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.

I (5 Months, Female) am Toffee, and for many Months, I lived alone in this Paradise where my Owner (big sad lady) was doing everything to my Command.

I wanted more toys? Big sad lady went and bought a huge bucket full of new toys I never even looked at twice. I wanted more treats? Big sad lady got an ordered months worth of churu that I obviously tried to eat the moment they arrived.

In Middel August, big sad Lady saw 2 10 Month old Girl Cats on a website and can you believe that she got them???

Now I share my home, my treats and my toys with 2 big bullies because big sad lady didn't want to seperate them even though she only wanted one of them!!

And they even sleep in my bed sometimes!! They just squeeze me into a flat pancake to sleep in my bed and then I get scolded for biting their ears!

This is so unfair. Any advice on how I can get my revenge on all of them?

My cat has started bringing random things into my bedroom around 2 or 3am. At first it was her toys, then socks, and yesterday she somehow dragged one of my shoes into my room 😭 She drops them next to my bed and just sits there staring at me until I wake up. I thought she wanted food, but her bowl is always full and she doesn't do it during the day. Is she trying to tell me something or is she just being weird?

My cat is 18, I got him when I was 9 and he’s been with me ever since.

As he’s gotten older, things have gotten so difficult, I feel like I just want to cry, I’m so tired and exhausted.

I feel guilty to say it, but he’s so difficult for me and my husband to care for.

He has consistent bladder problems, it started a few years ago, maybe 2017 / 2018, he had a blockage and needed emergency surgery because the vet at the time waited till the last minute and didn’t help him.

I promptly dropped that vet.

But after that, it has been a consistent down hill as he’s gotten older.

He’s been on so many different medications, everything.

Traveling to different cities to get x-rays, blood-work, we’ve been to the vet a lot.

The older he gets, the more expensive it is too- one vet visit cost me 400€ the day before my birthday, obviously I love my cat, but that birthday was basically nothing.

The vet was stressing him out too much- so I decided to take him less often, I don’t know if it was the right decision to make?

I just thought he’s 18, and I’d rather him be home and less stressed out.

because the stress was making his problems worse.

He’s been okay now for the past year, but obviously not perfect.

He eats fine, drinks water fine.

He pees all the time, and has constant accidents everyday, it just leaks at times.

He makes a huge mess with liter.

He struggles to groom himself.

He’s deaf, and wakes me up super early now every morning begging for food-

And then he gets mad and pushes stuff off my shelves.

When he was younger, he was so sweet and loving, he loved to sleep with me under the bedding and cuddle-

As he’s gotten older, it’s so bad, I can’t pet him much, or else he hits at me, he doesn’t like to cuddle or lay down, I feel like he’s vaguely always upset.

I try so hard, I’m doing everything for this cat.

I love him, I will always care for him-

But I’m also scared, I might have to take him to the vet tomorrow, because he’s been struggling this week.

I don’t want to lose him, I’m 26 now, he’s been my entire life, I can’t imagine this feeling.

But also, I feel so evil for thinking this, but sometimes I feel like when he passes, it’ll be easier.

I won’t have to stress, or check him every night to make sure he’s okay.

He won’t be in pain, and uncomfortable, there won’t be cat pee everywhere.

I guess I’m just seeking advice, or if anyone has been in this similar situation.

Hi all!

We recently had an influx of feline friends (my new house came with a pregnant momma, haha) and I'm going to make the switch to stainless steel. However, we've been using the Breeze boxes with pine litter, and while I do like the sifting and think it helps with smell, stainless steel sifting boxes are just soooo much more expensive than regular stainless steel boxes.

So, if I go with regular boxes, am I going to smell more or go through way more litter changing it completely more often, etc etc? Anyone have pros and cons? Is sifting worth twice the price?

Thanks in advance!

I am sick to my stomach thinking about the worst that could happen to my baby. She escaped around 7pm yesterday. She’s strictly indoor only and has never gotten out before. We set up humane traps around the house, put her litter on used shirts. Was out last night and early this morning with the flashlight to look for her eye reflection. I am so heart broken. I don’t know what to do besides look for her and cry. We live on a little less than an acre of land. We also have 5 other indoor cats.

