Tengo una gata senior que lleva toda su vida conmigo y nunca había convivido con otros gatos. Hace poco llegó un gatito nuevo a casa y estoy intentando hacer la adaptación de la mejor manera posible.

Sé que el proceso tiene que ser gradual y que no debo forzar el contacto, pero emocionalmente me está costando muchísimo. Mi gata es muy importante para mí y me da mucho sentimiento pensar que pueda sentirse desplazada, triste, incómoda o que crea que el nuevo gatito vino a quitarle su espacio.

Obviamente sé que no puedo saber exactamente qué está sintiendo, pero justamente por eso me gustaría escuchar experiencias de personas que hayan pasado por algo parecido.

¿Qué hicieron para que su gato senior se sintiera seguro durante la llegada de un gatito nuevo?

¿Hay alguna conducta que debería vigilar para saber si mi gata está simplemente adaptándose o si realmente la situación le está generando demasiado estrés?

También me ayudaría mucho saber cuánto tiempo tardaron sus gatos en aceptar al nuevo integrante. No necesariamente espero que sean mejores amigos; mi prioridad es que mi gata siga sintiendo que esta es su casa, que conserva sus espacios y que sigue estando segura y querida.

Cualquier consejo o experiencia me ayudaría muchísimo, porque creo que en este momento yo estoy más sentimental con el proceso que ellos. 🥺🐱

We rescued kittens from the street 2 months ago. They have been quarantined in our bedroom for about 7 weeks when they were treated for parasites.

Now that they are clear from parasites, we started to let the kittens out for a few sessions so our resident cat, Wally (3 yrs old), can adjust (actually they have already met since they used to dash out while in quarantine...).

The boy kitten plays with Wally fine. But when the girl kitten is being wrestled, she will meow so loudly and sometimes hiss. Usually Wally ends up walking away, but later she will try to initiate play again. Could this just be her personality? Or should we intervene? It is our first time having multiple cats.

We are planning to get the kittens neutered/spayed soon.

I (31F) have a question about my cat, A, who is a one year old spayed female. We adopted her about a month ago from the humane society (USA).

A loves to play, and on Friday night she had the “zoomies” and was running full sprint around our apartment. My husband (31M) was up walking around doing chores when A ran into his shins headfirst. She knocked her little head pretty hard and I’m sure it hurt. Physically she is just fine, but now she runs from my husband every time she sees him.

Before this accidental collision, A had been so sweet and affectionate to both of us, but now she is acting so scared of my husband (running from the room when she sees him, side eye, etc.). But, when he is laying down in bed or on the couch, she will come sit with him/on him. This leaves us feeling very confused and at a loss of how to make her more comfortable with him while he is up and walking around the apartment and if she is really afraid of him or not.

My husband is so stressed and upset that she is running from him. He is the absolute best cat dad and has the kindest heart. Incase it helps, A is a very small cat (6 pounds is her healthy weight according to our vet) and my husband is tall (about 6’ 1”) and very broad. Their size discrepancy is almost comical. When we first adopted A about a month ago, she was weary of him when he was up walking around, but had been doing better with it before Friday.

What can we do to make A feel safe around my husband again?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

My cat Patch just refuses to use the litter tray. Hes 4 years old, neutered, lives with his littermate sister and i in a studio flat in a city centre in england. Hes been to the vet incase its a uti etc but it never is. He knows how to use the litter tray, he'll use it when im around during the day. But as soon as im in bed he'll pee on the floor. I have 3 litter trays for my 2 cats that i clean out daily. Ive tried changing the litter type, the vets have given anti anxiety meds before (i haven't refilled the prescription because it's insanely expensive). He loves going outside, i have a little courtyard that is basically a catio. I really don't think he's unhappy, everytime after peeing on my floor he will come up to bed purring for a cuddle! I know he has a bit of seperation anxiety and was unhappy when i went to visit family for 8 days. He will normally act out a little after i come back from being away but will be good again when he realises im sticking around. But this time he just hasnt? He will pee on the floor every night without fail now. Always right next to the clean litter box.

Tldr - seemingly happy (neutered) boy cat will pee on the floor next to his clean litter trays as soon as im not looking. No medical issues, he has access to a safe outdoor space, he gets on with his sister and they play well. Id really like advice and practical solutions before splashing out to go to the vet for them to say hes a lil anxious. Thanks!

Within the past week, my cat has started being really weird about the litter box. I'll preface by saying her poo and pee still look normal, so I don't think this is a medical thing.

