Use this thread to discuss anything related to cats that doesn't otherwise fit the subreddit! Also feel free to ask questions that you believe are too short for a standalone post.

My cousin whos like my best friend got a cat around 2 years ago and I know they love her and do mostly treat her well. When she was a kitten she was the sweetest girl ever and she was so easy to pick up and play with. But imo as she grew older she became more independent and needing a more space which i think is understandable and completely normal for cats. But they treat her like shes a dog if that makes sense. They say she always hisses and scratches at them now (and ive seen it) but its mostly when ive seen the husband force her to accept his touch and mess around with her. Like pulling/pushing on her head and body. And then they just call her a brat. So in my head im like fuck maybe shes hissing and being a "bitch" cuz ur always manhandling her and bothering her. And they punish her more by putting uncomfortable clothes on her too thats hard to move in. And theyre just like, "you have to show her whos the boss and teach her we're allowed to touch her". With some dogs i can understand the agressive training but i dont think thats necessary for a lot of cats...

Shes more distant now and doesnt like people coming near her anymore and I really do think its how shes been socialized and treated by them. I honestly would love to have a convo about them maybe being a little bit more gentle with her but they both have stubborn and agressive opinions/personalities so.

Hi everyone! I’m 52 years old, and I retired from work about three months ago. Since I’m now spending more time at home, I recently got a cat who is about 1.5 years old.

I’m still learning about cat care, and one thing I’m unsure about is where to place his litter box. I know it can get messy, so I want to find a suitable spot that’s comfortable for my cat and keeps the house clean.

I’m wondering if keeping the litter box in the bathroom is a good idea or if there could be any problems with that.

For those of you who have cats, where do you keep your litter boxes, and what location has worked best for you? I’d really appreciate your advice and suggestions. Thanks!

a couple days ago i lost my 18-year old cat. my baby. we got her as a kitten when i was starting school, and now she passed a month after i got my master's degree. she would always be in my room, hanging out, sleeping, being close to me. she was very territorial and kind of mean to everyone but me. she was my best friend, my baby.

it was a surprise. she was healthy and wasn't struggling physically, but had been eating less and less. it was over quickly, she didn't suffer much. it happened it my room. i held her dead body in my arms. i cried the entire day. i asked my friends not to contact me. i've been feeling incredibly numb. upped my anti-depressant dose (with the blessing from my psychatrist).

does it ever....stop feeling like this?

We adopted a kitten in September, and within two weeks, our entire household was dealing with ringworm. Myself, our two toddlers ), dogs, and our kitten.

Our kitten had almost no visible symptoms, but under a Wood’s lamp, she was glowing green practically everywhere. Our vet said it was one of the most extensive cases she’d ever seen.

Our kitten is now quarantined and receiving oral and topical antifungals. We’re treating our dogs, and my oldest son has multiple spots on his scalp with hair loss.

The cleaning has been absolutely exhausting. Constant vacuuming, disinfecting, laundry, and worrying about spores on every surface. We’ve spent so much money and honestly just want our normal lives back.

For anyone who’s been through a widespread household outbreak:

How long did it take to completely get rid of it?
How much cleaning is actually necessary?
Did you disinfect couches, carpets, and furniture daily?
When did you finally stop worrying about reinfection?

I’m mentally exhausted and would love to hear what actually worked for others, especially families with young kids and multiple pets. I am truly most terrified of reinfection after we spend months getting it to go away. I’ve seen stories of people mentioning they did all the cleaning doe it to come back a few times!! It’s my nightmare.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 27m who lives alone in a small apartment. I’ve never had a pet, but for the past few years I’ve become really interested in cats. I approach stray cats, my social media feed is full of cats, I read a lot about cats here on Reddit, and honestly, I’ve had this nagging desire to get a cat.

I adopted my cat two months ago (he’s a 5- to 6-month-old tuxedo). The truth is, he’s a good cat—he doesn’t destroy things, he eats well, he uses the litter box, he likes to play with me, sometimes asks for cuddles, and sleeps with me in bed. Although it’s true that for many hours of the day, he just likes to stay at a safe distance from me, grooming himself or watching me.

The thing is, I haven’t developed this love I read so much about on Reddit. I mean, sure, I like the cat, but I’m not ultra-mega in love with him, and I feel like I wouldn’t do anything and everything for him as I read from cat owners everywhere (obviously, I take him to the vet, make sure his life is as good as possible, and take care of him).

I just see him as a little creature who lives in my apartment and sometimes interacts with me.