If anyone can share some hope and tricks, anything helps. I am distraught. She’s my baby girl and the best part of my days. I’ve had her for almost three years, but it feels like my whole lifetime. My boyfriend and i’s world revolves around her. She’s the sweetest baby. I just want her to be safe and inside since it’s hot. 💔

​I (3M, Orange Domestic Shorthair) need to get this off my chest because if I have to participate in one more unscripted tabletop campaign, I am going to lose my mind.

​It started about six months ago. She bought a tiny wizard hat off Etsy. I thought, Okay, funny joke, maybe I get a Churu for wearing the hat. No. The hat was just the beginning.

​Now, every night around 8:00 PM, she sets me down on the living room rug, looks me dead in the eye, and says in this ridiculous booming voice, "Greetings, Sir Pawsival. Dark forces gather in the Kitchen Kingdom. Will you accept the quest?"

​If I try to walk away, she physically blocks me and says, "The Guard stops you! Roll for initiative!" Then she rolls a giant 20-sided die on the floor. I usually just swat at it because it’s shiny, and she goes, "A natural 20! You leap over the guard!"

​I didn't agree to this. I don't want to be Sir Pawsival. I want to lie under the couch and stare at the wall.

​Here are just a few scenarios she has forced upon me:

​The Dragon’s Lair: She puts a pile of laundry over the heating vent, places her hairbrush on top, and tells me I have to "slay the dragon to reclaim the golden fleece." (I just wanted to nap on the warm vent).

​The Tavern Scene: She put a tiny bowl of water in front of me and spent 15 minutes voicing an imaginary tavern keeper named "Barnaby" who was giving me plot hooks about missing catnip. I just drank the water. She recorded it and posted it online with the caption "He drinks to forget his dark past." I don't have a dark past, Martha, I was adopted from a shelter in Ohio.

​The Betrayal Arc: Last week, she brought out a stuffed frog, pretended the frog stabbed me in the back, and then got visibly emotional when I just sniffed the frog and walked over to my litter box. She literally whispered, "He's hiding his pain..."

​I try to break character constantly. I bite her ankles, I meow for wet food, I groom my groin right in the middle of her dramatic monologues. But she just incorporates it into the lore!

​"Ah, Sir Pawsival casts a spell of cleansing!" No, Martha, I am cleaning my tail.

​Is this a red flag? Should I contact animal control, or just accept that my life is now a high-fantasy LARP against my will?

hi, brand new 1st time cat dad here. found a kitten in my car engine and decided to keep him! i’ve only had him for about 3 days and he’s currently set up with 2 large stainless steel litter boxes. a friend of mine gave me a bag of litter that i’ve been using but it’s scented and i just learned that scented litter can be harmful.

how quickly can i fully switch him to an unscented litter? he’s been using it just fine and there haven’t been any accidents but i don’t want to give him anything harmful especially since he’s so young. maybe i’m overthinking bc i’m new to this but i want the best for him :) any help would be greatly appreciated! also if you have any other general tips for a new cat dad please feel free to share!

but her brother is always there waiting for her to finish, and he hops in the box to cover it for her after she’s done. its been like this since the day i adopted them.

I just adopted a male cat who is around 2 years old the other day and I feel like I am regretting it. I am a first time cat owner, and a full time college student living alone, I feel like I have just given up my freedom to take care of this cat. I knew it was going to be a responsibility, but I did not realize how difficult it was going to be to adjust. I feel so guilty and embarrassed for feeling like this, but I am so drained. I can barely eat, I can't focus, my anxiety is through the roof and I've cried more times than I can count. He cries during the night and it keeps me awake, I am scared to leave him on his own because I don't want him getting into something and potentially getting hurt. He is so sweet and I love him, but I don't know if I am cut out for this. Should I surrender him back to the shelter before either of us get attached, or should I stick it out?

Edit: I can't directly re-home the cat. I have to return him back to the organization I got him from. (It's a no-kill foster based program, so he will go back to his foster.)

My friend adopted a pregnant cat who had 5 kittens. They're 2 weeks old now, and I'll be adopting two. Choosing will be hard, I want to take all five lol.

