I think my kid is jealous of my cat!

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I wanted to get another parent's point of view on this issue, so I posted this question here, instead of the cat forum. I think my kid is jealous of my cat! Every since we brought the cats back into our living space, things have been tense in our home. My daughter tries to kick the cats and pick them up. She knows better than to pick them up. And, I am constantly reminding her not to harrass the cats. But, she seems to be jealous of them. I don't think that I am paying too much attention to our cats. But, any time at all paid to them, seems too much for her. The other day when my smallest female cat climbed up into my lap and went to sleep, my three year old got upset and demanded that I throw her in the floor. Of course, I didn't. But, I put the cat on another chair for her nap. After that my daughter got upset with me. I am not sure if she's just jealous of the cats. Or, maybe she wanted to hold the cat, too? Basically, she wants to be the only one that gets to pet the cats, or feed them. And, she's trying to exclude me from handling or caring for them at all. Has this happened with your children and pets, before? Please tell me how you handled it. I'm confused on the entire issue. Since this was a question that concerned small children as well as pets, I was hoping that maybe some of the parents here had some experience dealing with this issue.