About six weeks ago, I adopted a 1 year old puppy from a local shelter. She was a stray intake, and I was warned she trusts animals far more than she does people. She came with the name Hallie and seemed to recognize it, so we kept it. It turns out the shelter employees were right — it takes her time to trust humans, but she is an instant friend to every animal she meets.

About a week ago we were on a walk, and Hallie laid down on the sidewalk with her tail wagging. I thought she was just being a silly puppy but when I got down on her level, I could see a cat looking at us from underneath a nearby parked car. After some coaxing, a sweet little tortoiseshell kitty walked up to up to us. The animals sniffed each other, and seemed to immediately accept each other as friends. She purred as I pet her, and I could feel she was just skin and bones.

After a 10 minute visit we got up to continue our walk, and the kitty followed us the entire half-mile or so home. Although I love all animals I'm highly allergic to cats and had no cat food on hand, but gave her a can of tuna she quickly inhaled. It broke my heart to have to leave her on the front porch, but I told myself if she was still out there the next day, I would get some cat food and make sure she was at least eating regularly.

Well, the cat never left. She greatly enjoys human affection and happily climbs in my lap every time I come out to the porch. At first I thought maybe her ear was clipped, but upon further inspection it's just a little bit rolled over at the tip, and she has no belly tattoo or spay scar I can see. A couple days ago I took her to be scanned for a chip, and she didn't have one. No one has replied to any of my local and/or neighborhood posts about a potential lost cat. She's very young, and incredibly friendly.

I noticed she had a bit of a belly on her, and worried she was pregnant, I got her into a local vet. She is not (never thought I'd be so relieved to hear "it's just worms"!), but with the number of stray cats in the area it's only a matter of time, so we have a spay scheduled next week. She has made fast friends with both my dog and my human daughter, and my human daughter recently decided to name the kitty Willow. I have a shelf in my pantry now dedicated to cat food, and greatly look forward to spending time with Willow each day.

Here's the crazy part: I've been insanely allergic to cats my whole life. Swollen face, stuffy nose, covered in hives, itchy throat from just the quickest exposure. But after continued snuggle sessions with Willow, the allergies have all but gone away. Even when she makes biscuits on my lap and I can feel her claws digging in, I have no reaction anymore. She will be indoors while she is recovering from her spay procedure, and since she seems so dedicated to domesticating herself, she's welcome to stay.

The only cats I ever had growing up were barn cats, and I suffered the consequences every time I pet them. I've loved cats for 35 years from afar, but have never been able to have one. Who knew all it would take was adopting a dog to have the universal cat distribution system shine favor upon me?

Welcome home Willow, we are so happy to have you ♥️

To start I do not want anyone to judge his previous owner as I do not know the full story.

I adopted a 7 year old cat a few months ago. Tonight I am thinking about his life before my home.

To the person who I believe made hard choice due to changing circumstances. He found a new forever home,. He got the home you wanted for him. Me and my husband have no kids and are crazy cat people. He is loved and adored and gets all the attention he wants. Okay you know that is wrong he wants to be held all the time and you know I have to work and eat. But I do work hybrid! But he is well loved and taken care of.

He has settles in nicely , though sometimes he does not know what to think of our other older cat. He is happy, he is loved and he is safe.

This sweet baby came onto my porch demanding food roughly 2 months ago. We got her to the vet for checks and vaccines multiple times, did bloodwork, checked body temperature, the works.

I asked the vet if my cat is a girl or a boy, told the vet that the cat is a stray and I don’t know its background. I got reassured that she’s a girl, so we finally scheduled her to get a spay. We got her inside for the night, fasted her, prepared everything carefully for our little princess, brought her in and waited anxiously at home for the call to go collect her.

The surgeon personally called me, asked for my name, confirmed that she’s my cat, told me that something happened, it sometimes happens and he’s sorry. I got so anxious I was sweating and trembling thinking that my cat didn’t make it, but I got told that my little princess is in fact a prince. Turns out he was neutered as a kitten and has a very small wee wee.

