Throughout Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, I hope you will enjoy the cat stories and articles I have collected from around the world, including the following from Great Britain.

A campaign has been launched to encourage parents to keep their pets during pregnancy and beyond, following new findings that show around half have concerns about cats and children yet few seek advice on the topic.

Run by the charity Cats Protection, #KidsandKitties urges people not to give up their pets as survey results reveal 1 in 12 parents did so because they were expecting a baby or had young children. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they regretted the decision.

Cats Protection ran the survey to find out what concerns parents have about keeping cats in the family, and these were the key findings:

• Over half of respondents who owned a cat while expecting a child had concerns regarding their cat and their pregnancy. The top concerns were handling cat litter and toxoplasmosis;

• Just under half of respondents had concerns regarding their cat and children, with the top 2 involving the cat scratching or injuring their child and the cat climbing into the carrier/cot/pushchair with the child;

• Less than a third of respondents sought advice regarding cat and pregnancy or children; and

• Nearly one-third of expectant parents were told they should give up their cat, with two-thirds receiving that advice from friends or family.

“There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice out there about cats, pregnancy and children so we’re keen to stress that you don’t need to give up your cat if you are pregnant or have young children,” sad Daniel Cummings, Cats Protection’s behavior officer. “With just some simple considerations, cats and children may live in harmony together and this can bring huge benefits such as helping kids to learn responsibility and compassion for living things.”

Cats Protection’s advice for cat-loving parents and expectant parents includes:

• Play baby sounds to get your cat used to them (available at www.cats.org.uk/kids-and-kitties/baby.mp3);

• Start wearing disposable gloves and an apron when cleaning litter trays, or get someone else to do it for you;

• Introduce your cat to new baby equipment such as furniture and prams, but don’t let them climb on it and keep it off-limits;

• Brush up on your knowledge of cat body-language so you can recognize signs of stress when your baby arrives (visit www.cats.org.uk/behaviour for info);

• Make sure your cat has lots of hiding places to escape to if they feel stressed;

• Introduce your cat to your baby gradually. Don’t force interaction or leave your baby and cat alone together; and

• Try to make time to give your cat daily attention – this will help relax them and you.

— Pets and the People Who Love Them is brought to you by your friends at the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter. To adopt a dog or cat, please visit the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter at 1701 U.S. 72 (behind Limestone Veterinary Clinic), visit our Facebook page or call us at 256-771-7889. Email your questions and story ideas to me at PetsAndPeople@charter.net, and I’ll check with the experts (veterinarians, animal behaviorists, etc.) and get back to you in a future column.