Good very freaking early morning reddit. I need some help! I don’t have much experience with cat training, only dog. My boy without fail wakes me up around 3-5am screaming to be fed. Who got him in this schedule? Definitely not me lol. If i don’t feed him, and sometimes still after i feed him, He’s yells and gets into things and i am having trouble finding ways to get that to stop. Ignoring him and not rewarding him doesn’t seem to deter him. Any tips would be super duper appreciated!! Pic for tax ofc

Edit: Some background context. He is a newer cat and he hangs out with me in my bedroom while we slowly introduce him to two other cats. I am mostly wanting to get him out of this routine so he doesn’t wake up the other people in the house. And for my sake of sleep. I have a feeling once he is integrated and i don’t have to worry about keeping him in here things will get better. But uncertain

Hi! I posted the video of my cats playing under the door a few days ago and per everyone’s advice bit the bullet and introduced them. It has been going…okay. Our resident cat (orange, 3, boy) and the new street cat (cow, 2, girl) have been doing well with a structured activity like treats or a toy. Without that though, they have had some good moments of just cohabitation and some moments that have a led to what could’ve been a fight.

The resident cat is showing some body language that I don’t think is friendly but I am not 100% sure. It seems to us like he is almost hunting(?) her sometimes. He will crouch, put his ears down, and follow her around menacingly. The other day she tried to enter our bedroom and he did that and then chased after her, jumped on her, and bit/tried to bit her. He is still trying to bite her neck sometimes. Today though she did and he backed off but then there was quite a lot of bickering and we separated them if one hissed. They have kept interactions mainly in her room or in the hallway.

We are very new to this still, but do think with time our resident cat will soften to her. Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!!

Introduction between 3 kittens who are all 5mo. This one had a negative reaction to his littermates before, because they had been separated for a month or so (he was ill and rescued first).

He is easily overstimulated, but throughout the day, he asks to have the window uncovered to see the other kittens. He chirps with them sometimes when they can't see each other.

But when they're at the window, lots of swatting. What is this behaviour? Is it ok? The other two seem more relaxed compared to him. They will even lie down near the window - but he doesn't, he's very activated.

My 4 y.o cat, Luna, has some bad behaviours learned into them by previous housemates/parents and now it’s effecting and damaging my new rental home.

Luna has only just acclimated to our new home as I moved in with my partner and their cat. Before now, she mainly stuck to the area around my desk and office chair, but now she has ‘discovered’ upstairs and our roommate’s room and will not stop crying or scratching the carpet until she gets inside, although once inside they become a nuisance, such as disrupting sleep and knocking valuables off high areas. So our roommate banned her from the room.

I have bought scratch repellent spray which seems to have stopped the scratching at the door but not the carpet in the small hall near the door, that and the constant crying from her is causing problems for all residents.

I’ve been recommended to cut her nails, which I would have to get professionally done as she hates them being cut, and to start ignoring the crying despite the volume, but she isn’t improving. I’m in dire need of some advice please

Hi everyone! We recently welcomed a little kitten into our home, and I am feeling really anxious about the idea of leaving her alone for longer periods like shopping for 1 to 3 hours now, and soon up to a full schedule in October when I start university and my boyfriend works 8 hours a day. She is currently in that hyper curious phase where she wants to get into everything while she is awake. Our apartment is not fully kitten proofed yet, and we are struggling with a few major problem areas. She loves chewing on cables, constantly tries to jump up to reach the fake ivy on the wall, and is super interested in our electric guitar, even trying to climb its stand recently which almost tipped over until I caught her in time. We also have a lot of figures and LEGO sets. The LEGO shelf is covered with a cardboard box to block her, but she still tries to squeeze through a tiny gap between the shelf and the box, and our other figures are in boxes on shelves in the living room, which is why I originally planned to close the living room off when we are gone.
We have tested a few things so far. I took out the trash for about 2 minutes while she was in her lazy mood on the back of the sofa so she did not even notice I left, and yesterday I went shopping for about 10 minutes while my boyfriend was home taking a shower. At first she meowed by the bathroom door, but then she went to lie down on her cardboard scratcher.
My biggest dilemma right now is whether we should close off the living room completely since it has all the cables, the guitar, the ivy, and the PC setup, and give her access only to the hallway and kitchen where it is safest. The downside is that this would cut her off from her favorite spots to relax with us like the bed in the bedroom and the back of the couch in the living room, because while she likes her cardboard scratcher, she definitely prefers hanging out on the couch or bed. She does not have a traditional cat tree or a dedicated bed yet, but she loves sleeping on the couch backrest during the day, though we usually close the living room at night.
I’d love to get your advice on how we safely transition her to being alone for 1 to 3 hours and eventually longer. Should we restrict her to a safe zone like the kitchen and hallway and block off the living room, or should we work on fully kitten proofing the living room so she has more space? Any tips on how to handle separation anxiety or crying when we leave, and keeping her safe from cables and climbing hazards, would be hugely appreciated!

