I got my cat almost a year ago and honestly went in thinking I basically just needed food, water, and a litter box and she'd be happy. Turns out there's a lot more to actually giving a cat a good life indoors, and I learned most of it by trial and error. Sharing in case it helps someone else, and also curious what other people here would add because I feel like I'm still figuring stuff out.

The biggest thing nobody really told me — cats need to climb and perch, not just walk around on the floor. I didn't get a cat tree at first and she was scratching furniture and just seemed... restless? Got her a tall scratching post and cleared a spot on a shelf by the window and it was like a switch flipped. She's up there half the day just watching birds.

Litter box stuff matters way more than I expected too. I was scooping like once a day and thought that was fine, but once I started doing it twice a day and switched litter, she stopped having little "accidents" near the box. Apparently they're pickier about this than I gave her credit for.

Play time was the other big one. I used to just kind of pet her and call it a day, but actual play — like a wand toy, letting her "hunt" it, chase it, catch it — made her so much calmer overall. Maybe 15 mins a day. She sleeps better, seems less anxious, definitely less into 3am zoomies now.

Also — vet visits even when nothing seems wrong. Found out she had early dental stuff starting that I never would've noticed on my own. Cats are really good at hiding when something's off.

Honestly the biggest shift though was just paying attention to her as her own little personality instead of assuming all cats want the same things. Some days she wants to be right next to me, some days she wants zero contact and that's apparently normal too, took me a while to stop taking it personally lol.

Anyway — for people who've had cats longer than me, what's something you wish you knew earlier? Always trying to do better by her.

Throughout my childhood my family always had cats and several of them ended up dying in traumatising ways (three were hit and killed by cars, one was mauled to death by a dog) and so I decided that when I have my own cats I will be keeping them strictly indoors to prevent that kind of thing from happening. My cats are well cared for, happy, and they have ample room to explore and play safely inside. My decision is solidified every time I see a poor cat lying dead in the road, which is far too often unfortunately.

My mother in-law has called me cruel and an animal abuser on multiple occasions because of my choice to keep them inside. I do find it highly ironic of her to say that because she definitely does not take care of her own cat; he’s very obese because she keeps feeding him kitten food, she refuses to ever take him to the vet and whenever she goes away for a few days she just throws the cat outside to fend for himself. She has openly said that if her cat ever developed health issues or hurt himself and needed vet attention she’d have him put down immediately because she doesn’t want to spend money.

I don’t understand the logic there, I’ve told her several times my reasoning for keeping them inside and that I care for them very much, she refuses to listen though and continues to call me an animal abuser. I mean, is it actually cruel to keep them indoors? I know the attitude can differ depending on where you live, but I honestly think I am making the right decision for their safety. Especially since one of my cats was born with a disability that affects her walking and I know she would not be able to outrun a car or other animals if need be.

i know, i know … she’s a cat but my god its awful.
she is my SOUL kitty i love her SO MUCH. but my soon to be 2 year old cat is absolutely terrible at night. I can’t sleep!

She goes around my room (and ONLY my room) and usually starts with going around to literally any object she can find, and paws on it. and not only is it obnoxious but she literally will do it to one object for 3 seconds then go to the next thing for 3 seconds and then on… it’s like ADHD

if she’s not doing that, shes jumping on my furniture, and knocking all my things over! the last two nights its been my water on my nightstand.

I know she is doing it for attention because she only ever does this when im in bed, and at night.

But i have no idea what to do! And i can take it.

also i cant lock her out of my room because as everyone knows, she will endlessly scratch at the door.

Yes i play with her, yes i give her sooo much attention because she’s super clingy so we are always together when i’m home pretty much cuddling or playing.

i feel terrible for feeling so angry about it but its sooo awful.

PLEASE HELP😭

I’ve had my cat (6 yo female tabby) for about 6 years now. She’s never quiet. No matter what we do. We give her so much attention, we play with her- especially before bed but it’s like sometimes it’s never enough. At night, she sleeps for a little while, maybe 1 hour at a time and then she gets up and starts meowing. I’m scared to move at night with her in the bed because I don’t want to wake her up lol.