I am still recovering after 2 days, and my poor little guy got a full abdominal surgery he didn’t need and I feel so guilty. I had my suspicions and looked at his face multiple times thinking he looks like a boy, but ultimately trusted the vet. He doesn’t like it inside and cries so much for the outdoors life and he has to be kept prisoner because of a surgery he didn’t need.

Beyond shock, I feel just so sad for him. I feel so guilt. Let this be your sign to double check if you have doubts and listen to your gut.

TL;DR: The stray cat that landed on my porch was pronounced female by the vet, took her for a spay, the abdominal surgery revealed he’s in fact a neutered male.

I'm literally sitting on the floor because I currently cannot stand due to this asshole. His name is Pinecone and he has a death wish. So basically my house has weird windows where the whole thing hinges outward on one side. Every window has a screen except one for no apparent reason. My partner accidentally opened that one a crack. I'm sitting on the couch trying to unwind after a stressful week and out of the corner of my eye I see this numbskull literally smashing his head into the window to get it to open wider. Then he happily flings himself out towards a third story drop onto paving stones. Literally not an ounce of trying to not fall. I manage to grab his back legs and yank him back. He has the audacity to resist, as though I'm taking away his wet food rather than saving his life.

I get him back inside, he's fine, I'm hyperventilating, whatever. Problem is I have a neurological disorder that's triggered by stress, among other things. So a few minutes later I'm trying to make dinner and fucking keel over, half blacked out with my face god damn freezer. My saint of a partner helps me and I sit on the floor for a bit, pass out again, and then start seizing. Luckily just my arms and upper body but still SEIZURES over my god damn CAT hurling himself out a window. He's lucky he's cute. Please tell him he needs to stop trying to die or he'll kill us both. And don't worry my partner is putting a screen on right now.

I gotta tell you about my little cowcat Nila.

Back in May I decided to adopt two kitties from the shelter to fulfill my lifelong dreams of having cats of my own. Browsing the shelter's website I found her... a tiny cat with big terrified eyes, trying to make herself as small as possible, and seemingly very untrusting of this very big world. I saw her and I just wanted to take her home to my quiet and cosy flat and protect her and make her feel safe and show her that humans aren't so bad.

She was there with her three brothers, they'd all be found as kittens a few months earlier. On the website there was a picture of her as a kitten, too. I decided to take her and one of her brothers home.

Her brother, Taavi, quickly turned into an absolute cuddle bug.❤️ Nila on the other hand didn't take long to accept my presence but touching was still out of the question.

Then over time she stopped running away whenever I walked past her. She started to come closer and even sleep in my room. Then she began rubbing herself against my legs.

After two months she allowed me to carefully touch her as she was rubbing against my legs.

And then, a few weeks ago, she was lying on my bed, grooming herself, and she seemed so calm and relaxed, and I reached out and gently began to pet her.

She's currently lying curled up on my bed with her back touching my leg. When I reach out to touch her she doesn't flinch but closes her eyes and starts purring.

Looking back it's unbelievable how far she's come. Part of me always hoped that she would become cuddly at some point but I didn't want to be too hopeful. I would've been okay with her to remain distant as long as she felt safe and content.

But she ended up trusting me and mow she's so cuddly and affectionate and she's lost that terrified look in her eyes.

I love this little kitty so much and I'm so happy she's decided to trust me.

By the way: I obviously love her brother just as much. ❤️ But he came out of his shell after just a few days and became super cuddly, so I never really had to worry about him. 😊

I found a whole sub for people who hate cats. I don’t think those are normal humans. They call cats flea bags and vermin and say kittens are ugly with bulging eyes and everyone agree with each other. I was so terrified I needed to talk to someone. God please don’t ever encounter me with someone like that😭

My male cat is basically a social worker, he keeps bringing home kittens in need!