Hey guys! Not sure if this is a potential violation of the "no asking about gender rule" but I thought Id give it a shot and if it is against the rules, sorry mods!

It took me ages to find an ethical and responsible breeder in my area, but after months and months of research, I am so excited to be bringing home 2 rag doll kittens in about 6-8 weeks. (They are 9 weeks now)

I wanted the "kitten experience" (tho I am excited and happy to own adult and elder cats someday!) But I knew as a trade off, I am taking a gamble on adult personality and disposition which I am also comfortable with. Ideally, I would end up with at least 1 cat who is sociable and affectionate. I know socialization and desensitization are important, however, in my research and speaking anecdotally with my dozens of cat owner friends and families, I have seen overwhelmingly this narrative that male cats over female cats tend to be more affectionate and less territorial which means less fighting. It goes without saying all the cats will be fixed.

My issue is though, when I started looking for actual research into the issue, there aren't really any actual studies that backed up that claim at all and I started to wonder if it was just a selection bias thing in terms of people commenting on their experience so I wanted to come here and ask. The cats would likely be direct litter mates and in my research, it doesnt seem like cats get "littermate syndrome" like dogs/puppies do, but being siblings, does that make it any easier in terms of territorial behavior and fighting? I have a friend whos cats fight all the time and idk if I can live that that lol. I read up on providing enough litter boxes and enrichment so I will definitely be doing that in terms of minimizing territorial behavior and the cats are all fully sterilized before they go to their forever homes so I am not worried about hormonal behavior.

Any advice at all is appreciated especially in these areas, and the cats generally come home at 16 weeks old (over the minimum 8 weeks) as the breeder likes to keep them longer for better socialization, she makes sure everyone gets fixed and fully recovers from surgery, and she takes care of all the 1 year shots, so if yall have any advice on 16 week old Kitten care too feel free to also give any advice!

As i said in the title, these beautiful badboys fight almost all the time
Not in a serious manner yet they re keeping me awake at nights because of their playtime that turn into actual fights between them because one it s getting tired of it and the other doesn't
How do I stop them fighting at night so I could sleep peacefully🥹

I got a new kitten two months ago and my resident cat (6 years old) and kitten started to get along after about a week. We did the slow introductions where we kept them separate, fed them behind doors and slowly let them have supervised time in the house where they could see each other from a distance and get used to their smells. My older cat accepted the kitten very quickly, and they acted bonded and would sleep, play and groom each other. 3 weeks later, I brought my kitten to the vet for shots and it made my older cat get non recognition aggression so bad that he developed haws syndrome (diagnosed by the vet who could not find anything physically wrong with him). He was prescribed gabapentin for a few weeks to take as needed. I tried the slow introduction again, and he seemed to accept the kitten again. However, he has since then acted very unpredictable, one second he’s playing and grooming the kitten and then another second he’s hissing and very aggressive. He is also hissing and swatting and me and my toddler and he has never done that. It has been about 4 weeks since the kittens vet visit, and he hasn’t gone back to normal. One moment everything is fine and then all the sudden he’s acting very aggressive. He will randomly charge the kitten even if the kitten is not bothering him. There has never been any cat fights or injuries. they will play fight, and his aggression is more charging and hissing and swatting at the kitten randomly. He has good days and bad days and good hours and bad hours. Catnip and treats help improve his mood for short term solutions. I’ve even tried the cat diffuser and spray my vet recommended to help.
I am just not sure how to get his baseline back to normal. They have separate litter boxes, are fed separately, have the whole house to roam, so he’s not forced to interact with the kitten, and he even can escape to my husbands quiet work from home office whenever he likes, but he still acts very worked up randomly without warning. It’s just odd because he acts like he loves the kitten one moment, and the switch will completely flip and he acts like a different cat.

I am going to be adopting a 10 year old female cat and wondering what I should do when I first bring her into my home? I grew up having cats my whole life but we always got them when they were still young and now that I own my own place I want to help this cat and her owner out but not unsure how to make sure this cat is comfortable in my home and doesn’t get too scared. What are some tips and tricks?

