I can totally relate, however. My cats are terrified of rug rats..it might be all the screaming and chasing they have endured but between my nephew and my 4 year old sister-in-law I can understand. I can't stand when they come to visit, but I lock the cats in the our bedroom and absolutely refuse to let them play with them.
My nephew, also 4, has 3 cats in their house and he's allowed to torture one of them in particular. Given she's not a very sweet cat and scratches him whenever she can LOL, but I would if I was getting hit and swatted at with bats and other such toys . My brother always yells at me when I tell him to leave the animals alone and I hear "they're just animals" constantly. Great message to be sending your kids.
My husband's sister is just as awful and they had to get rid of what? 7 cats because she treated them so poorly. Jason's mom got 5 cats in about a two month period and the little girl would throw them off the balcony, attempt to gouge out their eyes, hold them in horrible positions (and they were declawed so had no real means of defense). They took those 5 to the pound because his sister not only treated them badly but was also allergic (again, no attempt to find them a home..just dumped them at the pound). About six months later, I come to visit and they have two new kittens and again she's horrible to them. They, of course, no longer have the cats and am not sure what has happened to them. Everytime it is brought up, my husband and I get in a fight so I have to quit asking about what happened to these cats and he refuses to tell me the truth.
I would have taken those poor kitties but live in AL while his family lives in CA.