This is the second time he's done this. With the first kitten, it was summertime, and the poor thing was extremely shy and hard to catch, so we weren't sure if it was just a neighbor's cat roaming around. That one ended up hanging out on our balcony for three weeks while we figured things out.

This new kitten was a completely different story. My cat brought her over and was literally nudging her along and grooming her, just like a mother cat encouraging digestion.

Several villagers mentioned she had been wandering around crying for help over the last couple of days, so she was definitely looking for humans. Because she trusted my cat, she seemed to trusted me instantly too, she let me pick her up right away, cuddle her, and tuck her into my jacket.

Since it's getting cold now and she was so trusting, we wanted to act fast this time. We did a quick walk around the village to check if anyone was missing her, and when no owner was found, we placed her directly with a local who wanted a cat again!

Has anyone else's cat ever brought home and adopted stray kittens like this?

Also what do you think how old she is?

Everyone say hello to Sergeant Pepper!! Now before I start, I do want to clarify Sergeant is a 100%, purebred Barn Cat and has the papers to prove it (the papers are straw).

Sergeant has always been the most perfect cat. She greats guests at the door, loves to cuddle, is chatty and just hilarious; has more personality than fur if that's possible. For about the first year of her life, she had no issues using the litter box, nothing behavioral or seemed stressed in any way. Truly living her best furry life.

Fast forward to just past her first birthday, I moved us from my mom's two story condo with a back yard, halfway across the country to a small studio in Seattle; about 500sq ft (this is important later). The second we arrived at our new place, she started peeing outside the litter box and had blood in her urine. I'm not joking, it was within 5min of putting her in the apartment. Of course, I swept her away to the vet the next day assuming it was and UTI from the stress of the move (totally reasonable!), and she would go back to normal once she adjusted!

Narrator: she did not go back to normal. She would have "Flare Ups" about once week a month for years. I tried everything and anything this sub, my vets and God has to offer for advice to help her; feelaway, more litter boxes, cleaning them more often, different litter, ALL OF IT! I was totally torn apart as she was obviously in horrible pain. Multiple vet trips to multiple vets and specialists with absolutely no answers besides pain meds when she is having an episode.

About two years ago, I moved into a larger apartment with my partner (~750sqft). The flare ups continued but did taper off a little after our move. This time we tried different anxiety medications and taking her for walks in the hallways after she expressed interest (maybe she needs more enrichments? Who knows!!). Again, they were less frequent but they were still happening. I felt totally helpless and like a horrible cat mom. I decided this was just Pepper's version of a chronic illness and we would do our best to offer day to day comfort through anxiety and pain meds for as long as she will be with us. It was hard to accept I couldn't make her healthy but I wasn't going to try to rehome her or put her down; it was not even an option to me.

Cue Sergeant and I's third move together; this time to a 1,110sqft townhouse with lots of windows, 3 sets of stairs, and a patio. Our original studio would have fit in the bedroom alone; it felt totally luxurious. There was a lot of carpet so I bought an industrial level of carpet cleaner and pee pads, hoping to preserve the carpeted areas as long as possible, kept up on all her very specific routines and medications. Ya'll. This diva has not had a single flair up since we moved in (9months).

That's right folks, after 5 years of cleaning cat pee off of and out of everything imaginable, vet visits, medications, new toys, new litter and boxes, I even hired a pet psychic to see if they could ask Pep directly what was happening and it turns out she was just mad we were poor 😂😂.

Obviously, I regret none of it but just so on brand for this little princess to take two steps into my first studio and go "Oh this simply will not due". Im sure this won't be helpful to most as people typically can't move into a bigger place because their cat might "need" it, but I hope it gives some other cat parents a giggle!!

TLDR: After 5 years of UTIs and peeing outside the litter box, my cat stopped because we finally found a place big enough to make her happy.