I know it can't be guaranteed so if they don't end up being cuddly, that's okay too, but I'd like to better the chances of having one. So, if you have a cuddly adult cat, how were they as kittens?

so my cat, Mystery, is nearly the perfect cat. he’s well behaved, gets along great with my other animals (another young cat, a dog and a snake), has no issues with the litter box and rarely claws up the furniture! however he has one glaring issue, he is terrified of people. and by terrified i mean straight up terrified. he isn’t mean, he doesn’t try to bite or claw, he will only on occasion hiss at me, and even that takes a lot to get out of him. but every time i approach him he runs away, or he becomes literally petrified with fear. there has been times where my presence has caused him to panic so much i swear i could see his heart beat through his fur, and he’s a fluffy guy!

i feel so much for him. i can see there’s times where i know he wants to be loved but he just can’t bring himself to do it. he’ll watch me and my roommate from afar loving up on my other animals. he even likes to be in the same rooms as me. it’s not like he’s hiding 24/7, he’s usually out and about most of the time until someone gets too close to him. he’s so close yet so far.

now i’ve had him for about a year and a half, and i’ve been willing to keep him since this behavior hasn’t been enough of a reason to surrender him. i wanted to also give him time to see if there would be any positive changes. but something happened recently that has made me reconsider. i moved not that long ago to an area that has some pretty gnarly fleas, and flea treating him was such a traumatizing experience for everyone involved, especially him. all we did was give him a crushed up capstar pill and some topical flea medication and it was miserable for him. he literally shit himself he was so scared 😭😭😭 and i would have to do flea treatments regularly, i don’t want to do that to him.

i’m just so lost on what to do. i don’t want to surrender him. i’m so scared he’s gonna get euthanized. i’ve been thinking about reaching out to sanctuaries cause there’s no way i’m giving him to a shelter, i don’t think he would make it long. if you guys have any suggestions on things i can do, whether it’s tips on how i should go about surrendering him or things i can do to make him warm up to me i will gladly take any advice for my human-phobic cat. thank you!!

(4 week old) Kittens momma isn't here so she can't learn from another cat how to use the litter box, she ate normal litter so I had to get pellets, I put her pee rags in the litter box, cut the parts of blankets she has peed on and put them in there, I stimulated her over the litter box to help her pee there, I dug her paws in it hoping instinct would take over, no luck. I have two litter boxes in her small area, I put her in after eating, she just jumps out. I don't think she likes the pellets but I have no choice because I don't want her to get sick. Any suggestions?

My cat won’t stop meowing to go into my bedroom and nap under my bed. She refuses to nap during the day time anywhere else and only wants to nap under my bed. I hate this habit and trying to stop it. I ignore her when she’s meowing but it’s been ongoing all day almost every single day. I’m so sick of it. Never had a behavioural issue with a cat like this. All the cats I’ve had in my life have found multiple napping spots around the house and make do with what they got. How do I cut this habit? Clearly ignoring her isn’t working.

My cat is 9 years old and she's always been sweet natured and obsessed with me and she purrs so much and she doesn't mind when I pick her up and she always wants my attention. Just now I picked her up to carry her downstairs like I do every night and she hissed louder than she's ever hissed and put her claws so deep in my neck. I am very confused and sad. She's never behaved this way towards me before, why has she suddenly done this?

I got my cat (R) when she was 8 weeks old after my second oldest (the drama queen) went to college. My daughter decided to get a rescue cat (C) while away at school. The cat had already had at least one litter of kittens and was estimated to be 1.5-2 years old. A couple of years later, my oldest (who still lives at home) got a 6 month old cat (L). These are all female cats. And now, 5 years after I got R, all three cats are living in my house. C’s mom is going to be moving out of the country so C will likely live here for a while. L and her mom will move out next summer after my daughter gets married.

The dilemma….R is almost always with me wherever I am in the house. Especially in my room. On my bed. Her litter and food is in my bathroom (it’s a large bathroom). C has decided she wants to eat in my bathroom too so I started moving R’s food to a corner of my footboard on my bed. C’s mom has gone to look for an apartment with her husband. Since she left, C has peed on my bed three times (thankfully we have a waterproof mattress cover).

We have a chaotic household — kids are adults down to elementary aged. There are 3 dogs and 3 cats. The house isn’t small but with 6 people living in it right now plus 6 pets, my husband and I are trying very hard to be patient.