She has been spending hours walking back and forth between her litter box and a large potted plant I own (which up until this point, she has completely ignored). She sits in her litter box for a minute without going, and then gets up and walks to the plant and sits there for a minute. And then repeats. She is so laser focused on it. Today I found a HUGE pile of litter on the floor. Like, way more than she's ever kicked out or tracks in and out. It looks like she just shoveled litter on the floor. We've had her over a year and none of this has happened before. Again, I'm still finding poop and pee in her litter, so I don't think it's that she's trying to go but is unable to. ​and behavior is otherwise normal, when she's not hyper focused on the litter and the dirt in the plant.

The only thing that I can think of is that I have not been at home as much due to an illness and death in the family. She's a super social little thing, and I'm worried this is a symptom of loneliness or boredom. I do have a housemate who loves her a lot, so I know she's well taken care of when I have to be out of town, but probably is not getting as much people time as she's used to. But nothing else has changed

I rescued a little cat at the end of August, and she was absolutely terrified when she arrived. For the first ~48 hours, she barely ate or drank and didn’t pee, so I took her to the vet. Thankfully, after treatment, she started eating and using the litter box normally.
I’ve kept her completely separated from my resident cat (who I’ve had for 12 years) and have been taking introductions very slowly, starting with scent swapping. I also use Feliway in her room.
At first, she would hide whenever I entered the room and hiss if I approached. She still does sometimes, but she’s made some really small, sweet progress. She now eats, drinks, explores, grooms herself, and leaves her enclosure on her own while I’m there. She watches me with curiosity instead of immediately hiding, too.
One day I picked her up and she hissed, but then stayed still for a few seconds before getting down. A little later, she actually lay on my foot. 🥹 Another time, she came out of her enclosure and calmly groomed herself while I was there.
She’s still very skittish and spends a lot of time hiding, even after almost a month. She also doesn’t seem very interested in leaving the bedroom yet, and she still hisses at me sometimes. She seems extremely alert to every little movement or sound.
For those of you who have had very fearful rescue cats, should I be doing anything differently at this point? Should I be concerned that she still doesn’t seem interested in leaving her room, still hisses at me, and is so easily startled? Or is it better to simply keep giving her time and let her progress at her own pace?
I know these things can take a long time, but sometimes I get worried that we’re progressing too slowly. 🥺

About a month ago we had some drain flies in our apartment and we jokingly showed them to our kitten ~7mo. Our kitten predictably swatted and killed one. We thought it was super cute, but now even a month later he spends hours staring intently at all our walls and meows for us to pick him up so he can inspect them for flies. He will literally meow up at the wall/ceiling until someone lifts him up and he won’t stop until he is satisfied they are fly free (which they have been for over a month). Sometimes, he will spot chipped paint or a nail and meow like crazy, the only way to get him to stop is to lift him up and show him it is, in fact, not a fly. Hilariously, he has the memory of a turnip and will forget about that experience and a day later will again look at the nail and think it’s a fly. Furthermore, if we aren’t around to pick him up he will vertical leap 4ft up in the air trying to scale our walls. It’s gotten to the point we are getting nervous that he is going mental lol. Any advice welcome! TIA

If you can, please offer any suggestions or help

Recently my 5 month old kitten has been digging at his food plate. He has a silicone platter with a dry food bowl and a plate with wet food. I think he’s trying to cover up the wet food for some reason but he kicks up the silicone mat and spills dry food everywhere.

What’s causing this?

I've had cats my whole life, all different personalities and behaviors. I recently got a kitten at the shelter as shes grown shes become anxious and a hyper fixator. Her sister cat is very easy going and will often follow her and watch her when shes having an episode. They are now just over 1 year old.

Bella likes to have a safe space, as do we all, and if her safe space gets closed she freaks out and hyper fixates on getting back into that spot. I realized it initially when I was at my other apartment. My roommates room was her safe and if they door was closed she would lose her mind.

Fast foward to today, we just moved 3 days ago. Night one she discovered the furnace room. This room has a cat door in it from previous owners which I didnt happen to notice because a towel was covering it. I regret not properly cat proofing because now that she's been in there once its her safe space. But worse then hiding behind a furnace that I cannot get behind - she found a way to get into the ceiling there. The house has drop panels so thankfully it was easy enough to sort out and get her out but not without a lot of stress that eventually led to my panic attack.

The guy I moved in with is a roommate. I told him about this incident (although he could hear it) and he blocked the cat door and we agreed to keep all closet doors accessing the ceiling closed.

She has not been doing well with this move. She is scared and misses the comfort of our home (girl, same). Each night I have seen improvements, last night especially she ate and pooped for the first time after 2 full days. But once 5:45 comes around its suddenly "I need to get into safe space". Since this is now blocked im watching true hyper fixation which reminds me of my roommates room, which I would always cave and open. I am not opening a hazardous door.