I just want to spread the word because this pisses me off so badly. I don't understand why there isn't overt labeling and I'm seeing more pets get harmed by minoxidil.

I use minoxidil and understand the benefits of it, but i do not have any animals living with me. I make sure to wash my hands well before interacting with any cats outside.

I'm hoping when someone googles or researches minoxidil this will pop up.
We need to get companies to be explicit about warning labels.

Here is a change. Org link i found, maybe we all can sign it
Thanks

So some initial context; before my late brother passed I told him to send me lots of orange/ginger cats. Just heaps and heaps of cats, just a pile of cats and I’ll know it’s a sign from him that he is around. He loved his cats but had a particularly strong bond with his soul cat named Ginger. Since his passing a year ago I have had many inexplicable moments involving his memory and the sudden appearance of orange or ginger cats. One such occurrence was right after his passing I felt prompted to visit the local dollar store at the shops. Felt like I was forgetting something but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. As I stepped up to the window I saw an entire display of at least 2 dozen identical orange ceramic cats. The sudden need to remember something at the shop disappeared with that.

So this afternoon upon finishing work I suddenly had the urge to go to the park to do some meditation or spend some time grounding as I’ve been trying to get into the practice. I’d decided I was going to have a nap but the motivation to get dressed and leave the house came over me.

As I’m walking into the park I’m praying and just generally seeking guidance - which direction I should take to sit, or where I can look for guidance; When I suddenly honed in on a particular point in the park.

There is a whimsical little pond and stream set up that I haven’t spent enough time at (because, being so close to the road, the park is actually quite loud despite the serene environment that the council has attempted to foster.) so I meander over to this particular spot, spotting some ducks along the way; a group that looked particularly whimsical, as well as some natives and other birds flying overhead. Perfect set up to sit, listen to some peaceful meditation music and just enjoy the scenery. I was even taking pictures of the ducks and enjoying their particular poise and symmetry.

At some point after this much to my surprise I glance over at the other side of the stream and spot a Literal Pile of Kittens. Perfectly posed. Sitting just out on the rock face by the stream, completely out in the open as if they’d been placed there on a platter, ripe for the picking of some opportunistic predator.

I could tell almost immediately that these kittens had pretty clearly been dumped. They were clean, healthy and dumb. No colony kitten is sitting out in the open like that without starting at the first sign of movement.

So of course at first I sort of sit there in awe. Bc they’re fuckin adorable kittens??? Eventually some passer bys walk past so I bring their attention to them, because of course I am going to share the whimsy of a Literal Pile of Kittens. A pair of young boys eventually come by, much determined to catch the at least one kitten. So after overhearing one half of a very dramatic conversation I realised there was no way I was going to stop these boys from disturbing them, and potentially dispersing them if they were unsuccessful.

Now for some additional context I live in a small 2 bedroom flat with my husband and we already have two very well looked after indoor cats. They eat better than we do. We do not have a third (or, as it may be; fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh) cat in the budget. But I did not want to risk the kittens running off onto the main road or somewhere even more dangerous for them. So I urged the boys to leave the kittens until I could cross the highway to grab one of our cat carriers to put them in so we could find alternatives for their current environment.

So I did as I promised, and whilst the boys did manage to catch and remove one, taking it home before I could supervise, we did eventually catch the other 4. Now there were 2 Orange boys and 3 others; 2 torties and a tabby. The boys took one Orange and another lovely young lady took the other Orange boy. Whilst all the hubbub of this situation was occurring a crowd did amass with a number of children sharing that there were kittens in the park. One young girl entirely unprompted decided to tell me she has a cat at home! His name is Ginger.

Anyway so this is the story of how I now I have three kittens in my bathtub, and my ghost brother sent me to go fulfil several soul contracts.