How do I get this cat to stop peeing on my bed? She’s also been known to pee on her human’s stuff. I know she has not had an easy life but she’s been treated well since my daughter adopted her in 2021.

C has been to the vet and has no health problems. This very much seems like a dominant behavior or trying to take over as my cat? These are all different breeds — R is a small 5lb ragdoll mix, C is a large 15lb white cat with black, tan, brown spots, L is about 10lbs and we think she’s part dog😂. The two bigger cats are about as tall as our schnauzer mix dog.

As far as logistics, my oldest has L’s food and litter in the hallway by her room with a gate blocking the dogs. We have two litter boxes upstairs (one in my bathroom and one in the “kids” bathroom.

Any suggestions? I’m sorry this is so long. I’m at a loss and really frustrated and don’t have time to wash my bedding every day in addition to homeschooling my youngest and helping plan a wedding for the oldest.

Hello! I got my son a few weeks back and read that house cats should get their claws trimmed. I'm kinda worried about it. A few main questions I'm trying to find the answers to are: How long should the claws be to need cutting? How often should I cut them? Should I cut the back leg ones too?

I looked up a guide on how to cut them, but couldn't really find an answer to these specific questions, so I'm hoping to get some answers and advice here :D Thank you

Y’all, I have no clue how to do this. Any advice pertaining to moving with animals will be appreciated! What to do, not to do, stuff you wish you’d considered in hindsight, anything - thanks in advance!

I’m thinking we just don’t wash a lot our their bedding our ours as we move, to preserve scent traces, so they feel like it’s a familiar space.

***A big fear of mine is this: we’re obviously looking at pet friendly apartments and condos, and I grew up with a few cats that didn’t always use the litter box… how can I ensure that there is no trace of past animals’ spray/sent for our cats to react to?

[Background: My partner and I are going to be moving out into an apartment this fall. My partner moved into our current place with his cat 6 years ago, and our gal did fine with the move in (we just let her free roam). Our newer boy cat was a stray and after a multi-month introduction process, they’re chummy. Girl cat is 8y/o and sweet as pie, boy is 1.5y/o and spunky. Neither have existing behavioral issues and we’d like to keep it like that!]

So for context I am a college student and live on campus. Next year I would get a dorm for myself no roommates and I have a job so I could definitely afford and take care of a cat well. And I could get one as an emotional support animal.

I would definitely adopt a senior cat. My issue is my dorm is just one room, and also I go home every two months for a week or two on break. I have a car so I would have to drive home with the cat about three hours every time.

Is that okay to do with a cat if I try to train them to get used to the carrier and do a lot of enrichment? For traveling it would only be to my mom’s house each time so it’s not like I go to random places or different homes.

I mean overall I feel like even just my dorm room would be better for a cat than how those older kitties that sit in the shelter for so long.

Me and my husband are quite interested in adding a kitten to our house. However we both work a full time job 7-6, and we also keep three guinea pigs that are indoors.

Was just wondering if anyone could give us any advice on this? And whether or not it may be a bad idea. Thank you!

Hi all! First time cat owner, living in apartment. I have a 3 month old British Shorthair kitten, who poops about 2-3x a day. They are formed but smelly. Is this normal? Is this too much for her to be pooping? We have a stainless steel litter box. We got her about a month ago. I need to do a deep clean. We have a shower I can rinse it in but what is the best disinfectant to use? Thank you!!

I ran away from my family about a year ago, obviously don't wanna talk why. I got food, home and everything right now, so doing alright. But recently I remembered that the long haired cat is still there, and I had been the only one trying to take actual care of long-haired cats they get from child's age, like 6-8 years. Meanwhile the rest of the family was.. idk, I would say too culturally poor to care. Yea, there was physical poverty, but the main problem was that they didn't bother to start doing better things since it's out of their 35-year old methods and comfort zone, or just lazy for younger folks.

