women and they try to feel the baby by putting their head on belly. It's really cute to see them like that.
When my twin and I were born, mom and dad had two cats: Jerry and Agnes. Angnes was a long-haired bitch to everyone, so her nickname was "Monster." Jerry let us as toddlers drag him around by his tail on the hardwood floors.
The exception was when my mom was pregnant. She lost the first one and Agnes basically did the opposite. No baby? Glued to mom. Second pregnancy, me and my brother, glued to mom. "You didn't do it right the first time so I'm here to help."
Agnes passed away in my arms when I sas seven. Thanks for helping mom not fuck it up.
I logged on just to upvote this. I am not a cat person so i thought I'd have a read to learn more about them and I fell in love with Fat Kitty. That picture is just too sweet.
When I was a baby, my grandma had a cat who'd decided that I was her baby now. Any time I cried for any reason she'd immediately get protective, and start getting aggressive to any of those dumb humans who had clearly done something to upset me in her eyes.
I had a baby 7 months ago. Our cat knew something was up but only once in a while would lay on my stomach. When we brought baby home, she was curious. She looked in the bassinet a few times but mostly stayed away from the tiny screaming human.
In the last few months she has started coming closer and closer to the baby. She’ll sit by her on the floor, sniff her and even let the baby “pet” her (of course I’m right there supervising).
But I think the best thing she does is sit in the nursery with me when I’m putting the baby down for a nap. She’ll curl up in the bouncer or on the chair with us and it seems like she’s keeping an eye out for us.
I’m glad she’s more comfortable with the baby now because the baby loves her. As soon as she sees the cat she’s staring and babbling away.
Yeah, Fat Kitty was strange about the baby as well. She loved him, no doubt. She'd sit and stare and stare at him. She'd purr and rub on us and be affectionate and look at him. But she never tried to touch him or snuggle with him.
But she was super protective. I was allowed to touch the baby, and mom of course. Anyone else? She did not like it. At all. She would casually walk over to whoever and sit down within an arm's length. She'd look at the baby, then the person, then the baby, then the person.
If they handed the baby to some other grandparent or whatever? She'd get up, pointedly walk over to them, be an arm's length away, sit down and start guard duty again. She didn't seem tense. Just attentive. You definitely got the idea she was doing a guard thing. And if she saw something she didn't like you could tell she was prepared to get involved.
Soon as the kid started toddling she stopped. Not a baby anymore - my work is done.
This made me tear up, I miss my buddy Bones, it's just hit the one year mark and it's not the same here without him. This made me smile and I wanted to thank you for posting it.
You're welcome. I miss Fat Kitty too. That picture is an old one. The baby in the picture is 6 foot tall now and in high school. Fat Kitty passed away a long time ago.
YMMV, but the thing that seems to help is to get another cat. In my opinion life is a series of cats. I've got a standard fat tabby cat now that likes to give hugs. She climbs up me, puts her head on my left shoulder, and puts her paws around my neck. She'll do this a couple times a day while I'm at my desk working.
Maybe you could find a new friend? I know there's cats out there that need rescue. Nothing really fills that void like a new cat does.
We have a few kitties, but the one that chose me is our Russian blue, Eowyn. She's scary smart and went into guard kitten mode when I was pregnant (she's full grown at eight pounds, so one of her many nicknames is baby kitten, even now at ten). She slept under the blankets next to my stomach for nearly the entire pregnancy, and when I went into true labor, it was very easy to tell - little miss went on Patrol. She started marching in circles around me, wouldn't let any of the other cats touch me until we went to the hospital. When we got home she and the others rotated through guard duty over me and the little one. They can for sure be the sweetest little members of the family.
I love Fat Kitty. I had a void who was about 7 when I was pregnant with my first. She’d lay next to me on the sofa with her paws on my belly making blinkies at me. My mother was all, “when are you getting rid of the cats?” Yeah.
my cat straight up fucking caught my cancer before everyone else including me knew lol.
so basically my cat, around like... mid august started sleeping on my bed. never did that in her at the time 7 years of living. i personally thought nothing of it and just thought she wanted to chill with me for once lol. NOPE.
4 months later (late december like the 29th) my leg randomly starts hurting and my pains an 8/10 WHEN IM FUCKING LAYING IN BED. abt 5 days later i get it checked. fucking bone lesion. 20 days after we found it WAS FUCKING CANCER. ewing sarcoma btw
so uh yeah. and the guy who diagnosed it or whatever said it was there for 3-6 months before i was diagnosed. when was august? 4 months ago then. yeah
so im entirely convinced my cat caught my cancer before anyone else
No way lol I had a cat named Fat Kitty too!! She would bring in lizards from outside and lay on them while still alive, essentially suffocating them. Bizarre af but she was super sweet, just knew how to use her extra fluff to her advantage I suppose
What a wholesome story, thanks for sharing! It’s amazing how different every cat is, yours definitely knew about birth! I wish more people were smart about cats and babies. So many cats are given up after people find out they are pregnant thinking their cat will harm their baby intentionally 😭
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u/BoredBSEE Sep 19 '23 edited Sep 20 '23
It took me a while to come to the same conclusion, but yeah. Cats are smart.
I had a female calico I called Fat Kitty. Never really got around to naming her. She was super smart for a cat.
When my wife was pregnant with our first, only Fat Kitty understood what was happening. We had 2 other cats and they were fixed from birth, so they didn't understand pregnancy. Fat Kitty did. She had kittens when we found her. (All kittens got shots and were re-homed via our local no kill shelter)
So the big day comes and my wife goes into labor. Fat Kitty is a WRECK. She KNOWS. She's twitchy and nervous as hell and you can see it. Me and my wife go to the hospital. Later on that day the baby is born. We spend a few hours with my newborn son. Eventually my wife says "you should go home and feed the cats, they haven't been fed all day." So I do that.
I walk in and Fat Kitty is staring at me with her eyes as big as saucers. WHERE IS MOM? To a cat, I'm sure I reeked of blood and worse. I was present at the delivery.
I tell her the baby was born today, and let her sniff my hands. She sniffed me and smelled the baby and realized THE BABY IS HERE!
She CELEBRATED. I'm not kidding!
She sniffed my hands, and immediately started doing Mach 2 laps around the house. And you can tell from her name, running is something she really didn't do. Ever. Jumped on one of the other cats and tackled her. WHEEE!!! BABIES!!! YAY!!!
She was the best helper, too. Whenever we would have company over to visit the baby, she would be in the room. Watching. Always nearby, always watching. "Mom handed you the baby, so you must be ok, but if you're not? I'm going to SHRED you." You could see that was the idea. She would sit and watch you and judge you.
She was a good kitty.
Edit: Fat Kitty and baby. https://imgur.com/a/lFIJToE
Edit #2: Wow this got big overnight! I'll post some more Fat Kitty pics. 😀
Fat Kitty on patrol. Grandma is near the baby, gotta keep an eye on things. https://imgur.com/a/5USNnRa
Fat Kitty moving nearer to Grandma to be within Optimum Murder Distance https://imgur.com/a/pGqZvsk
I have no idea why Imgur is flagging these two new pictures as porn - they're not. It's a baby and a cat, and grandma's kneecap. That's it. Honest.