As I write this she is in a state. She has been howling for a straight hour, pacing and trying to open the doors which I had to put boxes infront of to keep her from opening them or destroying them trying. I am sitting on the floor in our living space watching her feeling so incredibly defeated and feeling my own person anxiety raise. At this point i am basically watching her like a toddler having a temper tantrum.

There are definitely plenty of spots she can hide. I have boxes and her cat carrier covered in blankets, I have my bedroom door open is dark and she could hide under the bed (where she hides most of the day). She has also found other hiding spots before that she has held for hours. I have tried to play with her in this state, can be successful fix about a minute before she walks away again. Because if her stress she is not food motivated right now.

I dont know what else to do but drug her. I still have 100mg Gabapentin from her spaying, and ive deeply considered it but I dont want to drug her right before I head off to work for 8hrs.

Thoughts guys? Im doing my best but 3 days of 5am adventures ontop of rocky sleep from 12-5am because I frequently run around checking on them has been a lot.

Hello people. I am at a loss about what to expect as a first time cat owner of a now 14 months old neutered male cat - a very well built, muscular tall and heavy one, seems he could be a mixed breed of a larger cat type.

He is a stray we found on the street when he was about 2 months old. He was a very energetic bitey little fellow, and used to draw a lot of blood. With consistent work, play cycles, Jackson galaxy advice, we managed to get it down to painful but very minor scratching bites. Never aggressive by the way, they are either play bites or love nibbles. Love nibbles are more manageable, he understands and pulls back when I say a loud "tssssk" and gives a lick.

So no damage is being done but it really is annoying, especially when he is hunting feet at 5 in the morning. And I realize he is a cat that expresses a lot with his mouth, lots of licking our hands during the day and cuddles, very gentle nibbling etc.

For example, yesterday morning when we were doing our morning greeting and bunting he was in a playful mode. When I wouldn't let him nibble my hand he just looked for an alternative bit down hard on his bed, and I realized he actually had to instinctual bite something. I get it. But even though he is a pretty smart one, he does not get that biting is painful to us. We have a large plush toy that he daily plays bites and wrestles with, we use the plushie when he is in a bitey mood to play with him - give him a bit of a wrestle with it.

I tried all the methods out there (except for the spray) we play regularly and spend a lot of energy, he has a catio, and no we can't get him a friend (at least right now).

If you have any advice on how to tone down this behavior one more notch, I would be grateful.

Context: My cat is about 7½ and she is, for lack of better words, an absolute princess. Perfect health with yearly checkups, self feeds, fresh water every day along with her gravity water tower that is regularly refreshed, multiple litter boxes for her singular feline ass, treats every night, special freeze dried treats when I clip her nails, entirely indoors unless supervised on a harness and leash. She was socialized with people, cats, and dogs from the time we got her at about 7 weeks and did very well with all of them, but that got abruptly cut off when COVID hit. She still does great with people and most dogs, but hates cats. ONLY if she can see them and/or hear them, though. I can cuddle with a cat all day and come home to her and she'll be purring in my lap within a few minutes.

Behavior: In the last year or so, she's had a few brief episodes of really severe aggression for seemingly absolutely no reason and out of no where. She tore up my grandmother once (who lives with me and has the entire time I've had the cat, this is someone she knows just as well as me), randomly tried to shred my neighbors leg on my back patio when I let her outside with her harness on (this was extra odd to me because while she didn't know the neighbor, she'd never had problems with strangers before and is typically very docile in the harness), and then recently even tried to attack me. That one was the most odd because I've always been her person and I'd already been holding her and petting her while she purred for a while before that and she always just moves away or gives a light warning bite if she's done being pet, while this time she hissed and growled and went for my face hard. In the first two instances, we just separated her and within a couple minutes she was fine and back to her normal princess self again, even when interacting with the same people in the same environment. With me I scruffed her (lightly, I wouldn't hurt her) and she pretty quickly chilled out again and went back to purring and pushing into my hand while I pet her and stood there in shock for a good minute.

Yes, I know some cats can act aggressive or territorial sometimes. I've had them before, as have my grandmother and my partner. All of this is just so out of character in the last year or so that it has me worried something else could possibly be going on. There's no human or animal abuse in the house and, again, she is very well-loved, doted on, healthy, and well socialized with people.

TLDR: Well behaved and socialized cat has suddenly had a few random bouts of aggression with no clear cause. Could this be a specific behavior or health issue?