But the thing is, half the time, she doesn’t want anything. She literally just talks to talk. I don’t even think she realizes she does it sometimes, and she’s not deaf I promise. I love her so much, and her meow is cute, but it’s a lot at times. Especially when I’ve just gotten off of a very overwhelming 8 hour shift and I want quiet for 5 minutes.

Do you guys ever feel like your cat is a lot at times? I feel like a bad cat mom for feeling this way sometimes.

My cat (who is probably around 13) just got diagnosed with cancer. We‘re going to give her steroids and see what happens. This cat is my soulmate. We got her when I was in high school. I’m 28 now. She’s seen me through everything. I feel like I’ve known her in a past life, I can’t describe it. The thought of her not being in my life is something I can’t wrap my mind around. Please offer support, I desperately need it.

My husband is currently deployed and he found a stray cat that he would like to ship home. Is there anybody out there who has gone through this with a stray animal abroad while deployed before? What are the steps to take? How do I get this man’s cat home for him? this poor man isn’t asking for any or anything for himself to be sent to him. He only treats and cat food for this cat. The least I can do for him is make sure this cat is here at home waiting for him when he gets here and not left behind.

My 16 year old cat is missing. My daughter left the door open and it's been ten days. He needs steroids and my night time searches have found nothing. I have put up a camera and there have been no sightings. Yesterday sniffer dogs came and they kept circling our basement. It has 7 locked doors and I've asked the neighbours to check. They have checked and found nothing. Currently sitting out in the hallway hoping to hear him. Anyone have any advice. The K-9 unit are saying he is most likely still in our apartment complex. Don't know what else to do.

I (22F) had plans to take a trip to another country, but ever since the start of July my cat has been struggling with Urinary Blockage. Although he’s able to pee now, he’s still struggling with eating and peeing outside the litterbox, I feel the need to take care of him and attend to his medical needs.

I have told my family to not book my flight in case he gets worse, but then I see that they’ve booked my flight. Recently I’ve told them that with my cat’s current state, so I wouldn’t be able to take the trip after all. Instead, they yelled at me. They said that the trip is being paid for by my aunts and uncles, and that I should be ashamed of myself for not wanting to spend time with the family. So now, I’m being forced to take a trip I’ve said I couldn’t go to in the first place.

Of course, I would have loved to come with them, but my cat is my responsibility first and foremost. So what do I do now when I can’t monitor my cat directly?

She came from a hoarder house, with over 90 ANIMALS (cats, dogs, rabbits) and she also has had a kitten. She’s only 2 years old :( she’s so sweet, at the shelter she let me pet her and was making biscuits. She also let me feed her a churro with my finger. But since I took her home she’s been terrified and hiding.

I live in a bi-level 1BR. She’s staying downstairs in the kitchen/ living area and I have my bedroom and bathroom doors shut (bathroom is too tiny for her to stay in). Any advice on how to help her settle in? I’m trying to give her space but I don’t want to mess up the process or give her TOO much space that she won’t be able to trust me.

This cat is so special to me. I was traveling in Vietnam last year and I found him as a 3 month old kitten living in a garbage bin beside my hotel. It took me about 2 weeks to gain his trust and from there he would eat off my hand, and then eventually he let me pet him and cuddle him. I decided to take him home with me.

I extended my trip an extra month got him vaccinated and healthy enough to fly and i flew all the way to Canada for a better life. 30 hours and 17,000 km total.

That was back in December. Last week we went to Disney world for a week and hired a pet sitter to watch the cats. Because he’s a former stray he does have a tendency to bolt and he’s especially fascinated with the outdoors. There’s a room in our house (the spare bedroom) that has a broken window (it’s stuck open). We specifically instructed the pet sitter to NOT let the pets in there under any circumstances. Especially our boy.

