Felines, Canines and Tiny Humans

December 29, 2016 9:49 PM

Cats meeting babies for the first time (mostly "WTF?"). Dogs meeting babies for the first time (mostly "WTF!"). (h/t Miss Cellania)
posted by Johnny Wallflower (26 comments total)

Warning: Dog link visuals are 100% adorable but the audio is six straight minutes of Farmer In The Dell.
posted by mochapickle at 10:01 PM on December 29, 2016 [23 favorites]

Awwwww. My senior cat died a week before Christmas and my junior cat has been a little lonely, so while he avoided my first two children like the plague, he has decided my third baby is an acceptable substitute cat in a pinch and has been snuggling her non-stop whenever we lay her down.

He keeps foolishly climbing on her lap when she's sitting up (in a very wobbly fashion), and she keeps trying to teethe on his head and he just gives me this look like, "Kittens -- what are you gonna do?"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:06 PM on December 29, 2016 [36 favorites]

First video 1:50 -> me meeting babies for the first time.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:16 PM on December 29, 2016 [5 favorites]

Millennial cats, man. Half of those idiots don't even know they're supposed to steal the baby's breath.
posted by queensissy at 11:01 PM on December 29, 2016 [29 favorites]

six straight minutes of Farmer In The Dell

I watched it, and now I'm really stressed out and antsy because I can't shake the feeling that Omar coming.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 11:24 PM on December 29, 2016 [21 favorites]

A dog's got to have a code.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:26 PM on December 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

The cats quickly identify that there's some kind of new animal here, and react according to their disposition.
The dogs just go "something new to smell!" "Gotta smell more!" ".... OK, smelled it, I'm done here."
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 12:56 AM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

The funniest thing I ever saw my junior cat do was when we brought home the first baby. We'd been shooing him out of baby storage (crib, car seat) for weeks but he was so sure these new soft things were for his napping convenience! So we bring home the baby, he hides under the couch, and eventually things quiet down and he deduces the baby is gone. So he dashes out from under the couch at top speed and LEAPS into the pack n play where it turns out the baby is sleeping. He puffs out in terror while in the air, realizing the tiny pink monster is IN HIS SLEEPING SPOT and, worse, he is irrevocably committed to this jump, lands for a fraction of a second, and takes off like a streak to the basement. We basically didn't see him for six weeks.

All the adults, meanwhile, had leapt up to see if the baby was okay. He had NOT been landed on by the cat, but a big ol' cat landing in his crib (puffed up like a cat grenade, no less) had been sufficient to startle him awake and he had the most hilariously startled wide-eyed, open-mouthed newborn face that so clearly said "What in the hell just happened?"

Anyway, same cat who now lets my third child chew on his head and purrs while she does it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:27 AM on December 30, 2016 [40 favorites]

-I feel that this channel deceived me, because some of those babies can sit up and control their heads, and their interactions with dogs are clearly NOT first time encounters
-that said, any video where a cat or dog wraps itself around a tiny baby in protective adoration is the best and most perfect thing.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 4:04 AM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

A polite host will always offer their guests a cat head to chew on.
posted by dr_dank at 6:27 AM on December 30, 2016 [6 favorites]

I like how the dogs were looking at their owners, "Is this ok? This thing is ok? I am not sure about this thing!"
posted by emjaybee at 7:04 AM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

I watched it, and now I'm really stressed out and antsy because I can't shake the feeling that Omar coming.


You know, I would watch at least 15 minutes of Michael K. Williams meeting babies for the first time.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:11 AM on December 30, 2016 [14 favorites]

The cats who are like "WHAT IS THIS THING, OH SHIT IT MOVED, WHY HAVE YOU NOT CALLED THE POLICE" are welcome in my house.
posted by delfin at 7:42 AM on December 30, 2016 [9 favorites]

Cat #2 was my orange tabby & my daughter. When she cried, he'd pace at the foot of her crib & yowl inconsolably. They were quite the team.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:51 AM on December 30, 2016

Dog link visuals are 100% adorable but the audio is six straight minutes of Farmer In The Dell.