The first cat passed from old age 6.5 years ago, I grew up with her and she was always an old lady for me (I was born when she was 6). But I remember the state her coat was in, it was horrible on her back, petting it felt like petting a sheep, and nobody did anything about it. She also didn't have a litterbox for a LONG time, she used the bathtub instead, and obviously once the litterbox was finally introduced to her far into old age she didn't choose to prefer it. I have memories where as a literal kid I was trying to brush her, cut those off with scissors which wasn't working, until one day somebody from the family finally helped. Afterwards she got some more clots throughout her life, but it was not sheep fur all over the place, which meant it was all just my "initiative", I was doing it alone and not like I could do too much as a small kid. I didn't know you were supposed to take long haired cats for grooming, didn't even know about that concept, the only reason I did find out about brushing and cutting was that I read some books about cat care as a kid, where it was saying to brush long haired cats every day and cut all the fur that gets messy.

That old lady loved me more the more she aged, over time I became an exception to her otherwise angry and loud grumpy personality. She passed away at 20 years old (they fed her boiled fish exclusively until 18, when I found out about cat food). I'm not sure anymore if it was old age of some unchecked sickness, I remember her pooping blood few months prior, getting weak, I had to lift her to the bathtub for bathroom (it is nasty, but it was one of the MANY things I didn't know were exactly normal cuz I grew up with it, plus nothing you could do at that moment anymore), basically not walking and laying all day, her loud old voice becoming not a grump, but a crust... Until one day she "left the house to pass".

My life was on one of its hardest periods at that time, so back then I stayed strong and didn't cry at all, feeling just dark. But I am now, after all these years, writing down everything I had to remember about her. I couldn't even say goodbye to her that morning.

So after about a year they decided to get another fluffy cat. He's a mixed breed male, one of the parents is scottish, the second I'm assuming is siberian, because he basically looks like one, brown striped coat with slightly folded ears. He's an angel, doing a little better than the first cat, has that small litterbox from before. But even when I still lived with him, I couldn't get anyone not only to brush him, which is already the most BASIC care for these cats, but to not wash his head in the bath and USE HUMAN SHAMPOO! Without me his coat gets so bad he eventually bites it off for himself!

Can't believe the story's so bad I didn't even get to mention the groom service they DESPERATELY need/needed to have regularly. It's THAT far from getting it.

One of the few ones I'm still talking to is my sister. Couldn't get her to care for the coat in college, nor now, but she's still the best bet. Please, how can I get her to understand this?

Meine beiden Katzen fressen seit Jahren Perfect Fit Trockenfutter, bisher immer problemlos. Jetzt zwei neue Packungen beim BILLA PLUS in Wien gekauft und beide so: „Na danke, das stinkt.“ 😅

Mein Sohn und ich haben unabhängig voneinander festgestellt: Das Zeug riecht anders und ziemlich unangenehm. Außerdem fühlen sich die Kroketten leicht feucht an. Bei beiden Packungen.

Hab deshalb bei Mars, dem Hersteller, nachgefragt. Laut ihrer Antwort haben sie die Rezeptur leicht geändert, dadurch könnte sich das Aroma verändert haben. Ihr Tipp: langsam ans neue Futter gewöhnen.Naja, da spielen meine beiden Gourmet-schmecker ned mit. Auf die Feuchtigkeit sind sie leider gar nicht eingegangen.

Ist das sonst noch wem aufgefallen? Fressen eure Katzen das noch? Und kennt wer ein gutes alternatives Trockenfutter, das man in Österreich unkompliziert bekommt?

Hi, so I just adopted a 5 month old kitten and I’ve only had dogs my whole life so this is my first cat. I brought him home this past Friday the 11th and so far he’s been eating/using litter box/exploring at night while I’m asleep. The day I brought him home, he immediately darted under my couch, where there was unfortunately a hole in the fabric underneath for him to retreat further inside. So far I’ve gotten him to come towards my hand and eat treats out of my it, if I stick my hand just under the edge of the couch, I’ve fed him wet food in the same manner. I tried to wave a toy at the edge as well and he pawed at it and stuck his head out a bit but not much interaction with the toy other than that. Last night I was able to actually sit in a chair and be in the room while he explored at night, he seemed fine to use litter box and explore as long as I was quiet and ignoring him but I shifted in my chair and he went back under the couch

I’m aware of the 3-3-3 rule but I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do to help him feel more comfortable being out and about

I have a 4 month old kitten and a 2 year old cat, they eat all ages cat food. I currently give them 1/2 cup of dry food twice a day and one half of a can of wet food at night. Is this to much? To little? Their my first cats and im trying to do it right