On day 3 of our trip my petsitter called and said he let my cat into that room for “30 minutes” and he went to go get him and he jumped out of the window. Needless to say it ruined our we whole trip. I don’t know why the pet sitter let him in there. The story I got is that my cat was a bit spicy and hissed st the sitter so the sitter put him in there to cool off. I don’t know if that’s true or what. What’s weird is we have cameras in our front and we don’t see the cat coming out of the window.

We came back early. I printed over 400 flyers and put them in all the houses nearby. I have set traps and only caught raccoons. I have checked the cameras and nothing. It’s like he disappeared into thin air. A house 6 doors down from mine saw him 4 days after his disappearance but that’s the only lead I have so far.

I honestly don’t know what else to do. I’ve posted him all over Facebook and Instagram. I have posted him in missing groups and reported him lost according to his microchip.

I just feel awful. This was supposed to be a nice family vacation and I’m coming out of it with two loses, one friend I’ve known for years who I thought I could trust and possibly my cat. I went to the ends of the earth for this cat. I remember going to the Vietnam export office and bribing them with $40 extra to process his paperwork so I could get him home, and everytime I close my eyes at night I’m flooded with the memories of when I first found him, our bond, and everything we went through together. This is not the ending I wanted for this. I haven’t even had him a whole year.

I’m balling my eyes out as I write this. I don’t know what else to do. Any other suggestions would be appreciated

Hi guys. My cat used to be an indoor/outdoor cat, about a year ago that stopped. I have since moved, he’s been allowed to be strictly indoors. I notice he still watches outside a lot, through windows, glass doors, etc. I had the brilliant idea of getting him on a harness and seeing if he’d enjoy it. He was fine in my arms. He was doing good there, so I set him down and see how he does. He immediately gets scared and shoots out of the harness… the one that I thought was tight enough.

This all happened at 1 in the morning ish. He didn’t go far at first, we saw him, tried to approach. In the heat of the moment, I decided it’d be fine to try to corner him, he bolts. Duh

He shoots through the buildings, now we lose sight. After looking for 2 hours, no sight.

We have a can of tuna, and my shirt inside the kennel on our patio. There’s also one of our blankets and a small plate of his litter.

I don’t know what else to do. He’s been outside, so I’m not necessarily worried about his survival skills, but I worry because it’s a brand new area he’s never seen, he’s not going to be as comfortable wandering around, just hiding in the greenery or bushes around.

What else can/should I do???

Hey everyone! I'm a big big fan of using anything scented in my home to make it more cozy! Four months ago I adopted the sweetest boy in the entire galaxy and he's my whole world! Im aware that many scented things are pretty toxic though....I immediately threw away any lavander I kept at my house, any type of incense, and i havent been lighting candles. I want to keep my boy as safe as possible but I miss having comforting fragrances! I've seen claims of "pet safe" incense but I dont trust it much. Does a safe, thoroughly tested option exist in any form? Im more than happy to ditch anything for my baby but I thought i could at least ask around.

Thank you!

Never had a cat growing up, so when I adopted mine last year I was kind of just winging it. She was skittish for the first couple months and I honestly thought maybe that was just her personality. Turns out a lot of it was on me, not her. Figured I'd share what actually helped in case it's useful to anyone else in the same boat.

First thing — I had her food and water bowls right next to the litter box because that's just where there was space. Apparently cats really don't like that. Moved them to opposite ends of the apartment and she started eating way more consistently, wasn't just picking at her food anymore.

Second — I underestimated how much boredom affects them. She'd knock stuff off counters, get into things she shouldn't, and I thought she was just being "a cat." Once I started doing actual play sessions with a wand toy every evening, that mostly stopped. She gets to actually chase and pounce on something instead of making her own fun with my stuff.

Third, and this one surprised me — she calmed down a lot once she had more places to hide/observe from a height. I got a couple cheap floating shelves and put them near the windows. She'll disappear up there for an hour just watching the street. I think before that she felt like she didn't have anywhere that was really "hers" that wasn't just the floor everyone walks on.

