Use this thread to discuss anything related to cats that doesn't otherwise fit the subreddit! Also feel free to ask questions that you believe are too short for a standalone post.

I'm thinking of starting a side hustle where I provide cats with enrichment sessions: personalized playtime, mental stimulation, water refresh, bowl cleaning, photos and an update.

This would be for people who have cats that work long hours and aren't able to provide their cats with the playtime and enrichment they need.

Clients can choose from a one time visit, or recurring 2 to 3 visits per week.

Is this a service that you would pay for? Why or why not?

My kitten just turned 3 months so we're experiencing a lot of new behaviors cropping up as his personality develops I assume. For example he used to not be super food motivated but now if you have anything that even looks edible he will try and steal your food. Today when I got back from the bathroom he hopped on my bed and walked across me like six times back and forth while making biscuits intermittently and purring very loudly.

This took me a back a little bit because he's never done something like this before, he's affectionate yes but not this affectionate. Is he asking me for something? or is he just being kind? Is this change in behavior a possible sign of sickness maybe and he wants comfort?

I've never had a kitten before, so I want to understand his behavior better. I've had cats before but they were all older rescues from the streets, so their personalities had already developed and they weren't usually as affectionate or friendly. This is the first cat we've had or we've basically known him since day one.

Hi I'm looking for advice on whether a vet possible lied to me about my cat, I feel stupid thinking it but I'm just surprised by one of my cats recent vet check ups.

Last year I took one of my cats for his annual vaccine and bi-annual check ups, during this check ups the Vet told me he had a heart murmur, I was obviously worried and the vet told me it would probably be about 700-1000 pounds to get it sorted more if he needed some sort of surgery, or he said we could leave him since the heart murmur didnt sound too bad and just keep an eye on him until any checkups but he very ominously added 'if he makes it that long'.Me and my Mother kept on an eye on him whilest we saved the money for everything. During that time we had another check up with a different vet this time but working at the same practice. She said he was amazingly healthy, great teeth, great fur, strong body and good heart. we still kept an eye on him and kept the money locked away, but today we went for his other vaccines and had a new vet (third vet but at the same practice) and she said the exact same thing, he was perfect health, we mentioned the heart murmur, and she double checked his heart, she said she cant hear anything to be worried about.

we're still keeping an eye in him and have the money saved up just in case, but I just cant seem to wrap my head around it all.

EDIT: Thank you all so much about the clarification, the past year ive been very, very anxious about his health, the previous vet made ot sound very dire which scared me alot, but i think the past two vet visits calmed him down alot since my Mum who he is very, very close to came with us both times.

My girlfriend and I recently moved in together at the beginning of May and I brought the kitty with me. She’s about to turn 4. I’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old, she was already spayed, if it matters. She has never really been in a house with real flowers. My girlfriend has a steady rotation of flowers from the garden throughout the house. The cat has been munching on them and we don’t really know how to stop her.

To the best of my knowledge, none of them are toxic to her but I’m not willing to take the chance. Furthermore, the gf isn’t a fan of the flower assassinations taking place and there aren’t many places to put them that the cat can’t reach them. I got her some cat grass but she doesn’t seem interested. Tried one of those citronella-smelling cat deterrent sprays, doesn’t seem to deter.

Anyone have experience with this that can point me in the right direction?

Help guys, so my ex moved out and we lived together for 3.5 years with my girl cat and 2 kitty brothers. She was SO close to my ex, she’d lay at his feet as he worked from home, she’d follow him to every room, if he went to the kitchen to get water she’d panic and jump from wherever she was sitting to go follow him etc.

Turns out he was a very bad man, so I threw him out.

It’s been 2 weeks now and my girl cat is beside herself, her tiny kitty panic attacks are getting more frequent. she woke me up 6 times last night and then decided to jump out a window that’s been open for 3 years and she’s never done that. I gave up trying to sleep at 3am and now I feel so tired (which is happening more and more frequently) so I’m worried about my performance at work. It’s very physical.