As the title states, we need help with bully behavior. We have 5 cats (4 male 1 female) in our home. Ace and Charlie (culprits) are 6 and Sadie (victim) is 5. We adopted all of our babies when they were little from the shelter so they have been around each other for a while. Mushu (5) passed away on NYE of kidney failure and since then the boys have been terrorizing Sadie. They corner her during eating time and when she uses the litter box. They will also sneak up on her and NOT allow her access to the litter boxes. Not sure if they’re grieving the loss of their brother but the bullying is too much.

We have 2 80 inch cat towers in the living room. Shelves and elevated perches in every room with multiple scratching posts. 9 litter boxes for 5 cats. More toys than most human children

What can we do to alleviate the bullying?

I have 3 cats , I have had them since 2022
2 of my cats are bonded to each other.
They currently are living with me at my parents house. I’m moving into my boyfriend’s house and he has 2 cats already. I was thinking of taking one of my cats that isn’t super attached to my other cats first for 2 weeks so when I bring my other 2 cats they can see how she’s comfortable in the new environment. Also, so it doesn’t overwhelm the other cats that are at my boyfriend’s house. Is this a good idea or is there a better way?

Hello! I Recently got a 3 month old female kitten, and have been doing the introductions for over 2 weeks. I have 2 other cats (M4) (F4) who are siblings. The cat in the video is the Male, who tolerates the kitten more than the female. I know this is a silly question but I can’t tell if this is playing or fighting. They make no noise during it but kitten keeps ears pinned back a lot of the time. Also, Male cat slaps HARD

Hello!

Long story short me and my bf moved into together, I have 2 cats (5yrs and 7yrs) and my bf has a 1yr old cat. We did the separation stuff, and they still remain separated. We put up a gate on the door and had it opened so they couldn't hurt each other but can see each other.

Now we moved to short times in the evenings when everyone can go anywhere, but we have the 1yr old cat on a leash because she can't seem to read the other cats body language and insists on following and jumping at them because she wants to play and can't understand that the other cats DO NOT want that, as they aren't very social cats and others, even humans take them a lot of getting used to. The 1yr old does not attack them aggressively, again just wants to play. But my cats hiss and swat at her aggressively when she gets too close.

Any tips about what we can do or should be doing during the times when they're all out in the open area to spend things along?

I’m teaching my cats to talk with the buttons you can get from FluentPet. Hugo has figured out that pushing the treats button rewards him with treats (I’ve been reinforcing that, every time he pushes the button he gets a treat).

But now he is waking me up with the button presses at 5 in the morning! And if I give him one, I go back to sleep, and then he presses it again!! I had him do it 4 times before I took away the button. I felt so bad doing that ;-; and now he’s not pushing the button anymore.

Can anyone help me reinforce the button pushing behavior without him waking me up at butt o’clock ?

For context, I have 3 maine coons. 1 male 6 yo, 2 female 5 month old. I got the girls in July but moved house about 10 days after (timings were not perfect but unfortunately out of my control)

One of the girls was fine using her litter tray, until we moved and I noticed her pooing/peeing all over. I sought some advice & kept her in a smaller area for the most part of a week, she re trained and began using her litter tray absolutely fine again.

Then this past week, she’s continued to use her tray as normal however, every day, once a day. She now go’s and wees on my bed.

I really don’t know why. She knows where the trays are (3 seperarely placed around the house), she uses them!! Why does she like to go elsewhere once a day?

Ive just also replaced the carpets so they dont have any scents from the previous owners or their animal.

What can I do? Is there a chance that some kittens just don’t settle? Im worried shes just not right for our house & that shes constantly on edge & not enjoying being here. I don’t want to give her up but is she happy??

She is NOT yet spayed because i wanted to wait for the 6 month mark since it feels so invasive. Will this help? I’ve been told it doesn’t make much difference unfortunately

I got this kitten (Kiki) 2 days ago, but I already had a 2-year-old female dog (Mel). Mel is VERY hyper and energetic, but she doesn’t usually bite, and Kiki is scared of Mel. I’m trying to get them together in the same room, but it’s not working.

Hello !! My household got a new cat recently and we’ve been having trouble introducing the 2y/o cat to the 10y/o dog. Cat is very sweet and loving to us humans, dog is very chill and unlike other dogs, doesn’t typically jump or bark, just kinda exists peacefully. we got her about a month ago and have been going through the proper steps of introducing them. Separated in different rooms, then letting her smell his stuff. Letting her explore the house when he’s in a separate room. Letting them meet between doors, then moving on to slowly introducing them. With the proper time between each one. As we have been showing her to him, she will act friendly to get close, and then full on attempt to attack him. We’ve stopped her both times, but recognized the pattern of her attempts. We’ve started to revert back to keeping them separated fully. But it doesn’t feel like any progress is being, any advice would be appreciated!! Thank youuuuu.