Additional fun facts: my husband and I had been joking about dressing as Freya and Odr for Halloween as I have red hair and seemed easy enough... I had been musing about how I would acquire several cats for my costume. I suppose I mused a little too close to the sun. Also this happened on a FRIDAY so, thanks for that, Freya 🥲
Xx

Anyway if anyone wants a kitten and lives in southwest Sydney hit a girl up 🤣🥲

What a weekend for Miss Ellie, my spunky 12-year old. Due to severe, erosive arthritis in one of her hind legs, she had a planned joint fusion surgery on Friday. It’s a pretty nasty surgery that requires weeks of severely restricted activity, but, when it heals, she should have a pain-free leg.

We followed all of the post-op instructions: kept her crated, made sure her splint stayed dry, etc. The challenge arose when it was time to give her liquid Gabapentin. I swear, trying to give this cat liquid meds that can’t be mixed in a Churu is like wrestling an alligator. (I did tell them this when I picked her up Sat morning, but as per usual, I don’t think they believed me).

Sunday night rolls around and it’s time for the Gabapentin. My brother-in-law thought he might be up to the Herculean task. He tried the old wrap-her-in-a-blanket technique, but alas, even in her heavily medicated, weakened state, she resisted and she was STRONG. Let’s just say there was a lot of yowling, twisting, and the majority of the Gabapentin ended up on the blanket. I felt certain that this must have been very painful for her and I felt awful.

I was right. After that, she started yowling like I’ve never heard her yowl before. She was thrashing herself all over inside her crate. It was like something out of The Exorcist.

I drove an hour to the ER vet; after ruling out seizures, they decided it was likely a side effect of the Zorbium given to her after the surgery. I asked if it could be a problem with the leg that had just been operated on, and they thought not. Furthermore, she had peed in her carrier on the way there and since the bandage shouldn’t get wet, I thought they should change it. They didn’t. They did prescribe a strong painkiller/sedative, which kept her calm the rest of the night.

Monday morning. I call the place who did her surgery to tell them what happened. They had me bring her in right away to change the bandage…and discovered she had broken her leg! I cried, I felt so terrible. They said it’s due to her old lady bones, which are brittle and therefore can break easily.

They tell me it will require another surgery. I try not to have a heart attack at the thought of the expense, but the girl’s gotta have that leg fixed ASAP. Fortunately, the surgeon didn’t charge me full price. He basically had to create a Frankenleg with metal plates and screws and giant sutures, but all went as well as it could and she came home this morning.

She’s a champ. She’s been through a lot over the years— emergency surgery after eating a binky, pancreatitis, ups and downs with IBD, but two surgeries so close together is nuts. Here’s to hoping the recovery goes smoothly and her quality of life significantly improves as that leg heals.

Just over a month ago, this stray showed up around my house one night after I got home from a night out bar hopping. I had seen he was very skinny, but when I tried to approach him, he had gotten scared and ran off.
Every night I’ve left a can of moist food out for him on the lid, mashed up for him to enjoy. He eventually got more and more comfortable with me as I tried to get closer, to where I could pick him up and he would just sit on my shoulder like a parrot, or lay in my arms like a little baby, or sit in the garage with me when I’m working on my truck, or would wait outside my door for me to get home and recognized my car. Because he wasn’t comfortable coming inside until a couple of nights ago, I set him up a little hotel outside. But last night had gotten extremely cold, so I brought him inside and all night he was just cuddled up with me in bed.

Turns out this little fella has been missing for almost 2 months, just under a year old, and goes by Spotty. I found his owners this morning, and after sending me videos of him playing and seeing him get excited watching them, I knew they had to be his owners. The husband came by earlier, offered me a reward but I respectfully declined to take it because the amount of joy seeing them reunited was more rewarding than any dollar amount could’ve brought. He was a good cat, and I’m so happy to have helped make a happy ending possible.

The moral here, I don’t think it’s hard to be a good person. It just requires some effort, and putting someone above you.