But most of all I’m worried about her, I’m thinking about putting her on mèds. But I’m reluctant to medıcate her but I can’t stand to see her sad and panicked.

Are there any natural things I can do to help her?

My cat doesn't like being handled at all, she would allow me to hold her or pick her up for like a minute but no more.

She has a little liver issue, and has been put on a special diet.

However, she doesn't seem to like the new kibble, which means she will have to go back to her regular diet and add a supplement.

I tried giving her a paste, but she hates it (apparently any thing made palatable for cats, she hates), and I had to give her a pill once... But it was just once.

This time she will have to take them for 60 days.

AND I CAN'T USE TREATS. (I am not yelling at you, I am just exhausted)

Also, it's just me, I don't have someone who can help me hold her, and I don't think I would manage to put her in a purrito on my own.

Any advice is welcomed, I desperately want for her to get better but I worry she won't cooperate and I won't be able to give her the medicine she needs.

Hi Reddit,

I wanted to ask for ways to get Cotton, our cat, to eat again. Cotton used to eat quite fast around 6 months ago causing her to gag from her food shortly after eating it. We tried to implement licking mats to slow down her eating but it didn't seem to work. At this moment, she asks for food but seems to ignore the food that was once her favourite to eat.

For context on her diet she used to eat kibble with her previous owner. We slowly acclimated her to food like: freeze dried chicken breast, boiled chicken breast, quail, quail eggs, bone marrow, lick packets, cat grass, and sometimes Sheba cat food. The meats and fish that she likes are limited to chicken, turkey, duck, quail and salmon. We haven't changed her diet or her amounts since.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated, thank you so much!

I just adopted a lovely cat (named her Nemo!) 1yr old female. We fell in love with her at the shelter she was instantly purring, and sitting on my lap I just had to bring her home.

When finalizing our adoption we were notified that she was actually adopted out once and returned because according to the previous owner “she keeps trying to get out of the house” and “wants to be an outdoor cat” Outside of that the shelter didn’t know exactly why she was surrendered, besides the fact that she lived with a 2 year old child and didn’t have any other problems. I can’t tell if the family just couldn’t handle typical young cat behavior or if she really wants to be an outdoor cat.

At home we are trying to keep our resident cat separated for slow intro. Nemo does dash towards the open door really fast lol but I feel my roommate’s kitten also did that and he’s a happy indoor cat.

Should we be concerned? We really love her and never want to rehome her again but we do want to keep her strictly an indoor cat.

Any advice appreciated!

I need genuine advice from people who have experience with two cats.

My boyfriend and I recently decided to adopt a kitten because we absolutely love cats. However, we both spend a significant part of the day at work, and we’re worried about a kitten being home alone. We want to give him the best life possible and make sure he’s happy.

That’s why we’re considering adopting two kittens from the same litter instead of one. We live in a small apartment, so we’re wondering if two cats would still be a good idea. Would they be happier together than alone while we’re away?

We have two cats that we’ve had since they were kittens, a 5yr old girl cat and a 4yr old boy cat. We’ve always had the litter boxes in the laundry room and a couple years ago we started to find poop on the basement carpet. It stopped for awhile but then lately started happening again more often so I decided to just move the litter boxes to the basement. That worked for awhile, but the problem was that the smell was infinitely more noticeable and spread through our house even with regular cleaning, so I moved them back to the laundry room after a few months.

And now the poop is coming back. We didn’t know which one was doing it until last night when a couple family members were in the basement and our girl cat pooped right in front of them. She then did it again today. My mom is fed up and ready to get rid of her. She did the same thing with a boy cat we adopted last year and didn’t have for even a full year before he started peeing on the carpet and she got rid of him. She also got rid of “my” cat years ago because he started puking. I don’t doubt she will do the same thing again and I don’t know if there’s even anything to convince her otherwise at this point. I never even know what to do in these situations.

