Is it okay for cats to be around babies?

If your cat likes to cuddle and you are concerned about suffocation, you can get a crib tent which zips up and should keep your cat out. This tent is also useful if you have a baby who is an escape artist and you want to keep him in the crib for a while longer.

Cats carry toxoplasmosis, which can be deadly for the fetuses of pregnant women as well as young babies and toddlers. If you are pregnant, your doctor should have told you to stay away from cats and especially cat feces. If you own a cat, unless it has been vaccinated and is kept indoors, you should leave the chore of litter box cleanup to your husband. The method of passage is ingestion. I don't think any one would ingest cat poo, but if you were to pick it up or clean out a litter box and not wash your hands properly then eat something, you could ingest it without really knowing it. The pregnant mother will get sick and the fetus will die. The cats who carry this disease often have no symptoms and seem otherwise healthy.

I don't know if a cat can give a baby a disease, but cats can lay on the baby and suffocate the baby so I would advice you do not let the cat near the baby when you are not around.

Cats can be carriers of a disease know as Cat Scratch Fever caused by bacteria on their claws. Toxoplasmosis is the reason pregnant women are told not to change litter boxes and I do know of one woman that was blind due to this and another who had an infant who died at just a few months old. If you have a cat just be cautious of it around a baby. I had one who insisted on crawling in the crib and curling up with the baby who finally got the message it wasn't allowed after getting booted out of the room a few times. Other cats could care less about having a baby in the house.

I agree with Hareball. Once general hygiene rules are followed, the biggest issue is the cat's curiousity and love of warm, comfy lay abouts. I had always heard stories of cats suffocating infants and believe there is some truth in this. One of our cats loves to curl around your neck when you're sleeping. My teenage children simply turn their heads or move the cat. This is not something an infant would be able to accomplish. The screen door is wonderful suggestion.