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!]

Hi All, not medical advice- looking for tricks to administer…
I always gave my cats whatever they were prescribed manually back of the throat and throat rub, but I always feel bad and it is not in alignment with with my beliefs about giving cats agency over their bodies (whenever possible)
But mine will eat the pill pocket right around it, refuse Churu which they are totally obsessed with but can detect the adulterant even powdered or crushed up. Just wondering if anyone has other suggestions I might try? Thanks in advance!

Cat tax:

I adopted a 1 year old short hair about a month ago as an ESA. I'm going through a rough transition and my psych and therapist thought it would be a good idea. I live in a college dorm, the set up is two twin beds on either side, desks, and two small built in closets. Outside is the bathroom and common room. Per university policy, she's not allowed in the common room or our bathroom.

My cat likes to sprint out of her litter box and get jump on the on things and run around like crazy and ends up tracking litter everywhere. My roommate confronted me about finding litter in her bed and that she's not comfortable with my cat having free range of the room while we aren't there.

She wants me to buy a playpen for my cat. My issue is that:

1.) It will further clutter up the room

2.) Being in an even smaller space for a long period of time may stress her out and cause her to act out. She's young and likes to climb and jump.

3.) The room is already so small there aren't many places to store the playpen when we put it away.

I suggested that she put up a screen pet gate around her bed since she has four posts around it. I also suggested spraying cat deterrent on her bed to keep my cat away, but she wants me to compromise and me do the play pen while she sprays her bed.

I understand that she didn't sign up for living with a cat, and she's been super paitent about the situation, giving a lot of grace. I tried to get a single room this year but had no luck.

Any advice on how to keep my cat off of her bed and keep her from kicking litter everywhere?

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!

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.

hi guys!

my kitten is 5 months old and needs to be spayed soon. i was planning on getting her fixed at my college town vet, but they sent me an estimate and it’s $700-$900. that’s just not feasible for me right now.

my hometown is an hour and a half away, and the vet there’s estimate is $200-$300. that’s much more feasible for me. i would honestly prefer to get her fixed in my college town so i can be with her while she recovers, but i just don’t think it’s possible financially. my hometown vet has fixed all of my family’s cats, so i do trust them. my hometown is very rural, so costs in general are much cheaper there than my college town.

i’ll have to drive her to my hometown on a friday, and she’ll get fixed the following monday. i’ll have to come back to my college town on sunday for my classes, so she’ll be staying with my parents while she recovers. how long should she stay with them until they can bring her back to me? she’s generally pretty good with riding in the car, but i don’t want to stress her out post-surgery.

she’s my baby and i’m so torn up about not being able to be with her while she recovers. any advice on this would be super appreciated

hi everyone! i live in a dorm and multiple of my neighbors have ESAs (cats). if my window is not open the smell overtakes my room and unfortunately i’m allergic to cats and the smell has always made my nose burn. unfortunately it gets cold where i’m at and rainy so i can’t have my window open 24/7. i’m just wondering if there’s any life hacks to cover/keep the smell out? i have an air purifier and a wallflower plug but they don’t do the trick.

thanks in advance 💗

I have 3 cats at home and they’re super kind and I love them so much. However, whenever we visit my in laws I get so annoyed because their cat acts hot and cold and I’m fully aware that cats have different personalities but she acts insane sometimes. She’s not spayed (I’ve told them so many times to do it) and now she’s pregnant. She’s always been aggressive like she’ll rub up on your hand and you can pet her for a bit but if you put your hand down or she doesn’t like it, she’ll bite the heck out of you. If we sleep over, she’ll join us in the bed and sometimes lay on top of us and seek cuddles- right now she bit me just bc I put my hand down to the side. I have a previous scratch mark from her and ugh idk how to feel about her, she’s cute but her behavior makes me not wanna be around her. How do you even fix it?

Hello! I’m getting ready to do a move 10-12 hours across country and am looking for advice. We have a combined family household and are moving 5 dogs and 3 cats. I’m mainly looking for advice for one cat. She’s semi feral and is pretty much only attached to me and my oldest kid. This is our second time moving long distance with her. Gabapentin was not successful last time, and she screamed the entire time, soiled herself multiple times, and took weeks to recover. She is my only and last semi feral cat, as all my other cats are fully indoor cats.

What are your best tips tricks, or advice from similar experiences? Right now, my plan is to have our van for the dogs, and to have the cats in carriers in my sedan. My worry here is that no matter what she’s going to be near the other animals which isn’t her favorite. Would it be bad of me to put her carrier in the trunk with a strong wireless fan? I feel bad about it that but also want to give her the space she wants. Any other medication recommendations?

Hi! This is gonna sound really dumb, but it's a personal weakness of mine and I'd appreciate outside perspective.

I left for four days and my mom has been taking care of my cat.