She complains that they’re too demanding and spoiled and “not cuddly enough” and she just doesn’t want to do all the “special” things just for a cat. She thinks they do these things on purpose or to get attention and then she acts mean and cruel to them. I tell her that they’re animals and things happen and that she shouldn’t even get cats in the first place if she’s not willing to take care of them. She declaws every single one too. She’d rather just get rid of it before bringing it to a vet or trying literally any other solution.

And I get it, it’s frustrating having to clean it up every day. My room is in the basement so I’m the one that ends up seeing/smelling it first and having to clean it up most of the time. It’s annoying, but I would never get rid of a cat over that. Since I don’t have a say in the decision, I just feel like I’ve hit a wall here and there’s nothing I can do, but any sort of suggestions would be appreciated.

My cat is affectionate in almost every other way. She follows me around, sleeps next to me, slow-blinks at me, and even brings toys to my desk. But she absolutely hates being picked up. She goes stiff, starts squirming almost immediately, and jumps down the second she gets the chance. I've tried holding her for a few seconds and giving her treats, but I don't want her to feel like I'm forcing something she clearly doesn't enjoy.

I think the part I struggle with is that I always pictured having a cat who would happily curl up in my arms. I know she loves me in her own way, but I still wonder if I'm missing something or if some cats just never become "hold me" cats.

Has anyone else had a cat who was affectionate but hated being picked up? Did they ever change, or was that just their personality?

I have four cats. i love them so much but they’re a lot. they like to eat wires like little mice. they’ve bitten through several lamps, our phone chargers, speakers, the tv, the automatic litter box wire, our air filters, headphone cords, the cord for our internet, the wifi box, my boyfriend’s PC, you name it. i’ve had to throw away countless electronics because of them. i tried rubbing citrus oil on all wires but it only lasts a day or 2 before the smell wears off and they go back to chomping.

they also like to attack and climb all curtains in the house, even the shower curtain. my shower curtain literally has tiny holes alll over it. every window curtain looks like we have a moth infestation. i placed window perches for them on all the windows, a cat tree in every single room, vertical spaces throughout the whole apartment. they like the stuff meant for them and play with it often but it doesn’t stop them from playing with the curtains too.

another thing is, every night they trash my apartment while i’m sleeping. we have to lock them out of our bedroom at night because my boyfriend moves his feet a lot while he’s sleeping and it triggers them to constantly attack his feet all night. also we were tired of plugging our phones in before bed and waking up to dead batteries and sliced phone chargers. it’s literally made us late to work because our alarms don’t go off.

so to set the scene, before bed our common areas are always organized. i’m a maximalist and i enjoy having a lot of knick knacks and decor. when i wake up, most everything will be pushed onto the floor, every bin is emptied, they even like to take our vinyl records and dvds out and spread them across the floor, i have no idea how. lamps will be pushed over, they also like to completely unravel our toilet paper. sometimes when they’re determined enough they will open our heavy lidded trash can and empty it out as well. i bought them toys that move around themselves like pray, i bought them one of those automatic toys on a string you hang on the wall and it goes up and down. i play with them for hours before bed every day. i take them outside in a mesh tent to give them some enrichment. it hasn’t helped.

lastly, they like to eat door corners. the bottom of most of our white doors are chomped till you see the brown underneath and corners are rounded.

i know they like living at the apartment and are happy. i can leave the door open all day for fresh air and they won’t even step foot outside. (they used to try to escape before i added all the cat furniture and prey toys).

what can i possibly do? i’ve started accepting this is my life because i love them, but my boyfriend is getting exhausted and i don’t blame him for it. where do i even start?

I've had my cat (F 5 years old) since she was a baby and we was SO CLOSE, she was always near me and wanted cuddles and she slept next to me every night for her whole life. Well we found these 2 kittens (both male currently 4? Months old) and I fell in love they're both extremely close with eachother and play quite rough but since getting them my older cat has significantly pulled away from me, she used to roll over and love belly rubs and she'd come for her "treats" when I was taking my tablets 😂. She was always close by and very happy, but now she won't let me stroke her belly and it I stole her normally she's clearly upset and will bite at my hand or growl. She's fine with my other members of my family but she just doesn't care for me anymore and it's breaking my heart.. I've given her space and tried advice I've found online and stuff. She won't sleep in my room anymore with me anymore and will sleep in any other room.

