# Silly Question - Did your pets act strange before you went into labor?



## GoodNamesGone (Apr 24, 2009)

I am 35w2d and my cats have suddenly decided not to leave my side. DH commented that maybe they know something we don't.

They have been a LOT more clingy since I became pregnant, but this is ridiculous! They sat and stared at me for 15 minutes or so, as if waiting for me to do a trick... They're fed, watered, and generally happy.

When I wouldn't let them in my lap (hyper baby + heavy-footed kitty = UNCOMFORTABLE) they sat in DH's lap near me... and kept trying to inch closer to me.

I'm capable of producing colostrum, but I'm not actively leaking... so I don't -think- that's it.

So I thought I'd see if anybody had their own experiences to share about their pets.


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## littlebb (Apr 15, 2009)

My experience so far is very similar (I'm almost 33w). I have two cats - one is a male who is my biggest buddy and the other a younger female who is DH's buddy. She used to love on me when I made an effort to show interest to her, but since I've been PG, both of them follow me everywhere. Stuart, my male cat, usually has to be where I am. He comes and checks on me if I go to a different room (like if I'm sewing or something). He seems a little put off by my belly though - every night before going to sleep (he sleeps at the foot of our bed) he used to come up and lay on my chest and I would rub on him and massage him for about 15 minutes. Now he can't do that and he seems bothered by it - lol... I can't take an 18 lbs. cat on my belly, though.

Their behavior has definitely changed since I've been PG, though. I wonder what they will be like when the baby is here. I think it'll be an adjustment, but I think they'll be very protective, too. My midwife mentioned that as time gets nearer - especially right before labor - they may get even more weird. They do react to hormones, I know that. Perhaps your body's hormones are changing and ripening to prepare for labor and birth?


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## GoodNamesGone (Apr 24, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *littlebb* 
My experience so far is very similar (I'm almost 33w). I have two cats - one is a male who is my biggest buddy and the other a younger female who is DH's buddy. She used to love on me when I made an effort to show interest to her, but since I've been PG, both of them follow me everywhere. Stuart, my male cat, usually has to be where I am. *He comes and checks on me* if I go to a different room (like if I'm sewing or something). He seems *a little put off by my belly* though - every night before going to sleep (he sleeps at the foot of our bed) he used to come up and lay on my chest and I would rub on him and massage him for about 15 minutes. Now he can't do that and he seems bothered by it - lol... I can't take an 18 lbs. cat on my belly, though.

I have 2 male cats. Both "fixed" and relatively calm, lovey-types. They have always competed for mine and DH's affection.

They follow me around all the time now, and will meow at the door if I'm in a room and they cannot be in it (i.e. the potty, or my bedroom in the morning). Rembrandt, the older one, will even scratch up the door jam till I shoo him, or come out.

Amadeus, the younger cat, was obsessed with being in my lap and ON my belly in months 6 and 7. It was cute when he would look at me weird as the baby kicked at him, but it's become far too uncomfortable.









I think the baby is getting ready to drop- maybe there's a specific hormone release that happens for that that they are reacting to? I'm not sure.

I have had this feeling that the baby will be early-ish so that's why I am so curious. I know I could be wrong, she might even be late, but I can't help the feeling.


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## littlebb (Apr 15, 2009)

That's so interesting! I was just talking to my chiropractor today, who has been adjusting me for the bulk of my PG. She specializes in pregnant women and newborns and does pelvic adjustments (which means I've had no pain whatsoever so far!!). Anyway, she birthed all her babies at home with the same MW I have and is a trained doula herself. She always checks the baby's position when I come in each week and this week she's noticed that he is REALLY low down - like, he's dropped and can't get any lower! I guess that explains why I feel his head moving like mad on my cervix! But I'm only 33 weeks and I asked her if this is a bad thing since it's so early. She said no, it just might be an indication that it could very well be a quick labor and birth since I won't have to wait on him to move down and dilate.

I will have to find it, but in one of the books I've been reading (maybe Ina May Gaskin's book?) it talks about hormones and how they start changing drastically when it's time for the baby to drop. Hormones is what makes all of it happen basically. So I have a feeling that's it for you.