She’s very unwell so not allowed outside (she loves a stroll in the garden). I had a knock at the door earlier today from someone claiming to be part of a young offender rehabilitation program and trying to sell me some items. I felt really bad for him even though I’ve never bought from anyone selling door to door before and normally say no immediately. I eventually was going to buy something when she came dashing towards the door. I had to quickly close it and apologise that I can’t buy as I can’t risk my cat going out. I did a quick search later as something didn’t feel quite right and it showed this seller was likely part of a gang which scams people and was also scoping out houses for burglars 😭 I informed my neighbor and turns out the police had received multiple calls about him in the area. I’m so glad kitty came just in time. If I had ended up buying I was at risk of being targeted by this gang again in future who would see my house as an easy target!

7 years ago today was chilly & grey with a persistent drizzle that oscillated between a half-hearted rain and that state just between fog and mist. As I idly folded laundry in my pj's that morning, I happened to look out the window and spy a wee little kitten on the steps... (Mission : Impossible theme starts playing here)

Within minutes I had moistened kibble out to lure it--within 45 minutes more I'd done a pajama-clad run to the hardware store for a humane squirrel trap--and within another half hour I had a bathroom full of one soggy & generally displeased kitten who ended up huddled behind the toilet. A few minutes more & a laundry basket cave w/fleece jammie pants cushion was created, with a sarong draped over the top for privacy bc the summer clothes weren't put away yet. Two days later he would eat from my hand and wow, chicken flavored Gerbers has a very distinctive scent.

The CDS delivered him just ahead of the pandemic & his outsized personality and excellent snuggles helped me through much loss and many in-between days. Seven years on, I still remember the angry-scared handful of wet fur he was when we met. And I'm so grateful that he found our house that day.

Government Name: Elwood

Real Names: Sugar Bear, Smoochyboo, Clark Gable, Sir Pants, Mr Moo

Likes: Q-tip fetch, tuna juice, helping with jigsaw puzzles, birdwatching, the purple fluffie wand, getting brushed

Dislikes: Human sneezes, DOGS, the nail clippers

Signature Moves: Bapbapbap on da human nose one hour before their alarm goes off, irrespective of time changes; also the Stinky Poop n Zoom

💖😺💖

When you go to a shelter to adopt a cat, how much do you interact with it before you make your decision? I was volunteering at my local shelter last Saturday and, in the hour and a half I was there, I saw two different families interact with the cat through the bars of the cage for about thirty seconds before deciding that they wanted that cat. It felt very strange to me. When I go to the shelter in hopes of adopting a cat I always get the cat out of the cage, spend some real time interacting with it and try to see if it wants to interact with me. I usually look at a few cats to see if one clicks more than the others. Even so, it still feels like I’m taking a shot in the dark when I choose the cat and it takes at least a few days of living with the cat before I feel 100% confident in my decision. After a month or two, it feels like destiny and fate brought us together 😺
How do you choose your cat from the shelter?

I love my beautiful rescue boy. We got him at 3 months and he just turned 6 months last week. But ever since getting him I just want to be around him all day. When he snuggles me, I don’t move until he does. Even though I’ve got other things to do. Because it’s rare that he cuddles me when I want.
I also cancel plans or decline going out to stay home and watch a movie and cuddle with him. I am actually concerned cause I spent 80% of my time with him. I feel guilty for leaving him for long periods of time like for work, or when I go out. Does anyone else get this? Is this normal?

Also cat tax :3

That scared me so bad!! He's normally an outdoor cat, but he been wanting to come inside the house for awhile now. After a few days of that (He wanted out at about 11 PM-ish), I noticed he was gone! I looked all over for him, but I couldn't find him. I did this for hours at a time, until today, when he was at the back door, staring at me. I opened the door and he ran inside the house! I am so happy to see him again!

PSA: Get your cats’ anal glands checked! Especially if they’re fat!