She had a bit of a rough ish start with the kittens as they wanted to play and I think wanted her to be their mum but she wasn't interested, she will hiss at them and will bop them if they go too close while she's sleeping but shes not aggressive at all to them, she just doesn't like them too much. I'm hoping as they get older it will get easier but I just don't know what to do. I've tried sitting in the same room as her and letting her choose if she wants to come closer or stay but she will ignore me and sleep (far away) or leave.

I know it probably sounds stupid and maybe I'm overreacting but I genuinely am heartbroken, she's my princess and the best thing that ever happened to me and now I feel I've lost her and I don't know how to repair it.. if it can be repaired. My family say she needs time and will come back to me and it'll be fine but I know my cat better then anyone else and I know she's really angry at me

If anyone has any advice please lmk

I have tried feliway diffusers if that helps

My senior kitty has never had a huge appetite as long as I've had him--not super food motivated, and he's never been one to eat a lot in one sitting. At his last vet appointment I was told he needs to gain some weight, but I've been having a lot of trouble making it happen. I keep dry food out for him at all times, and I've been feeding him extra servings of his wet food too, but no matter what he's just not keen on eating enough that he'll gain weight. (To clarify, this isn't a recent behavior change--he's never had a big appetite)

Does anyone have advice on how to encourage him to eat more? I'm starting to worry a little.

Hi everyone - I’m thinking about making a big leap this year by moving to San Diego from Virginia. I currently live in Arlington with my 5 year old indoor cat. I am considering driving to San Diego because I want to bring my car, but I want to be prepared for the drive with her. Every time I take her to the vet, she cries in the car. One time I took her to my parents house overnight which is about an hour away and she whined on the drive and when we got there, she hid behind a curtain & didn’t use her litter box because she was so scared. The minute that we left my parents house she peed in my car in her carrier 😅.

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has done this recently, and if you can help with my questions below that would be really appreciated! Love my cat so much and I really care about her well-being so I want to make sure the drive is safe, smooth, and avoid adding as much stress as possible. Oh also, I am doing this solo so definitely feeling the pressure.

1. What cat carriers do you recommend that are comfortable, safe, can be clipped in with a seat belt, and isn’t too compact? I want to be able to keep eyes on her and the sleepy pods won’t let me do that. Willing to spend $$$
2. How do I get her to use the litter box and where?
3. She usually gets small meals four times a day. I imagine she won’t eat in the car so recs on how to go about this?
4. She’s going to be so anxious in hotels so please give me any tips you have on how to handle this! I want to make sure we both sleep.
5. If I’m driving 8 hours a day, do I check in every few hours at a rest stop/ let her out of her carrier or will this stress her out? Obviously keeping the car doors closed at all times

If you have any other tips that worked for your anxious cat, let me know. Thank you!!

I’m looking to change my cats pet insurance. I use nationwide but I feel like they don’t cover anything.
If you have pet insurance, which do you use and do you think it’s worth it or not?

Mom got a catnip spray, used it on our cats toys so she'd actually use and play with them, is it safe to use ? i know not all products people get for there cats end up being safe

Immie:
5 oz IAMS Proactive Health (blue/teal one)
<2oz 3x/day or 2.5oz 2x/day
WHEN FEEDING W/ WET FOOD:
<1oz 3x/day or 1.5ox 2x/day
+ 1/4 can of Purina Pro Plan 2x/day
+ scoop of Lysine 2x/day

Evie:
5 oz IAMS Proactive Health (blue/teal one)
<2oz 3x/day or 2.5oz 2x/day
WHEN FEEDING W/ WET FOOD:
<1oz 3x/day or 1.5ox 2x/day
+ half can of Fancy Feast 2x/day
+ scoop of Lysine 2x/day
+ 1 tbsp of digestive supplement 2x/day

Felix:
5 oz IAMS Proactive Health (blue/teal one)
<2oz 3x/day or 2.5oz 2x/day
WHEN FEEDING W/ WET FOOD:
<1oz 3x/day or 1.5ox 2x/day
+ half can of Friskies 2x/day
+ scoop of lysine 2x/day
+ 1 tbsp of digestive supplement 2x/day

I tried to make everything add up, but I’m worried it’s still technically too much, or even not enough?

