LITTLE ROCK — My animal shelter has more kittens than it can handle so I want to adopt one and give it a good life. The thing is I have two children, a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old, and want to know what I should teach them about cats. We had one when I was little, but it was an outdoor cat and I wasn’t allowed to play with it. This cat will live in the house and I want my kids to consider it their pet, too.
Pets can bring children a lot of pleasure and also provide an opportunity to teach them about respect for other living beings. Having a pet can also instill in children compassion, empathy and a sense of responsibility - but none of these benefits happen on their own.
“Parental involvement, open discussion and planning are necessary to help make pet ownership a positive experience for everyone,” the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says on its website, aacap.org.
Consider your lifestyle and your home when deciding whether to adopt a kitten or cat, the group says.
For example, do you have space for a pet? With a cat, you’ll need a low-traffic area for the litter box, as well as a spot for a scratching post and, ideally, some kind of perch so your pet can do what cats like most - watch from on high.
Since you’ve not cared for a cat or kitten before, you should talk to other cat owners and a veterinarian about what to expect. They’ll explain the commitment of time and money you’ll need to make.
You may learn that a kitten would require more supervision and care than you have time to give. If so, consider adopting an adult cat that’s already accustomed to children. You can find out if a cat has a suitabletemperament for family life by asking shelter employees or checking with local animal rescue societies that “foster” pets while finding them new homes. These people have observed how the animal interacts with children and other pets.
Whether you get a kitten or a cat, you’ll have to teach your children how to handle and play with their new kitty.
“Teach children that a cat is a member of the family who should be treated with gentleness and respect,” feline behaviorist Pam Johnson-Bennett says in her book Think Like a Cat (Penguin Books, 2000). The book covers everything a potential cat owner should know, plus contains specific advice about cats and children:
Always supervise small children around the cat or kitten.
Teach your children how toproperly and safely lift the cat and how to carry it securely. Toddlers and young children have a tendency to grab a cat around its neck or barely support it under its front legs. Sometimes they’ll even try tohold a cat upside down.
Demonstrate for your children how to pet the cat with an open hand so they can see what is meant by “gentle.”
The litter box as well as the cat’s feeding and sleeping areas should be off limits.
Teach children how to interpret a cat’s body language so they’ll know when the cat is telling them it wants to be left alone. For example, children should know that when a cat swishes and thumps its tail, it doesn’t mean the same thing as when a dog wags its tail.
Provide the children with safe interactive toys when they want to play with the cat. A teaser toy, a flexible stick with feathers or a toy attached to one end, can be a good teaching toy. Children should be taught not to poke the cat or overly tease their pet by always keeping the toy out of reach.
Give the cat a “sanctuary,” a place where it can get away when it wants to be alone.
Do you have a question about pets? We’ll get you an answer from an authority. Send your question to Rhonda Owen, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203 or e-mail
Family, Pages 35 on 07/28/2010