kittens & kids
I tend to not adopt out my kittens to homes with children under 5 yrs of age. This is because under 5 if children have an allergic reaction to the cat they may not be able to describe to the parent what type of a reaction they are having. Is it life threatening or not? Also too kids learn pretty quickly that if mom knows I am allergic to the kitten it will be taken away.
Then there is the fact that kittens have claws and will most definitely scratch a child either accidentally or on purpose. The kitten only has its teeth and claws to use to let you know if they are being held too tightly or being frightened by something. When children get scratched their 1st response may be to never want to touch the cat again. This happened with my own grand daughter who is mildly Autistic and was given a Siberian when she was 4 yrs old. I wasn't thinking correctly. It was a bad situation. My only thought stupidly was, "wow look at the therapeutic qualities of this cat. It will bring such joy to her." We all as humans have the tendency to learn our lessons the hard way. Unfortunately this is not something that a kitten understands.
*Now if your child is under 5 yrs old and has had supervised experience with cats at a grand parents house or such then this is something you and I can discuss.
***For the safety of our kittens no children under 5 years old are allowed in the cat/kitten room. The kittens are still very tiny and fragile at this age and are prone to scooting under feet***
Then there is the fact that kittens have claws and will most definitely scratch a child either accidentally or on purpose. The kitten only has its teeth and claws to use to let you know if they are being held too tightly or being frightened by something. When children get scratched their 1st response may be to never want to touch the cat again. This happened with my own grand daughter who is mildly Autistic and was given a Siberian when she was 4 yrs old. I wasn't thinking correctly. It was a bad situation. My only thought stupidly was, "wow look at the therapeutic qualities of this cat. It will bring such joy to her." We all as humans have the tendency to learn our lessons the hard way. Unfortunately this is not something that a kitten understands.
*Now if your child is under 5 yrs old and has had supervised experience with cats at a grand parents house or such then this is something you and I can discuss.
***For the safety of our kittens no children under 5 years old are allowed in the cat/kitten room. The kittens are still very tiny and fragile at this age and are prone to scooting under feet***