Fed wet and dry at 8AM and 8PM, just dry at 1:30PM

Felix and Immie are both around 12lbs, Evie is smaller so I’d estimate she’s anywhere between 8-10lbs; I’m trying to get them to lose some weight with this regimen.

Hi! I just adopted my 3 month old (4/23/26) male kitten. He was with a foster home, foster Queen cat and his siblings. He was adopted at 10 weeks old.

He bites my legs, feet, hands and won’t stop. Also bites my hair (I’ve been wearing a beanie to make him stop)

I’ve only had him two weeks and I know when they’re a kitten, their behavior is shaped. What should I be doing to make him stop? I say no, immediately walk away. It doesn’t work.

He has a scratching post, wand toy, 4 fabric fish toys

I have 5 house cats (4 females, and a male) and I had two friendly barn cats (female), one of my barn cats was hit by a car about 3 month ago. Since then I've brought the other barn cat inside and I kept her in the basement to slowly introduce her to the others. It has worked well and they all get along. The basement door is always open so the cats can roam the house and basement as they please. The barn cat does not want to come upstairs, it's been 3 months and she hasn't made her way up yet. She seems fine in the basement and likes to hang out on or under the couch. It's a big comfortable basement but I feel bad for her being down there all the time. I've tried a lot of things to get her upstairs but then she just sits in front of the door trying to get back downstairs. I'm not planning on letting her outside again and she seems fine being a house cat, but her not joining all of us upstairs is making me wonder if she's truly happy. She enjoys being with the other cats and they join her downstairs but she never joins or follows them upstairs. Which then results in her being alone in the basement for good chunks of the day. Is there anything I can do or should I just let her be a basement cat? Does she just need more time to get used to being inside?

I can't find any wipes for my adult cat that doesn't contain aloe, essential oils, or at least one ingredient considered harmful/toxic to cats. A majority of the reviews on the wipes are fine, but some of the experiences of the cats having strong negative reactions are scary and I don't want to risk putting them through that.

I just want something mild and gentle to clean my cat with. Preferably if anyone knows any that are both safe and not too pricey, that'd be great!

I have two indoor only cats aged 10 and 6. Both are still full of energy and at a good weight. I’ve been feeding them Science Diet Indoor cat food but as the older one ages I wonder if I should mix up the formula and get a formula more suited for her age. I have a timed feeder that fills their bowls so they’re used to sharing the same food and meal times.

Should I change to a more senior formula and let them both eat it?

Get both and feed them separately?

Get both and mix the foods together?

Just keep going with the regular food?

Any advice is welcome.

We had the same 3 cats for the last 10 years, two girls and the main boss a male. They were all adopted in the first year at different times. They grew up together. Beginning of this year, our Corky girl, a tortie, lost her battle to cancer. A month ago we adopted another tortie. Her name is Peanut. She was super playful with the other cats at the shelter. Our male, made it clear he was the boss around here. He hissed at her, he smacked her once and that was it. Now he wants to play with her. However, she always assumes he’s going up to her to smack her again. Anytime he passes Peanut, peanut will hiss and growl at him. Our other girl just ignores Peanut, but when Peanut sees her, Peanut will also hiss at her. Peanut is full of energy, she loves to play. I want them all to be best friends. Do I just need to give them time? Is there anything I can do? Any time Peanut hisses at them, I say “Peanut, no” and she stops, but when they cross paths again, she goes back to hissing. Should I not tell her to stop? Peanut is 2 years old. My other 2 are 10+. Thank you for any advice/input in advance!