Is this normal? I feel bad. I’m starting to wonder if I’m really a pet person. I’m having intrusive thoughts that I’ve put it to the test and it just hasn’t worked out for me. Thoughts about whether maybe it would be best to find him another home?

Obviously, the animal is a financial burden (especially at first with vaccinations, buying the litter box, toys, bowls, food, litter…), and sometimes I feel annoyed about spending money on it. Before adopting him, I bought everything with excitement and it didn’t bother me at all, but now it’s different… I also read about people who spend thousands of dollars on medical tests for their pets, and I think I wouldn’t be able to put my finances or my hard-earned savings on the line for him. (Obviously, I’m referring to major expenses.) Is this normal? I feel like a terrible person.

This money thing is just an example to illustrate my feelings toward the cat—it’s not like this is all about money.

I need advice/help

EDIT: Of course I play with him several times a day; he eats the best dry food and wet food on the market; I brush him and he purrs with pleasure; I give him lots of pets and he purrs like a motor! I’m just clarifying this to avoid any possible misunderstandings that I might be neglecting him.

And of course I love him—I watch him and laugh as he does his cat things—it’s just what I mentioned above: I don’t feel like he’s stolen my heart or that he’s my whole life. And since, after all, having a pet is a huge responsibility and requires several extra tasks every day, that’s where my doubts come in. Maybe it’s just that it’s still early and I need to get used to it.

I just adopted a 1 year old cat and want advice please! She was feral, rescued about a year ago as a kitten and has been spayed/given shots. Her family had to find a home as they never intended to keep her and one member is allergic. I’ve released her in the basement after showing her where her stuff is. I sat on the floor for 15 minutes talking to her so she’d hear my voice. Now what? Do I just let her make her own way around the house and visit the basement off and on?

In the past week i have been taking care of 3 ragdoll cats in 2 different homes. They were all so sweet and affectionate. Im 19 and i have never had a cat before. Im sure i will get a cat mby now if i can convince parents otherwise i will when i move out. My question is would you recommend me to get a ragdoll cat since i will probably be living in a kinda small apartment when i do move out or should I just get a normal cat?

Hi i have a 4 yr old tortoiseshell and and has been eating dry food on one side of her mouth. I raised this concern with the vet and this is the quote we got for her. ($1588-$2547)This is way way way more than i can afford right now and while she has some plaque this seems very high. Im located in Philadelphia.

My 4 month old orange tabby has litter small rocks stuck in his butt, because we recently changed from crystal litter to clustering rock litter. They're very small rocks, less than 1mm and there's two of them in there which you can only see when he flexes his butt while walking with his tail up.

I tried to clean them off but I couldn't because you can't see them unless he's walking flexing his butt and also I was afraid I'd push them more inside.

Has this happened to anyone else before?

What do I even do?

I adopted my cat a year ago. Back then i was living in a small apartment while studying in university and we were visiting my parents house occasionally together. But since june, i moved back home with my parents. Here, my cat has a lot of space to wander around and explore. He mostly stays in my room during the day cause he's sleeping, but at night he wants to explore and he walks around all 3 floors of the house. Now i am about to move into an apartment on my own. It's going to be 60 square meters so it's not going to be a small place, but it will still be significantly smaller than what he got used to now. I feel so awful for making him adjust to such a small place... We will have a balcony and i know that he's going to enjoy hanging around there and i also want to make the home entertaining for him by installing some climbing shelves. I know that it is important to keep him entertained, i always make sure to keep him active and play with him every day, so i will continue to do that, but i can't help but feel so guilty about the move...

Um so I adopted a cat and she’s a year old and NICE AS FUCK to humans, but she hates my dog and my other cat. She intimidates them both and they don’t enjoy her presence. I am for now keeping her contained in the master bedroom most of the day while the other two animals have the rest of the house. I feel bad not letting the new cat roam the full house but I’ve seen her violence when she’s around my other cat and dog. Is this what I’m supposed to do? Also we’re about 3 weeks deep into her adoption. I just want the new cat to not act fucking cut throat violent and be cool around the others. Is there a chance she won’t ever be or do they usually get more chill after time? Pls help.

I love my automatic box. My cats love my automatic box. Unfortunately, my 3-legged angel always kicks litter out of the box when she buries her business. It’s become clear that this is unavoidable. So what I’m looking for is litter that:

1. Doesn’t smell
   
2. Is relatively easy to clean off hardwood floors
   
3. Works smoothly with an automatic box

I’ve tried “really great cat litter” and it stinks like crazy, especially with pee. It also stuck to the inside of the box. Gross. It was, however, easy to sweep/vacuum up.