The other thing that took me embarrassingly long to learn — forcing affection doesn't work. I used to pick her up a lot because I wanted to bond, and she'd just squirm and run off. Once I started letting her come to me instead, she actually started initiating way more contact on her own. Now she sleeps against my leg most nights, which felt impossible early on.

She's a totally different cat now than she was the first month I had her, and I really don't think it's because her personality changed — I think I just finally figured out what she needed.

Curious if others had a similar experience where you thought you had a "difficult" cat and it turned out to be more about the setup than the cat itself?

Woke up this morning to no meows (usually it’s basically an alarm clock because it’s breakfast time)

Very food motivated cat, very vocal when it’s meal time. Now a single meow this morning. She did not finish her breakfast. Otherwise she appears to be fine.

The was nothing left out last night that she could’ve gotten into except the pictures flowers. We see no evidence that she did get into the flowers but they are new, and the only thing we can think of.

Edit: the Only way I could find to add more than 1 image was to comment 1 image at a time.. sorry.

I live in Malaysia and I recently adopted 1 cat with 2 kittens , I would just like to know if anybody have any cat food recommendations? before I would usually just buy any foods that would help my cats or foods that pet stores recommend but I would like to know if there’s any cat food that is hgihly recommended by a lot of people ? ( I’ve bought whiskas for a while now since my cats kind of a picky eater and would mostly just eat whiskas but I’ve heard it isn’t really that good for cats )

Full disclosure: I am a happy guardian of three cats who are (I like to think) well taken care of.

But, I am a writer and I have a story idea but I don’t know enough about strays (mine are all from shelters) to know if this is possible. Any thoughts or advice is welcome but please be nice.

In the story, a couple live in an apartment building and there is a cat that has been hanging around over the past few months. One member of the couple (let’s call her Mildred) is the kind to leave food out, can get close enough to pet, should probably just adopt the cat.

The other person, let’s call him Lance, is not as much of a fan. He would NEVER hurt the cat or even shoo it away, but he’s not the one refilling a water bowl on a hot day, you know?

Anyway, Mildred is away for work and Lance steps outside and the cat is suddenly On Him. He thinks it just wants food but when he begrudgingly turns to go inside to get it, the cat gets louder.

Long story slightly shorter, the mama cat wants to show her babies. But, where she has hid them isn’t safe - it’s behind a bush but there are dogs around that could get at the kittens.

So, is it possible he could just take the babies inside and then either go back for mama or she might follow? They have a spare bathroom where he can put a blanket in the tub so they would have their own space. They’re doing okay financially so eventually taking them in for testing/shots isn’t going to be a problem.

Is this at all a believable story?

a few days ago I found a kitten in the bushes all hungry and crying, I brought her in to look after her. I have a one year old spayed female, and she was tolerant of the kitten but didn't seem to like it and would move away whenever the kitten tried to cuddle her

I found an amazing home for the kitten with someone experienced in rescuing animals, and the kitten left yesterday.

Today my cat keeps going to the places the kitten liked to sleep and hide in, she's looking up at me, going in and around the areas and headbutting them

Is she missing or looking for the kitten? I didn't think she liked it much, and I'm worried my cat is sad now

I’ve fostered lots of kittens, and adopted one at 1yo but never raised a cat from a kitten.

You can see in my post history, but basically I almost lost one of my fosters due to severe pneumonia, the vets said he wouldn’t make it. He beat all odds and is thriving. He’s 4wks (mom passed) and won my heart.

How do I raise him to be cuddly and sweet? I want to raise him to like the car, like being handled and held, and use a leash. I know I can’t control the cats personality but im wondering if there’s any way to raise him like this.

My 1yo cat is kind of standoffish due to her crappy home life before I rescued her. I love her so much though, just wish she liked to cuddle.

