what to do about a mean kitty-

Hi there. a little brief history: Well sammy is almost 7 years old and has been "mean" from the start. we figured it was his upbringing that first made him bite and hiss alot. now we just realize it's him. he loves my husband, or shall i say "respects" him more bt with me he's very mean and forget having company over! i babysit my 3 year old neice and i work in my home. whenever she is over the cat hisses at her, bites her and stratches her. if i don't lock him up he'll actually chase her till he gets her. this is without ANY provoking. i don't feel he is every actually provoked. from the start we treat him with love. he was my first baby..it took me a while to have my own baby. now the problem is i am having a baby in 3 months and we are very very worried about what he will be like when that time comes. my husband is ready to have him live down the basement away from us, but i feel so uneasy about that. no matter how bad he treats me! we also just got a new rug that looks 10 years old after only 2 days. i just can't control this cat!!! and i don't know what to do. the anxiety of it all is too much and me and my hsuband just don't see eye to eye about it. any advice?

Cats can be very picky. There is not much you can do to get your cat to be nice to you. I did notice that you said the cat is mean to you and your neice? Is the cat mean to all females? Or is the cat just mean to everyone? If the cat is mean to everyone I would be very careful about bringing a baby into the home. If the cat only hates females and the baby is a male you might be okay. Really the only question you and your husband should be asking is do you want to just wait and see what happens when the baby comes and chance the cat hurtting the baby (cats don't usually hurt babies they are very protextive of them) or do you just get rid of the cat to someone else.

Assuming you have brought the cat to the vet etc; I would say the same thing -- your choice. If you are not overly attached to the cat -- if it just a matter of guilt -- I would find it a new home. The safety of your niece is important. The cat could get loose one day and claw her in eye (worst case scenario). I think you have a tough decision. Not that it matters, but I support the idea of finding the cat a new home.