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This advice is a follow on inspirated by conversation generated from the article called "Little Ones Grow Up fast, House Work Can Wait".
Saying No To Animals In The House
Do you have animals at home? Do you animals live in the house? Are you about to be
a new Mum? Do you have a child that is asthmatic? Do you have a family history of asthma? Are you already a Mum and have animals like cats and dogs? What about your kids, do any of them have a respiratory related conditions? Read ON!
Long before my son was born I simply banned my two cats from the house. It meant no more cat fur and the endless vaccuming and the ruined funiture and occasional smelly unwanted gifts, no more cat fur on my couches and on my clothes! And I loved it! I do like my cats very much but I realised that my motto has always been humans before animals. My sanity before animals! I choose to house my cats in a RSPCA approved cat cage at night. I choose to not waste my precious time cleaning up after them in the HUMAN house. I enjoy having nice non cat fur covered clothing and a house that does not smell of animals. I enjoy being able to invite all my friends and family to visit and not be worried about any allergies etc
When discovering that I was to become a Mum I investigated what my newborn my have a tendancy for. This was asthma and ezcema.
As many of you know Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in the lungs. It is NOT age specific in when it first is noted. However often it is reported as often beginning in childhood or adolescence. It may also may first appear in adult life. In my professional acute experience as a RN DIV 1 in respiratory nursing, Asthma is now NOT uncommon in infants. It is heart breaking and very stressful for these parents to deal with. I knew from my experience that I wanted to minimise the risk to my newborn and to thus reduce the likihood of hospital admissions and medical intervention required to treat him. I wanted to avoid trauma for him if I could. Plus I wanted to avoid the heatbreak and stress related to asthma triggers that I as a responsible Mum could reduce. A simple measure of housing my cats outside was the sensible option.
Asthma is a chronic inflammation episode that causes the airways in an Asthmatic to narrow. It can produce that characteristic wheezing and breath-lessness sometimes to the point where there is gasping for air leading to respiratory distress. It can lead (in extreme cases) to death. Please do note today, that it is rare for a child not respond to professional medical intervention. This airway obstruction either stops spontaneously or responds to a wide range of treatments . Continuing inflammation makes asthmatics hyper-responsive to such stimuli as cold air, exercise, dust, animal fur, pollutants in the air, and even stress or anxiety.
So I decided to reduce the triggers at home where I reasonably could. I purchased a great vaccum cleaner, I vaccum every room once a week. I already had the cats outside and that is their home. A good idea is to make your house a pet free zone long before a newborn baby comes home. Naturally most responsible cat owners would want their cat to be happy and not jealous of the newborn so having established that the felines are outside long before baby is born would be a good idea. I maded sure that my cats had a safe and weather protected cat home. All theirs and not a play ground for my baby boy. No shared items.
When vistors bring their animals I insist they DO stay outside. It can be hard to enforce (especially when a female may baby her dog and cat and think it's too cold to be outside) but I have reminded her that I have a young child. I also have to remind them that I am responsible for the condition of the child and house and that this is my house and not theirs. As a Mum/parent you have to be really strong and enforce what you believe in and not give into things that are just not ok. For me cats and furry animals being outside my house is expected.
I do have one such friend that lets her cat and dog stay in the house and defecate, urinate and destroy her house. I think as a result of this that she has contributed to her social lonliness, acute anxiety and is more depressed. She can't keep up with the mess these two animals make. She gets exhausted and then gets more depressed as the mess and stink gets worse. She is isolated by the state her house is in, as no one wants to visit her in that house. It is very hard indeed to tolerate the smell. Plus she will not invite anyone to her house for she is ashamed of how it is. Plus there is NO chance I will let her baby sit my son in her house... ALL because she insists that her animals stay in her house. My friend treats her cat and dog as babys. She even babies the dog and uses nappies to clean up after it and gets it 00 size clothing to wear!
My point is animals do NOT come before your precious ONE OF A KIND newborn, toddler or child. Your child deserves the best environment you can provide. An environment that is not harmful and that does not pose a risk to their health. Needless to say, my friend is single and childless so such concerns about an asthmatic prone newborn do not concern her. Nor does it come into her thinking that it might concern others with children.
Sometimes when I think about letting my two cats in for a while, I recall the state of her house (and others that are not so bad but still have cat fur on couches etc) I decide instead to take myself and my son outside to play with them instead! Afterall being outside is best for animals and being outside and playing with our two cats is a double treat for my son. Plus my house remains free of any unexpected surprises.
Take Care,
Lavendalady
(August 2007) (