I’ve tried arm and hammer “slide” and it smells way less and works way better with the automatic box, but is so fine that it’s an absolute nightmare to clean up.

I’ve tried putting a litter-catching rug/mat thing under the box. My 3 legged cat said “perfect! I’ll just pee on this!”

PLEASE HELP 😭 I can’t live like this 😭😭😭

On Wednesday I found 8 fleas on my cat, 6 of them after being washed with dawn dish soap, 1 on my bed. I took everything apart, washed everything, vacuumed everything, use wondercide everywhere heavy handedly and multiple times, got her a seresto flea collar, and I’m waiting for her frontline plus and a steamer to arrive, and I’ve been brushing her at least 3-5 times a day. Since Wednesday, I haven’t seen any more fleas, haven’t found anymore flea dirt on her, I haven’t found any eggs, and I’ve only been bitten twice. Please, *please* tell me I have it under control 😭

So I currently live with just my partner and my 5 yo British shorthair cat in the city. It's expensive and we rent and want to try and buy soon.

So we've decided to move back in with my family in my hometown for a bit, so we can work and save money. They have a little shed in the garden that's been converted into a little bedsit/studio apartment sort of thing - where we will stay. They have a large garden.

Only thing to consider is that they have a very big rescue dog. They don't know the breed but she looks like some kind of mastiff/great dane mix. She's a big, lazy softie and a friendly giant. She's not aggressive, but can be nervous. She has taken interest in the neighbours cats who come into the garden, but never chases them - we think she's probably lived with cats before. Our cat is a typical BSH, she's super chilled, friendly, sociable with everyone, independent and easygoing.

Basically, we've got a fair amount of time now before we move to properly prep. I need some advice to make the transition as smooth as possible for both kitty and doggy family members!

(Already thinking of ideas like cat flaps so our cat can escape to her own space should she need it, lots of high up spots in the main house). Any advice on success stories would be super appreciated!

Hey! Almost a month ago, i adopted a now 3 month old kitten as a first time cat owner. The first 2 weeks were emotionally challenging for me and i experienced what people call "kitten blues". Having a cat changed my routine and i was adjusting to that. Also, i was so worried about being a good parent, making him happy, being present, stopping him from getting into trouble etc., which really wore me out. Thankfully my kitten was patient with me, but i cried almost every day because i felt so overwhelmed and even questioned my decision.

Fast forward to now: i love my baby so much. I can't wait to get home every day to be with him! He's settled down to his routine and i adore him. Most of my worries faded away. Of course i still worry if he might get into mischief when i'm not home, or if he hurts himself somehow or gets sick, but those worries have taken a backseat and i feel like i can now enjoy the present with him. He's super sweet and cuddly; i adore nothing more than taking a nap and seeing him snuggle up next to me to sleep too (he's sleeping in my thigh now as i type this). In the beginning i thought i had to keep him entertained all the time and felt anxious about the possibility of boring him, so i bought SO MANY toys and played with him for hours a day. You know what's been his go-to toy for the past week? Yep. A CRUMPLED PIECE OF PAPER. NOT ALL THE FANCY TOYS I BOUGHT FOR HIM. 🤡 I'll be eating my food and throwing the paper around the house for him to catch and he puts The Flash to shame. And what's more, you know what really gets him entertained in the morning when i'm half-awake and dreading getting out of bed? A wrestling session with my stuffed animal. He LOVES it and I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GET OUT OF BED FOR THIS! So basically, i realized that cats find their own entertainment too in the most unexpected ways. You don't need to be extraordinary to make your cat happy. Sure, they will annoy you sometimes, bite you, steal your food and whatnot, but 1. they can be trained, and 2. it's normal to feel angry, annoyed, sad etc. with your pet sometimes. It doesn't mean you don't love him, it means you don't like the thing that he did. That's okay!

So in the end, i wanted to post this in case anyone out there is also having the kitten blues. Everyone says this, but believe it: IT PASSES. Give yourself time. It's ok to not feel like you "LOVE" your pet at first. In fact, i think you might be feeling so down and anxious about your pet PRECISELY because you care so much and want it to work out. You will enjoy being with your new buddy as you get to know each other. Don't be so harsh on yourself, it's a lot of responsibility and you're feeling the weight of it, but give it time. Also, hold space for doubt. Maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. Give yourself a trial period before making any decisions, for example. What if it doesn't work out in the end? You simply take the steps necessary to make sure your friend can find a new home that can better fit his needs. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH REHOMING (RESPONSIBLY)! Don't let strangers on the internet or people in real life shame you for that. Sometimes life happens, but it isn't so black and white as people make it out to be. My advice would be to give yourself the opportunity to fall in love with your new pet, which takes time, but if it doesn't work out no matter how much you want it to, don't beat yourself up over it. Whatever happens in the end, you can handle it. Stray cats who hated humans get re-socialized ALL the time - your cat will adapt even if he's not with you. But who knows, you might find out that cat you were crying every day over will turn out to be the loveliest and most precious part of your life!