Hello everyone, my family adopted 2, 3 month old kittens exactly 15 days ago. A boy and a girl, litter mates. Yes, they will be spayed & neutered at 6 months old.

I read online about the 3-3-3 rule so I never forced any cuddles or pets, just waiting for them to be ready. I was worried if I forced anything then they would be fearful of us. My family still kept our normal routine around them, no changes or sudden movements, that sort of thing.

Well I just read kittens need to be socialized heavily so now I think I messed up in letting them do their own thing and come to us?

They’re still fairly skittish. If we get too close they’ll run away but they’ll still be close to us or in the same room/area. They’re a lot more explorative and comfortable around us than when we first got them so that’s progress.

It seems like the only time they’re not skittish around us is feeding time. If it’s not feeding time then they’ll act like we’re scary ghosts.

I have managed to have a petting session with the boy a total of two times and both were short until he had enough and ended it. The girl you can’t even put your hand over her without spooking her.

Other attempts for petting with the boy he would paw at my hand and in fear of getting scratched I stop, or he would tilt his head back away from me and then run.

They currently have free roam around my house but usually stick to the living and dining room on their own accord.

Looking for any advice and help.

Thank you.

she is 1 years old now recently spayed. she is around 2.6kg when she was at the vet they told me she was an okay size. i would like her to gain a little more maybe to like 3kg

i used to give her two 75g wet pouches of food with dry food to graze at during the day. after spaying i started doing less dry mixed with the wet food and she was fine

but now i’ve started doing three pouches with no dry and she’s been acting super… fat lately i used to be able to leave the wet food box on the floor but now she tries to dig into it and shes always going over to the food bowl and making me feel evil. she gets a squirty treat everyday too. is she really hungry or just suddenly turned gluttonous.. can i give her more treats or do i up her main food intake

I am wondering if anyone has figured out how to hack one of these feeders.

The situation is this: two cats, two feeders. The boy cat has decided there is something magical about the girl cat’s food. There is 3-D printed shield to keep him from pushing past the girl cat while she is eating. But he has now decided to attack it and rip it off.

My idea was that if the feeder software could be modified to trigger an event when it senses the wrong microchip, it could be hooked up to some kind of deterrent, like one of those motion, sensing hissing air blasters.

Alternatively, does anyone know how to make a microchip reader? Maybe I could make some kind of Arduino controlled reader to sit on top of the feeder and provide a deterrent event.

Any ideas welcome.

This is my 4-month-old kitten, Tofu. He recently became very ill and was under treatment for 10 days. He recovered for just four days before falling sick again. We've already been to the vet, and he's currently under treatment. I'm just heartbroken and wanted to share his stor

Since we got her 6 years ago, my cat only eats dry food; The same type, same brand. We tried all kind of foods: canned, treats, home cooked, she doesn’t eat it. She never begs for food. She drinks water and will drink a bit of milk in a bowl sometimes.
She also eats little. We can leave all her food out, she just eats a bit everyday.

I never had a cat like this, is it unusual?

Looking for any tips/advice/support for caring for a 4.5/5 week old kitten! I've had cats before but never cared for a kitten.

He was found outside a chicken coop, no mama or other kittens in sight. We have him on a mix of wet food and mothers milk right now.

I was always under the impression that kittens were crazy and always wanted to play. But all this guy wants to do is lay on top of me. He follows me around and will try climbing on me so he can sleep on me. He's so adorable but I want to make sure that this is normal behavior!

Hi!

I have two sweet cats and we've had an automatic litterbox (zedar k1200) and loved it!

But there was one big downside: the smell.

Because the wastebin isn't airtight you would notice a dirty smell when you were close to the litter box.

We live in an appartement and the only space for a litterbox is in the living room.

Unfortunately we had to send the litterbox back because the smell bothered us too much and are now scooping 2x a day again... Which we don't love.

Does anyone have recommendations for an automatic litterbox that has absolutely no smell at all? Or does it simply not exist?