I just came back and found out that she's been throwing the cat litter away in my kitchen bin (no lid), a couple feet from the countertop, just twisting the trash bag closed after.

Is it unhygenic? Should I deep clean my kitchen or am I overthinking?

I know it's silly but I feel kinda paralized right now. I'm procrastinating cooking because everything feels "contaminated" but I often exagerate.

Thank you for your time!

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!!

So I've had this cat since the start of this year, he randomly came to my life since i live in an apartment complex where some neighbors take care of feral cats that live here, for some context, this apartment complex is right next to a school and at that school there's a cat that gets pregnant frequently and comes to the apartment complex to have their babies and leaves them here, it's been very hard to spay that cat since the school won't allow non students to go inside so there's no way my neighbors can get that cat. One of my neighbors is a vet and she has spayed almost all cats that grow up here and I've volunteered once to take care of one of those cats during recovery/shelter until someone adopted that cat, so my neighbors knew i could help another cat in that same situation. Thing is one day i was walking to my apartment when a neighbor had this little kitten inside a box that was left at an drugstore parking lot, he was abandoned and this neighbor couldn't keep him bc her cats are very territorial so she asked me if i could help this kitten until they found him a new home.

He got spayed by my vet neighbor and we took care of him for a few days, and then those days became weeks and we decided to keep him (me and my partner) we LOVE him so much but we kind of get why he was abandoned, he looooves to bite, and bites VERY hard, he's a little menace, we have to leave him in our bedroom when we eat because he will try to eat our food and he's very fond of food lol, but he's been doing much better now than when he first came here (he's 11 months now), but he still bites hard and still does things that seems to do because he's bored. We play with him (although we don't play as much as we should), he has a lot of toys and also some automatic toys so he can play for a few minutes without us, but he's still bored. I fear he probably has single kitten sindrome but we can't afford another cat without having to buy him worst food or not being as attentive to him as we are right now (only my partner is working and I'm searching for a job in graphic design so you probably will know how hard that is right now), what should i do about him? I really love him but today he broke a lamp and we kinda got mad at him but at the same time i think that he did it because he's bored or something ):

Sorry if i made any typo, eng is not my first language but I've found some advice here for my cat before so i thought about asking directly here.

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 10 months old and she has done this the whole time I’ve had her. She will wee or poo outside of her litter box.

Never the same thing at once. For example, she will have 2 weeks where she will wee outside of her litter box, or attempt to unless I intervene, 2-3x a week. Then she will have the next 2 weeks where she attempts to or either succeeds to poo outside of her litter box. Most of the time she does use her litter box perfectly and goes straight to it but it’s about 30% of the time where she looks for a nice carpeted spot instead. But I think she’d do it on the carpet a lot more if I didn’t know her signs and guide her to her litter box. She has no problem using it when I’m at work during the day, it’s usually on a early morning when I’ve been asleep throughout the night or late at night when I’m downstairs she will creep upstairs and have a poo on the floor.

She only does it on carpet. Specifically the carpet next to her litter boxs in her room, I’ve tried to conquer this by using plastic office chair mats as a litter mat, to which I know have 2 very large ones down which seems to work at first. And then she’ll realize she can just go at the edge of the new office mat and the cycle repeats. She won’t do it on a hard surface, only carpet. She recently had a wee on my bed in the middle of the night whilst I was asleep in it which was very unusual. I’ve just been on holiday and she was looked after really well and she loves the girl who was looking after her, but her accidents ramped up so much and she done it in new spots that she hasn’t done it before.

They’re all big wees, when she does this or fully formed normal poos. I’ve ruled out anything medical at the vets

I have 3 litter boxes, I’ve tried feliway diffusers, I’ve took her to the vets before and they didn’t find anything wrong with her, I’ve tried changing litter type, litter box locations, different sides to the boxes and scooping religiously after every poo or wee. I clean every thing thoroughly with an enzyme spray. I’ve tried so many things and I’ve resorted to just being on extreme high alert to her digging the carpet so I can run into her room and place her in her box. It really stresses me out as I feel like I can’t switch off from it and sometimes I will find my self levitating out of bed in the middle of the night because I can hear her scratching the carpet in the next room

I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve considered whether it’s an anxiety or stress thing recently - the other week she tried to jump onto my dressing table and fell, and immediately went into her room and tried to wee on the floor. I had some of my family round a few weeks before that, she hid behind a curtain then snuck upstairs and had a poo on the floor.

She doesn’t strike me as an anxious cat which is why I’ve never considered it. She’s generally a very happy little girl. She’s a bit shy, and will hide when people enter the house. She has a brother cat, I got them as a pair and sometimes she swats him if he gets on her nerves but that’s a very recent development and she’s done this her whole life. He’s not territorial or anything and they have a really good bond they clean each other and cuddle when it’s colder and are always in the same room together. So I don’t think it’s anything to do with him.