So yesterday I was surprised to find some gray liquid that appeared to be sprayed on my table. It smelled like an atomic bomb. Absolutely vile. I called the vet and they confirmed that it’s probably anal gland liquid. We made the appointment for today.

The vet expressed the glands and SO MUCH stuff came out. He said the “liquid” is supposed to look like pee. It was gray and looked like wet cement. Same consistency. The vet said had we come any later, they would’ve burst which would mean surgery. He also said Piksel (my cat) must be having a lot of problems when going #2. I said “impossible. I always check her litter. She has the biggest poops and doesn’t show any pain.” He then informed me that big poops just means that she is holding it until she can’t to avoid the pain.

I am so grateful and glad she’s ok now but I can’t believe it. I thought I was such a hands on, careful mom to her. She has been having big poops for years. I just thought it was because she’s fat. Who knows for how long she’s been suffering in silence. I never even thought about it until she finally sprayed it to show me where it hurts. Feeling soo much guilt.

Please remember that cats are experts at hiding their discomfort. Get them checked and trust your intuition!

I personally am biased towards tuxedo cats, and orange cats, i just love the friendliness and loyalty, what about you?

Podrick is a stray I have recently taken in. At first I couldn’t get within 20 feet of him. Now he’s a super sweet love bug who wants to be inside your skin. This poor boy isn’t chipped and no one has reported him missing on any of the local pages here so I’ve taken him in. He was getting beaten up by a neighborhood cat and he was very hungry. Now he’s warm, fed, and taken care of… granted he isn’t a fan of quarantine lol. He’s off to the vet today for a full work up + vaccinations and he gets neutered Monday!

EDIT: did not expect this to blow up, but you can see in my second pic my pillowcase has dogs on it. very fitting for this post 🤣 — also i am tempted to bite his toes sometimes cause they’re so cute. is this normal?

my experiences as a new kitten owner as someone who has previously only been a dog person

i am a new cat mom and have previously only grown up with dogs. we rescued a cat from the shelter cause my partner wanted one and i was a bit skeptical as my previous experiences with other people’s cats were that they were aloof.

we finally have our own muchkin and i get it now. he is six months old and when we first got he was like velcro. he constantly wanted to be on our side and be in the same room. i always joked that i wanted a dog in a cat’s body as cats arent as loud as dogs. well, our new cat apparently loves to play fetch 🤭

it’s definitely new having the cat chatting to me all the time, and I always get worried he’s in distress. turns out it’s just a cat thing. i feel like i understand dog language but cat language is so complex! you have the purring, trilling, meowing and funny eek eek noise when they’re hunting.

i do wish cats would always cuddle when i want like dogs, but my baby’s favourite routine is sleeping on my neck in the wee hours of morning. it wasn’t a concern when he was 1.5kg but he is now 3kg. i fear mr poo poo paws may suffocate me in my sleep. dogs are more active and awake and my cat just sleeps all the time or watches me from his hammock. it’s definitely a new way of bonding.

cat tax :)

I could’ve sworn I had thrown it away 1 month before this incident. But one morning, I had just cleaned their bowls and given them fresh food, when she decided to go on a eating anything-but-her-food spree.

This all happened within one minute. She ran towards a plant (cat safe) and successfully bit it. I made her go away. She ran back to the plant, I scared her off again. I went to look for the water spray because clearly she was in danger-zoomie mode, kept running around like crazy.

Then I heard a suspicious sound and thought “oh SH*T did she somehow manage to get to the one toxic plant I have?!” (Which is closed off in another room but I had just let her in there a few minutes ago because I was present and I could look after her). So I went to look for her where the plant was. But no. She was on my partners desk, licking her lips and chewing the air happily and proudly. There laid a plastic ribbon with a missing, long piece, and I immediately realized what happened. Since the moment I heard the sound to the moment i saw her, 4 SECONDS had passed.

