This is a “cat problem” posted on the Reddit website seeking advice. It has received hundreds of comments in response, all of which are rubbish. Most are just jokes. The remainder recommend punishing the cat. Unfortunately, this is so typical. I wonder why Yahoo bought Reddit for a billion bucks!?
Anyway I thought I’d try and provide some advice.
The detail is hard to come by, which may be the problem in working out decent advice . This is the situation in brief:
A child of 2 years of age sits in his playroom. The child has apparently stopped being interested in the family cat. The cat goes up to the child, meows and tries to nuzzle against the child’s face and neck. The child pushes the cat away. When he does that the cat immediately throws up on him, then goes to the adult child carer for attention. The child carer asks, “why is she puking on the baby”, and how can she stop it?
My Response
Note: these are instant thoughts. They are not researched because I am not sure that research will help.
First Idea
There is no connection between the child’s actions – pushing the cat away – and the cat being sick. This is a distinct possibility. It may the case that the cat comes from the kitchen where she eats. Then she wanders into the playroom to meet up with her baby friend who no longer wants to be a friend and at that moment she vomits because the food has irritated her stomach. It is a coincidence that the cat vomits over the child, sometimes. It has happened more than once because cats follow pretty strict routines. The child carer, the person who asks for advice, has put two and two together and come up with five.
I have never heard of a cat vomiting because she was pushed away by someone. If I am correct the cure is to take the cat to the vet for a check up and to change her food. An ideas that people have about punishing the cat are ridiculous.
Second Idea
An alternative idea is this. The cat has hairballs and/or hair on her windpipe. The child pushes the cat in the abdomen and/or chest. This causes the cat to start retching up the hairballs. She produces froth and perhaps some hair or some grass if she has eaten grass. If a cat is on the edge of vomiting up hairballs or grass, pushing the cat in the stomach can set off a vomiting reaction.
Third Idea
The cat has an obstruction somewhere in her intestines. She copes with it but it needs to be dealt with and has not been seen to. This makes the intestines sensitive.
The baby pushes the cat away in the body or stomach area, which aggravates the inflammed intestines. The cat vomits in response.
Conclusion
Advice: Just do the obvious and have your cat checked out by a veterinarian if she is vomiting regularly and routinely. In the meantime keep the cat away from the baby. Common sense I guess. Also make sure this cat is actually doing what you say she is doing. The child’s carer is implying, in her question, that the cat’s vomiting is routine and linked to the child’s behavior. This needs to be checked carefully.
Note: the picture has no relationship to the cat problem referred to. It is just here to illustrate the page and for SEO reasons.
I have to agree – it sounds pretty odd. Children and cats aren’t always a good mix. A puking cat that hasn’t just eaten grass is something to worry about if it is regular.
Nice pun
What a load of rubbish and it’s likely someone’s idea of a sick joke
To PUNISH a Cat, whether a Tiger or a domestic, is totally uncalled for. The only conditioning that we respond to is positive reinforcement. why should we expect anything less…from a cat.
Yes. It does sound bogus, but for the sake of it being real, is it possible that the cat when the child was still drinking milk from a bottle or nursing, and the baby would throw up…the cat would smell it and lick it up, thus still looking after this conditioning to do this? The child has been weened, and is now old enough to use his limbs with dexterity to push the cat away???
I know nothing. :_
Heh. Just to add my vote. Before reading the comments I thought “This sounds bogus”. Evidently others agree.