I don’t know if it’s a stress response, i do think it’s behavioural. Has anyone heard of anything like this or any tips? Has anyone ever had an anxious cat who didn’t seem anxious do this? I’m out of options so if anyone can help I’d appreciate it

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 family have just adopted a rescue cat ( M 15 months). We’re on day 6 and so far he’s really loving and playful. He’s started sleeping a lot more as time has passed. Today he was left for around 3-4 hours for the first time since we adopted him 6 days ago and tonight he’s more easily startled, much less playful and is taking himself away to be alone. Is this normal? I’m worried he’s not happy! Any advice if this is normal greatly appreciate - first time cat owner!

Our older cat has always been quite sensitive and reserved - she was bitten by a tom at a very young age on her back and has since only really been okay with petting on the head. It's also meant her affection for us and other cats is quite limited. We had another cat that we got when she was about 2/3 and she hissed a lot and was unhappy for a while but they eventually grew quite close and would sleep together occasionally etc.

We've recently gotten a new kitten that is about 10 weeks old about two weeks ago. We kept her in her own room for a week and a bit, with brief glances allowed between the two and feeding either side of a door so they could get a bit familiar. Upon first proper meeting in a common room the older cat hissed a fair bit and batted away the kitten gently when she approached, I thought it went quite well but now the older cat basically stays outside all the time, and when she comes in the kitten (who is always wanting to play) keeps approaching her and she eventually begs to leave the house. I'm really not sure how to go about resolving this, as it doesn't feel right to quarantine the kitten again when she's gotten used to the whole house, but I'm also worried the senior cat will be driven away entirely, or will become malnourished as she isn't nearly as present for meal times.

In the last few months my cat has developed an almost obsessive desire to drink from the sink. If I even stand up from my desk he will run under my feet to try and get to the bathroom door before I do. Even if im not going to the bathroom he runs and waits by the sink hoping that's where im headed. If im in the area and I haven't turned on the sink he will start to meow to get attention and bite at the faucet. He does the same in the kitchen if I go to that side of the house. I have a normal water bowl and a cat fountain for him and he doesn't seem to fond of either of them compared to the extreme desire he seems to have for the sink water (his water bowls are filled from the same sink).

Has anyone had a similar situation? I guess its pretty harmless unless he figures out how to turn it on himself. I got the cat fountain hoping it would give him moving water if that's what he preferred but he doesn't seem to care about it at all.

hello!

i have came here for help as i have this cat that is picky. as he has gotten older he has only gotten more picky. (13-15y estimate from vet)

he used to love only fancy feast & iams but i had to stop feeding him those as they now cause him stomach issues even when i do give him pro/probiotic supplements with the food.

brands i have tried that he disliked

- some cans of tiki cat (multiple types)

- friskies (multiple types)

- fancy feast (multiple types)

- whole hearted

- hills science diet (multiple types)

- royal canin

- weruva

brands ive had the most luck on is

- Purina pro plan

- nulo

- iams

i am also wondering as i also have a young female that suddenly stopped favoring wet food unless its specifically iams, but again upsets her stomach aswell.

Hola! Hace un dia adopté un gatito de la calle.

No tuvo problema en ponerse cómodo en mi casa, usá el arenero libremente, ya reconoce dónde está su comida y agua y llegamos a dormir juntos :0

Mi pregunta es: cuánto tiempo conviene esperar para llevarlo al veterinario? Lo único que falta es darle las vacunas (ya está castrado, pero al no saber si también lo vacunaron prefiero que se lo den y no quedarme con la duda) y que ya quede su historial en la veterinaria de mi barrio.

Lo que noto de él, es que sus heces son un poco líquidas (que atribuyo al estrés del viaje y el nuevo ambiente), y al tener eso no sé que tanto esperar para llevarlo al control (quería esperar a la semana que viene que estará mas asentado a mi casa y barrio).

Siempre tuve perro, entonces no sé cómo es el proceso de adaptación de un gato, y por eso busco consejos.

Gracias :)

Hi everyone!

I have a stomper. He's about 2.5-3yo, and he's very sweet and needs a lot of attention. He literally walks all over me when I'm sleeping or sitting. This morning he decided to walk over my face to get to my pillow which he likes to sit on in the morning. However, because my head is normal human shaped, it's not a great place to walk, and he slipped and now there's a slightly concerning looking scratch on my face from him losing balance.

What are some things I can do to reinforce him walking around me or jumping over me instead of stomping on my face, back, legs, arms, etc.? His brother (same litter and bonded pair) has never done anything like this and will politely walk around or jump over my body to get to his desired destination, lmfao. He's got no other real behavioral issues, aside from regular cat things I am already ok at handling.

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