Vet got her in for an emergency surgery which I’m gonna be financially recovering from for a long time. But it was worth it for my orange girl❤️‍🩹

She is now in “jail”, recovering, and eating special food for a while. She thought that standing on her sharky bed would help her escape but it didn’t. I hope she learned her lesson but we all know she’d do it again if she had the chance.

This is your reminder that nothing is safe (even things you were 100% sure you threw away), and also don’t be like me and pls get cat insurance.

I’m so happy and excited and grateful I wanted to share. My sister (18 years older than me) took in a cat for a friend who became ill and then essentially surrendered “R” to my sister. It was supposed to be temporary and “R” was intended to kind of be cared for among several of the ill woman’s friends until she recovered.

My sister grew up with barn cats and such but she never wanted “real” animals (her kids had 2 fish from the carnival that lived like 15 years and my sister did gave a small bird for probably 8 years - which are pets for sure). She was retired and like traveling and never felt a desire to have anything that required much maintenance.

So, “R” started at my sister’s house and was skittish and freaked out. But my sister was patient (and called me constantly for advice) and after a while he spent some time outside of her bathroom and eventually found her bedroom and couch where she got swindled into possession via purrs and biscuits. She couldn’t see a reason why “R” should stay anywhere else so they acclimated and she was starting to enjoy all the attention he was giving her. Annnd she kinda started liking getting him treats and toys.

I asked her if her friend asked for the cat - what would she do … she quickly responded with “give him back of course” …. I was a little concerned about this - she claimed she was just doing her job to “give him a good life” …

Well I’ve been a cat addict. Reasonable one - I always only had one except my twin Siamese …. Anyway

Fast forward- “R” can’t poop. Then he can’t eat. My sister keeps calling me in tears 😭 …. She ends up taking him twice to the ER. Both doctors tell her he has a mass causing a blockage and an operation would have low success rate and high risk for permanent disability. My sister was flat.

She had to either let him die or put him down or risk an expensive surgery that seemed to be more detrimental than helpful. She spiraled into indecision.

When she called me, I really felt like the ER and vet office veterinarians weren’t understanding what exactly she was trying to figure out. So, I asked if I could call one on her behalf but she declined, feeling like it was her responsibility and she needed to make that decision.

Well …. I’m stubborn. And I’ve dealt with cat offices a lot so I actually found a surgical center near Milwaukee that does one thing : complex surgery.

I called them and explained that this was pretty much going to end in tragedy unless someone who had some deeper understanding of “R”’s situation saw him like NOW. They agreed to see him in 2 hours. All other vets were unavailable and she would either have to continue ER for poop extraction or risk waiting 4 ish days for deeper evaluation.

My sister is fortunate that she had an emergency thing set aside for her or her husband’s health care so when I told her she had an appointment with a surgeon and it might be xxx plus the consultation … and that I was really sorry I took control and kind of strong armed the situation… she was ecstatic ! (Phew)

My sister just really needed real information on “R” to make a choice.

As it turned out, he was found to be a very healthy cat except this and they had full faith of an excellent outcome. They got him in the next day (or maybe 2 days later) … and yes it was xxx but he turned out fine and is happily making biscuits and hanging out in his “camper” …. OH and even better - the mass turned out to be non-cancerous and they believe it was possible he had a prior injury there. He poops great now and my sister is just so happy…

This is true love. I’m grateful he came to be with my sister, that I’m so hard headed, and that she is so compassionate. His prior owner would have never had the stuff or strength to do this.

Look at him now!! I bought him a banana to celebrate!!

I’ve had her for a week and we were making FAST progress, she was under the couch for two days but the third day she came out and started exploring and letting me pet her, she would even come to my bed and sit with me for a few minutes and let me kiss her head. Yesterday I really needed to vacuum and I thought she would be fine on her tree but as soon as she heard it she darted. She’s been hiding since yesterday and won’t come out so I’ve been trying to build back trust with treats and talking to her softly… I hope I didn’t mess everything up 😖😖😖 the third pic was her before :c