I hope this reaches whoever needs to hear this now. Breathe! Thank you for the advice on my previous post on this subreddit, by the way - you all were right, it does pass, and now i have the lived experience to say it!

A couple of months ago, there was an orange kitten living around the Rnb complex I was staying at. He reminded of me of the cat that i had in my Stardew Valley game, so I picked him up, took care of him, vaccinated and got rid of the worms. But then I had visa problems so I had to leave the country. I felt too bad leaving him on the streets again, so I decided to pay for foster care ( around €200 a month).

Recently after months, I went back, picked him up from the foster, and did a more than 24 hours travel to bring him to my new home.

He is a ~1 year old neutered boy. He settled well, but he is SO BORED all the time. I work full time from work, most of the time and I'm exhausted and have no energy to play with him unfortunately...

Another issue is currently he has some inflammation around one of his claws, and I have no money at all for the vet ( 100€ until the end of the month for me, my boyfriend, and a cat)

My life is a mess and I'm just so tired and don't If I can handle actually owning a cat...Maybe there would be better parents for him.

End of the rant, thank you to anyone who took time to read this

All cats are trainable at any age. I started training my last 2 cats when they were about 8 and 9 years old. They lived to be 16 and 18 respectively. They learned sit, give paw, go around, ring the bell, stand and come on command. One was a tortie point, the other a tuxedo, both females. My current cat is 4 years old, a male, seal point Bengal mix. I've had him since he was 17 weeks and started training him immediately. I got him when my other 2 cats were 15 and 17 years old. Within a week he was already doing sit and give paw like the other 2.

Teaching your cat tricks is a fantastic way to introduce them to human socializing. They start recognizing your language faster and pay attention to you more. But you need to pay attention to them too. Cats use body language to communicate as well as talking, so you need to observe.

I regularly take my current cat, Q'Bit, out on a harness. He prefers to stay around the home building when he goes out so we don't usually go far. I regularly talk to him about what we are doing. He has a significant understanding of vocabulary.

I recently got talking buttons for him. I should have gotten them alot sooner. He started independently using them in context within 4 days. It's important to remember that just like us, a cat can use language for different contexts and express past present or future. So knowing your cat's behaviors and personality and being open minded is important to learn to interpret how they use the buttons.

Cats appear to ignore you at times. They aren't. They are much more aware than many people realize. They just stop bothering to try when their owners don't pay attention.

I believe cats want to communicate with their owners if they have a good relationship. So once they figure out what the buttons are for, I suspect it will start to be clear sailing from there.

I took my cat to the vet recently because I have concerns about her being aggressive towards my younger cat - stalking, ambushing, that kind of thing (see previous post). I’m not trying to insult the vet, but I guess he had other things to attend to because he barely listened and literally had one foot out the door at one point. He prescribed my cat (10 years old, spayed, female) Ovaban. Twice a week. He gave it to her without really asking. Looking into it now, I feel like this was a really bad idea. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

***i meant stray

she’s 11 weeks old now and she’s been with me for three of those weeks. she’s genuinely perfect in every way but she eats SO much, to the point that her stomach is super round and full. i have seen people online say to let kittens eat as much as they want, but i’m not sure if she’s overdoing it. i’m just worried she’s hurting herself by eating so much. again, i don’t want to restrict her food and have her become even more obsessed with it. it goes without saying that she’s incredibly food motivated and will try to chomp anything within range.

tldr - should i be limiting my kitten’s food in any way?

Our sweet girl has been missing for 48 hours. We have been searching nonstop, on only a few hours sleep each night, trying to find her. I have to admit the search is getting harder as we’re losing hope :(

Could someone share some experiences with lost cats under similar conditions? Or any advice would be much appreciated.