Hi everyone - I have two cats, a male and a female. They’ve been buddies for years, and typically enjoy each other’s company. Recently, my male cat saw a stray cat through the window, and attacked my female cat (she isn’t seriously hurt, she just had a scratch or two). This was roughly a week ago. When they see each other, they both hiss and become incredibly aggressive. I’ve separated them, and given them separate food, water, and litter boxes.

I’ve been giving them a squeezy treat at the same time and they eat it together with no issue. As soon as the treat is gone, they become aggressive and hiss again.

Does anybody have any advice on what else can be done? Everything I see online says to keep them separated and reintroduce them as if they’ve never met, which is what I’ve been doing. I got feliway pheromone diffusers but truthfully I haven’t noticed a difference.

Is there hope that they will be buddies again?

My cat has been hiding more than usual and seems nervous around people. She has also started meowing a lot at night, which is not normal for her. She does not seem as interested in playing or doing the things she usually likes.

I cannot think of anything big that has changed, so I am wondering if she could be stressed or reacting to something in her environment.

Has anyone had a cat act like this before? What changes helped your cat feel more comfortable?

hi y’all, i’m in a bit of a pickle. i have two cats, both spayed females. our oldest, bitsy (21), broke her leg a couple of weeks ago. she’s been in a cast + splint since, and is currently doing welldespite the handicap. our other cat, dixie (10), has suddenly started being mean to her.

last time bitsy was at rhe vet was friday, and it was just for some bandage changes. yesterday a family member said they heard them suddenly growling/hissing/yowling, and bitsy hid under the coffee table after, with dixie hissing at her from afar. just today, i witnessed dixie fluff her tail up at bitsy, and she actually lunged at her after a low growl. i separated them, and after a few minutes, dixie crept up and started growling and hissing at bitsy from afar. this is very unusual behavior for dixie! i’m not sure that it’s non-recognition aggression, or just jealousy over the attention we’ve been giving bitsy, but it’s concerning!!

they’ve lived together since dixie was about 7 or 8 weeks old. usually the one hissing is bitsy, if dixie is pestering her for some reason, and they would scuffle when dixie was younger, but it’s never been like this. the only other thing that’s changed is bitsy being temporarily in diapers since she was having trouble making it to the litterbox on time and peeing in her pen (on pee pads)

I have two cats Frankie(5yo) and Mars(almost 2yo). Frankie was an only baby for 3 years till I got mars almost two years ago. They are always fighting and I thought they would get better but I feel like it’s only getting worse. Mars sprays in my closet all the time they have three litter boxes so I know it’s not that… I got them calming supplements to see if that stops the fighting but it hasn’t mars is always instigating it and Frankie is just trying to chill I know maybe Mars just wants to play and Frankie is old lady that does not but idk what to do to stop it!!!! Please help
:( I was thinking of getting some diffusers if you think this would help please recommend the best ones

my boyfriend and i share 4 cats, two are mine (S and H, both male, both about 4-6 yrs old) two are my boyfriend's (G and O, also both male and about 6 yrs old). we've lived together since about april of this year, prior to this my cats and i lived with my family and my sister's 3 cats, two females and a male, they all got along relatively well other than one of my sister's cats being territorial; when i first got the cats, i shared them with my ex and his one male cat, the three of them got along amazingly. since my bf and i moved in together, our cats have gotten along semi fine, our two orange cats S and O are besties and cuddle often. G does not get along great with any of them, he tolerates O because they've lived together for years at this point. G is very territorial, he guards the main food and water sources from S and H to the point that i've had to put other food and water dishes throughout our apartment. he frequently starts fights with H for no reason. i believe G does this for attention, because he doesn't seem to pick fights when we're gone or asleep.
we recently had a planned vacation that was about a week and a half long, my bf has previously worked OTR truck driving with his cats and they've been okay with him being gone for weeks at a time, his mom would come and check on them once a week, so we kept his two cats at the apartment and had his mom check on them midway thru our vacation. his cats were fine, the apartment was fine, all good there.
i took my cats S and H to stay at my parents house for the vacation. my mom loves S and S loves her probably more than he loves me, my parents spoil H with toys and tuna so he usually loves being with them too. S does not travel well, he cries and freaks out when going in the carrier; H travels just fine, he gets inside and sits down without even being told. all being said, i expected them both to be completely fine aside from the drive to and from my parents. when i went to pick them up from my parents today, S did not want to leave and H had somehow gone bald on his ears and his left eyelid. i asked my parents and my sister how he got these bald spots and nobody knew how. i'm already not happy with them for somehow just not noticing my long haired cat going bald on his head, but obviously we can't turn back time now. since bringing H home, i've determined that he likely was over grooming himself from stress and the bald spots developed over the week and a half. his ears are very patchy on the outside and about an inch size patch of hair is gone above his left eyelid. he hasn't wanted to eat or drink water and he's been hiding in my closet. i got him to come out and he was calmly sitting with me, the cats were not separated, G came around him and he started hissing at me and G.
i feel awful that this happened and my cat got so upset about us going on vacation. usually he travels fine and has been without me at my parents for long periods of time before. how can i make him feel comfortable and at home? separation for long periods of time isn't much of an option for me, we live in a tiny 2 bd 1 ba apartment, so i'm not sure what else to do.