*silently hits mute button on computer before watching*
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:11 AM on December 30, 2016

Cats are quite entertaining in their range of reactions.

But who would let a dog lick/sniff with his butt-sniffing nose at a newborn's face and mouth? Actually, cats with their anus licking litter box breath, too.*

*After 2 months, fair play! Go for licks. Prepares 'em to put stuff in their mouth, eat off the floor under the table in competition with the dog, and eat kibble while splashing in the critter bowl and sucking their hands (or going straight to slurping, whateves.)
posted by BlueHorse at 9:22 AM on December 30, 2016

The Littlest Naberius is now four months old. For most of that time, she and our cats have steadfastly pretended to not notice each other. The cats do find the various baby support mechanisms (BSMs) appealing. Most things you would put a baby into look pretty appealing to cats. But never when she's actually in them.

Only within the last couple weeks have they decided to try and explore the potential of interaction. She watches the cats now. They come closer and sort of sniff the air six inches away from her. On the couch on Christmas eve, she actually reached out to touch one of them.

That's pretty much it. Nothing even remotely videogenic.
posted by Naberius at 9:43 AM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

The cats who are like "WHAT IS THIS THING, OH SHIT IT MOVED, WHY HAVE YOU NOT CALLED THE POLICE" are welcome in my house.

I now know what "Shit, I'm fucked" looks like on a cat's face.
posted by longdaysjourney at 10:18 AM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

This post, and the stories about Mefite babies and Mefite pets, are main thing keepming me from running amok in the halls yelling I DON'T WORK TODAY 2016 WAS A SHIT YEAR 2017 MAY BE WORSE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So, uh, thanks.
posted by joyceanmachine at 10:52 AM on December 30, 2016 [7 favorites]

2016 may have been bad, but the dogs... the dogs were very good.
posted by ChuraChura at 12:03 PM on December 30, 2016 [8 favorites]

Years ago I was a nanny for a little boy, about 1.5 years old. One pleasant day I decided to take him over to my house to meet my cats. Pippi the super sweet one was very shy and I knew she wouldn't come out to say hi. But Booger, weighing in at an "extra healthy" 18 pounds, had not a shy bone in his body. I wasn't sure but I didn't think this little boy had ever seen a cat live before so I thought it would be fun for everyone.

So I got the kid over and, predictably, Pippi ran and hid. I took the boy out of his stroller to let him walk around and interact with Booger who of course came over immediately to investigate. And just like cats do he began rubbing his head up against the boy (as seen in some of those videos from OP). But if you recall that's 18 pounds of a lower center of gravity with full adult strength and coordination rubbing up against a small boy who was barely walking. So of course Booger inadvertently (pretty sure) knocked the kid over at which point the boy's own curiosity about the cats ended and we left.
posted by bfootdav at 12:45 PM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

2016 may have been bad, but the dogs... the dogs were very good.

Well, of course.

Of COURSE the dogs were good. That may be all that will save us.

Good doggies.
posted by BlueHorse at 3:03 PM on December 30, 2016 [3 favorites]

Bless you, ChuraChura. That was just what I needed.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:37 PM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

six straight minutes of Farmer In The Dell

I heard it as "Bringing in the Sheaves," which is now making me question everything I ever knew about religion.
posted by bendy at 10:37 PM on December 30, 2016

I wish that someone with medical expertise could comment on these things. I mean, do you really want your dog sticking its tongue in your newborn's mouth? Or your cat's paw, fresh from the litter box, all over baby's face? I dunno, but I think the baby immune system is a little undeveloped for that sort if thing.
posted by charlesminus at 9:41 AM on December 31, 2016

2016 may have been bad, but the dogs... the dogs were very good.

THEY'RE ALL GOOD DOGS, BRONT.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 6:26 PM on January 1, 2017 [1 favorite]