Owning a pet can be a really rewarding experience for children, but it is important to consider the type of cat that would be best-suited to your family.
Having an animal to interact with and help look after can provide children with lots of opportunities to learn important skills and lessons. However, some cats will be better suited to living with children than others. A cat who becomes stressed and anxious around children may behave aggressively, or start to show that they are unhappy in different ways, so if you are considering adding a cat to your family, it’s best to think carefully about the best type of cat to live with children.
Each cat is an individual, with their own likes and dislikes. A very bold, friendly cat is likely to cope much better in a family with young children and enjoy (or at least tolerate well) a lively and sometimes unpredictable household. However, a more timid and/or less friendly cat may find the same household very stressful to live in. It is therefore important to choose a cat that has the right temperament or personality to suit living in a household with young children.
For more information on bringing a cat into your home, read our advice on how to introduce your cat to children.
THE TYPE OF CAT THAT SHOULD GET ON BEST WITH YOUNG CHILDREN:
- Friendly and confident.
- Relatively relaxed, laid back and generally unfazed by changes in their environment.
- Enjoys physical contact, stroking and is relatively tolerant of being handled.
- Calm and ideally inquisitive when meeting the children for the first time (e.g. in the rehoming centre).
- Either has a history of happily living with young children in their previous home or is a young kitten that also has the above qualities.
If you're confident that a cat will be a good addition to your family, you can meet the cats ready for rehoming.