Stuart has been trying to get up near my belly for the last week, like really aggressively. If I'm sitting up I can usually position him where it doesn't hurt. What's funny is he'll start purring and that makes the baby move every single time : ) I think it's so amazing to feel a little one inside you respond to outside things like a purring cat!


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## Full Heart (Apr 27, 2004)

This last time I noticed my dog was acting strange. I never went into labor on my own but the further I got the closer my dog got to me. To the point where she was sleeping at my feet. First she just followed me everywhere. Then she was sleeping in our room. Then the night before I was induced she was sleeping at my feet. I don't know if she was trying to comfort me or protect me or just waiting to see what was going to happen. Shes back to normal now.


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## EviesMom (Nov 30, 2004)

Not to freak you out, but YES! I was about 3 weeks before my due date with DD and our dog went superglued-to-me. She wouldn't leave my side and tried to make little dens everywhere. DH and I kept putting the stuff away and she'd do it again. Pulled the pillows off the bed and dragged them under the bed. Pulled the blankets under the table and made a little nest. I too wondered if there was something hormonal that she could sense, and I would say to the dog "Stop freaking out, we have like 3 weeks to go here--at least!" I went into labor about 48 hours after she started doing that. The dog knew better than me!









Once we knew it was a labor warning, DH and joked that the dog was thinking "OMG! She's about to go into labor and she has NO idea what she's doing. The puppy will have nowhere to sleep! Sheesh, will I have to nurse her pup myself?"









She didn't flip out so much about DS though, thankfully. She inspected the bed and moses basket every so often, but I guess she decided we had it under control this time and didn't need her to make a den. I suspect that she was still thinking of me much like I think of friends with strange gadgets to watch the baby for them though "Whatdaya need this for? And why don't you have a...."


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## GoodNamesGone (Apr 24, 2009)

It doesn't scare me to think they might predict my labor- I think this will just make me pay more attention to what they do.

I'll ask my MW if the baby is dropped/dropping. I'm starting to waddle, but I'm still not feeling that watermelon-between-the-legs thing that I've been told I will. Maybe that's another, "not everybody goes through that" thing?

It'll be interesting in hind-sight, that's for sure! It will also be neat to tell the baby about it when she's older- they're healthy indoor pets, so they -should- be around long enough to talk to her about them while they're still here.


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## mwherbs (Oct 24, 2004)

I have seen cats, dogs and horses act differently when a woman is in labor.


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## littlebb (Apr 15, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EviesMom* 
Not to freak you out, but YES! I was about 3 weeks before my due date with DD and our dog went superglued-to-me. She wouldn't leave my side and tried to make little dens everywhere. DH and I kept putting the stuff away and she'd do it again. Pulled the pillows off the bed and dragged them under the bed. Pulled the blankets under the table and made a little nest. I too wondered if there was something hormonal that she could sense, and I would say to the dog "Stop freaking out, we have like 3 weeks to go here--at least!" I went into labor about 48 hours after she started doing that. The dog knew better than me!









Once we knew it was a labor warning, DH and joked that the dog was thinking "OMG! She's about to go into labor and she has NO idea what she's doing. The puppy will have nowhere to sleep! Sheesh, will I have to nurse her pup myself?"









She didn't flip out so much about DS though, thankfully. She inspected the bed and moses basket every so often, but I guess she decided we had it under control this time and didn't need her to make a den. I suspect that she was still thinking of me much like I think of friends with strange gadgets to watch the baby for them though "Whatdaya need this for? And why don't you have a...."

What a great story! That's funny that she was preparing a place as if she were going to give birth and wanted the place prepared. I love it! I think animals are definitely in tune to us. I grew up in tornado alley and I could always tell when a tornado or extreme weather was near because of our animal's behavior. They are definitely in tune!


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## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

I don't think my pets acted much different. My cat is only affectionate if he wants food. Other than that he doesn't ever want anything to do with us.

Our dog did act differently when I was actually *in* labor though. She is normally pretty hyper and excitable, but when I was in labor she sat next to me calmly and licked my face in between contractions.