- Female, 1.5 years old, spayed, microchipped
- We live in an area with many coyotes :( That is the most worrisome part
- We have walked the neighborhood and surrounding woods day and night, searching practically everywhere she may be hiding
- There are several indoor/outdoor cats on our block that belong to various neighbors
- She is indoor only, but with occasional supervised outdoor time on a leash. She loves being outdoors and has escaped on us a handful of times, but never this long. From those times, we know that she is aware where home is because she comes back after a while, especially when she hears our voices
- We have left the door ajar, as well as food, water, dirty clothes, and litter box out
- 100+ flyers given to neighbors and posted online and registered with LoveLost
- It has been around high 85 degrees and low 55 degrees. We’re so worried that she is/was overheating/dehydrating

Please help :(

I have an 11-year-old cat who is super affectionate, social, and pretty attached to me. I work from home, so she’s used to having me around a lot.

I’m leaving for a trip and will be gone for about 9-10 days. Unfortunately, I can’t bring her, so she’ll be staying at my apartment. I have a friend who can come check on her 1–2 times a day, feed her, clean her litter box, and spend some time hanging out with her. I could also hire a pet sitter for additional visits if needed.

My biggest concern is that I’ll only be home for 2 days before leaving again for another 4 days. Basically, I’ll be gone for almost two weeks with only a couple of days at home in between. I also just got back from a two-week road trip where she came with me, so she’s had a lot of changes to her routine lately.

She’s generally a pretty easygoing cat, but she’s also very cuddly and loves being around people. I feel guilty about leaving her for so long, especially with another trip right afterward.

For those of you with senior or affectionate cats, have you left them for this long with someone checking in daily? Did they do okay? Would you recommend twice-daily visits, longer visits, or having someone stay overnight?

I’m considering shortening the first trip so I can spend more time at home between trips, but I’m not sure if I’m overthinking it. I’d love to hear others’ experiences!

My cat (2m) walks around the house loudly meowing (he sounds so sad, but I think that's just how his meow sounds) all day unless he's sleeping, eating, or playing. He is such a sweet and gentle boy but has endless energy. He doesn't have any behavior issues right now, but i dont want issues to arise out of boredom. I took him to the vet to rule out any health issues, and they found that he had crystals in his bladder and we put him on a prescription diet, but that hasn't changed anything behaviorally. They also said he needs more play to reduce stress (without asking me anything about how much he already plays).

I'm open to the idea that he just needs more play than other cats, I just dont know what else to do to exercise him. Our other cat (4f) is incredibly chill and docile, and doesn't play with him as much as he tries to entice her to. She is usually pretty irritated by him and has little patience for him, even when he's being sweet and seeking affection she'll swat, bite, or hiss at him. They're more like warning swats/bites, and she never actually injures him, but still. We've considered getting a third cat with a more playful and energetic personality that matches his energy, we're just not sure yet.

We have a cat tree in every room including our bedrooms, 5 total, 3/5 are at windows, and he uses all of these daily. We also have a cat running wheel which he never uses unless we coax him with play, and even then he'll only run on it for a few seconds. We have lots of "hidey holes", forts, boxes, and i made a whole condo out of interconnected cardboard boxes - he uses all of these often. We have several of those fishing pole toys with feathery things on the end, and he really likes that. I play with him with that for hours a day, especially going up and down the cat trees/stairs to run out even more energy. Eventually he seems to get bored and I think he's tired out, but no, the second I sit down he starts crying again. We use a laser pointer, other wand type toys that he chases around, and sometimes it seems like im just not doing it to his liking. We also got treat puzzle toys for brain stimulation. I actively play with him for at least 3-5 hours a day, which is only possible because I work from home 50% of the time. But this isnt enough for him.

We got him a harness and leash and he loves going outside, but he tries to eat every bug, including wasps, spiders, and bees. After he tried to eat a wasp, was stung in the mouth, and had to be rushed to the vet, we dont take him out much anymore.

I just dont know what else I can do to stimulate and exercise him. Is there something else I should be doing? Or something else I'm not considering that could be causing his nonstop meowing and seemingly neverending energy?

my boy is 3 years old and was adopted from the streets as a kitten. we didn’t desensitize him to anything. he does play (sometimes too energetically) with his siblings but never EVER bites people, even if you try to shove a finger in his mouth. he also doesn’t scratch people and is very affectionate with them. and he doesn’t mind being held too. he is just too calm with people while having no problem with playing with the other cats. he isn’t sick and doesn’t have any health concerns, just doesn’t mind and is calm. is that normal for cats?

My ex and recently broke up (not on very good terms). I dont want to air out all of our laundry but we were living together and I moved out. I went to pick up my stuff and he wasnt there nor was my cat. :( Hewas the one who adopted the cat and now I dont know what to do. Her name is Autumn and I miss her so much. He wont answer any of my calls and Im scared he is going to do something to her. Is this something the police can do something about?