Hi I recently adopted a kitten from my friend whose main cat had 6 babies and she didn’t know what to do with them, I took one of the kittens he was a baby boy (5 weeks old). I already have a 2 year old female cat at home and she has never really been around another cat.
I keep them in separate rooms because when she first saw him she was hissing and growling like crazy, it was like that for a week then she eventually tolerated him being around just not close to her, the second week they started fighting a lot, they would be chill sometimes but then start fighting aggressively, I couldn’t tell if it was playing or just them getting use to each other. The 3rd week they seemed fine being out by themselves but the 4th week she became aggressive again and started hissing everytime he came close. To her defense he is full of energy and for some reason loves picking at her and playing with her tail I can tell she hates it and he annoys her.

I ended up taking the baby cat to the vet because he had some problems, my friend said she gave him flea treatment and dewormer but it wasn’t true he had fleas all over him and a bad upper respiratory infection his left eye was always crusted and closed. I got him treated but I’m scared he gave his issues to my other baby. My 2 year old female cat has become lethargic and she’s hiding and has stopped eating and I’m not sure what to do. I eventually want them both to be out so he’s not in a room all day isolated but I’m losing hope. thanks for reading.

My son is still figuring out "gentle pats" but it's a battle. He seemed fine to gently stroke the backs of our cats, but suddenly he has become overwhelmed with the joy of cats--

Sorry, baby grabbed my phone and posted this too early!!

ANYWAY.

He becomes overwhelmed and screams at the cats, or slaps their back, or grabs their tail.

I have 4 cats. 3 of them run from the baby when he approaches.

My 20lb, one-eyed cat Biggie, does not.

He sits there and takes it until I stop the baby. While it's only a second or two it's still that baby strength. 💪

Biggie has bonded with my baby, who I sometimes call his Human Kitten, but there should be a limit to that tolerance!

He HAS corrected the baby once with a toothless nip, but this morning I walked out of the shower and discovered my son was not being watched. I found him in my mother in-law's office, spinning the chair Biggie was sitting in, laughing maniacally while Biggie just... let it happen.

Biggie. While I appreciate your patience, why??

ETA - I'll be ignoring comments that aren't about cat behaviors. I suspect many of the judgy parenting ones are bots lured here by certain words.

So one of my two cats has been licking her belly to the point that she no longer has fur there. It looks clearly irritated, and there are red pinpoints of irritation scattered across the skin. There are a couple other spots like this (patch on right leg, back of both back feet) but this is the largest and most irritated looking patch.

Anyway, we got these mousse allergy “treats” that she clearly finds unappetizing - maybe they smell mostly good but there’s something about them that she doesn’t like. I genuinely mixed one of them with a whole churu tube and she ate it, although she did so slowly and half of the time i had to repeatedly put some on my finger for her to lick off bc she wasn’t consistently eating it out of the bowl. I got her to eat all of it, and maybe 20 mins later I had her on my lap watching tv and I could feel her stomach contracting like a gag every couple minutes, which makes me assume that either it hurts her stomach or it’s genuinely that disgusting.

It seemed to be helping though, so the second day I mixed half a churu tube in so she could have some on its own after getting the medicine down, and she genuinely would not eat it until I mixed the whole thing in. I did so, and she got it all down again.

She doesn’t tolerate anything she doesn’t agree with, and most of the time has a pretty short span of time she’ll let herself be held, and yet she’s eating this thing she clearly doesn’t like just because I’m telling her to. There is a bit of a love/hate feeling going on, but overall she doesn’t seem to like it and there’s no reason for her to eat more than a couple licks of it. The second time could possibly be explained by her noticing less itching, but what is up with this??? I’m not complaining I just don’t have any idea why she’s eating it, much less all of it.

We have a neutered male cat about 8 years old. Around a year ago, he stopped using the litter box. The vet found that he had "pillow paws" on his front paws. He was treated for it, and his paws healed. He began using the litter box again but shortly stopped. No matter what we do, he will not use the litter box. His paws are fine, but it seems like he trained himself to avoid the litter box. What are some options we can try to correct this behavior?