I believe pets can predict things. Mine just didn't have an aptitude for predicting labor. Our dog did go nuts a few hours before we had an earthquake and was really trying to tell us we needed to go outdoors.


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## Say (Feb 19, 2009)

My cats were playing in the hall outside my bedroom without a care in the world when I was pushing. I was very jealous and wanted to be them.









While I was pregnant, my cats didn't act any differently toward me, but afterward, my grumpy cat suddenly became uber-affectionate and began guarding the baby and me. Now she always wants to sit near me and purr, cuddle or knead, especially when I am nursing. I don't know if I started giving off a new scent, or it's hormones, but she's become the sweetest cat in the world. My other cat has gone through the usual 'arh! baby! intruder!' phase and now just ignores my daughter.


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## farmwife (Jun 22, 2006)

Not a silly question! Our dog wouldn't leave my side the weekend I went into labor. Usually she doesn't pay much attention to me. My mom was visiting that weekend and she even growled at her. She has never growled at anyone! I didn't think much of her strange behavior until my water broke Sunday night! I'm due again in a month and have started to pay attention to our dog's behavior in hopes she'll clue me in when it might be getting close!


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## mom2tig99Nroo03 (Apr 24, 2003)

the dog we had before our human kids was stuck to me during prodromal labor w ds, and didn't leave my side the whole day our dd was born. not sure what our lab or the cats wil do. we didn't have cats before and our first furbaby has been dead for 4 yrs.


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## laohaire (Nov 2, 2005)

Both of my cats were interested and protective. One interested me because she is the type of cat who spends her life hiding under the bed. And here we had people tromping around (midwife, assistant, my mom, me and DH) but she not only hung out nearby but right in the thick of things. The other cat is not shy but I appreciated when, every now and then, he popped his head up to look over the side of the birthing tub to check in.

Both cats were also extremely respectful of the baby. Both gave her a little sniff the next day and then just stayed out of the way (which is what I wanted of them).


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## JennTheMomma (Jun 19, 2008)

We have 2 dogs, 1 male and 1 female, and only the female dog got strange. She became more mothering to me when I was getting close. She had her own puppes during my 2nd trimester. She would smell my breasts and nuzzle my belly. She also liked to steel my pregnancy pillow and lay on it


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## peainthepod (Jul 16, 2008)

My dog became about a thousand times more protective of and cuddly with me when I became pregnant. I mean, like he was acting kind of weird before I even knew for sure. Then, during the homebirth, he stuck to me like glue. Even when I was in the birthing pool, he was on the floor next to me so I could stroke his sweet little head and back during the worst contractions. I joked that he was my assistant doula, in fact.









So yeah, I think our companion animals are capable of knowing what's going on. They're much more in tune with their instincts, after all, and a pregnant woman smells different, looks different, acts differently...her body temperature is even different! My dog knew for sure...maybe even before I did.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Yes, my oldest cat is extremely protective of me and the new babies when we have them. I got her before my first was born and she stayed with me throughout labor that time and she fully expected me to reciprocate when she had her own babies a few months later.

I don't remember where she was with the last baby I had, but a few weeks after the baby was born she decided she needed to stay right with her for several hours, so I was keeping an extra eye on the baby during that time. I don't know exactly what it is, but I believe animals have some sort of protective intuition.


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

I went out to feed my dog one evening when I was pregnant with dd2. He looked at me very knowingly, walked over, put his paws on my belly. He is not one to jump up on people at all, and he did this extremely gently for a 100 lb golden retriever. Then he placed his head on my stomach and I had my first contraction. It was almost surreal. I was 12 days past my due date and pretty grateful to go into labor!


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

My cat ran away a few weeks before DS was born and came back when he was a few days old. Strange enough for ya?


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## starling&diesel (Nov 24, 2007)

My old dog got super clingy and protective, and in the two days leading up to the birth, she was whiny and wouldn't leave my side. And we didn't know that I was in early labour! Sailor did though. She knew. She knew before we did! As for the puppy and the cat, they couldn' t have cared less. But Sailor, wow, she nailed it!


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