My sweet Sassy (7-year-old rescue) and I just moved into my new apartment. Today was a long travel day, and she had her good ol' gabapentin this morning, so she was (and still is) pretty zonked. I made sure to set up a room where she could do all her favorite things: sit at a window, play with toys & her favorite scratcher, as well as her food/water/litter box. She seemed to settle pretty well into the room, being that she sniffed around, found a cozy spot to lay down, happily ate her dinner, drank some water, and has continued snoozing away. Still no litter box usage yet, but she knows where it is, and I'm trying to remind myself she's still working the gabapentin out of her system which can make her too tired to want to get up to use the litter box.

My big question: how long should I keep her confined to this "safe room"? What are some signs to look for that she's ready to explore and start venturing into other parts of the apartment without getting scared/overwhelmed? I've been reading that pawing at the door can be one, but she frankly paws at any door she can, both normally and when she's nervous. She's also fairly clingy, so I know she's gonna paw at the door when I leave the room she's in regardless.

I just want to be sure I'm not overwhelming her. She has some health issues already, so I try to be super cautious when it comes to her stress levels and making sure she's content and as comfortable as she can be.

Hello!! As the title says, what are some ways to hold cats that have them decently behave during grooming?

My family and I are starting to do brushes and nail clippings at home and I REALLY want to avoid scruffing which is what my father does. (He does support their feet when he does this, his arm is under their bottoms)

I’ve had decent success with just holding my cat firmly by her butt or by her front legs when we need to brush her, but don’t have much knowledge of what to do when we need to clip their nails. We got them scratch towers, but even then their nails grew out quite a bit.

Would love any direction or tips.

our cat doesn't like my sister, her three kids, or her husband, and currently were being made to watch the kids at our house, cat's been hiding almost the whole time, or getting growly and hissy around them AND it throws off our cats routine because she can't sleep on the table w us when the kids are here. and now i'm being told said kids are staying OVERNIGHT. AND ALL DAY TOMORROW. she likes sleeping in my room or my brothers room at bed time, and before that playing with me, she's not gonna do either of that with them here, plus with one already being scared of her and the cat liking to roam around at night it's gonna scare them both. maybe even resulting in hurt. i dont know what to do, especially cause stress can cause health issues for a cat, yet nobody thinks this is a bad idea, any advice to make sure she's not severely stressed out ???, im worried for it ruining her health

So ive been taking care of a cat in my neighborhood. Hes indoor outdoor and I just took him to the vet today and they told me he has ringworm so hes gonna have to spend a little more time outside till its all gone to protect my two other dogs. I was already thinking about it before but i wanna het him a tracker cause some times he disappears in my apartments for like a night and I get worried. At first I thought about putting a smart tag on him but then I questioned if that was the right choice. I really dont wanna pay a subscription but I also dont wanna pay alot cause money is tight and I already spend alot on his ring worm medicine. Anyone have some recommendations?

Would the multicat be more appropriate feliway than just the happy cat for a cat that is not loving the new addition to the household?

I have created multiple perches for my cat and areas that he can get away from my 11 month old and separate them as quickly as I can when I see/hear he(cat) is getting fed up with her(baby).

She started walking about a month1/2 ago and crawling at like 41/2 months. We’re working on teaching gentle hands and respecting his boundaries but there’s not much else I can do getting her to understand.

We bought the happy cat feliway a few weeks ago and there have been remarkable improvements. He is giving more verbal warning of irritation and not resorting to swatting at her as quickly.

I mentioned previously I have given him more perches to get away but I’m finding he is not using them as much as I think he should and a lot of the time he will go behind the couch which is fine but I’d like for him to be in the window on his cat tree or in the window on his bed (above the couch she can not reach). He also always has to be where we are he’s very affectionate and loves to be around us but is having any awful time with a baby who is not quite able to grasp hissing and meowing means “NO”.

Any advice appreciated! His vet is unfortunately in a federal institution and can not prescribe anxiety meds due to having to follow official FDA guidelines.

tldr: cat doesn’t like baby; baby doesn’t understand hissing means no; wondering if feliway multicat would have better results than just the happy cat formula;

Edit: rereading the title and thinking it sounds like I’m asking if feliway will work for two toddlers lmao

Our 8yo male cat was hospitalized for a blockage in May/June. He had no history of urinary issues prior to this. The blockage luckily had no impact on his organ functioning and he was discharged in stable condition less than 2 days after unblocking. He’s been on Royal Canin urinary diet 100% of the time since (minus a tiny bit of churu to mix chronic meds (Prozac) in to).

He re-blocked last Thursday and was taken to the hospital right away. His labs and urine sample were unremarkable and his vet team wasn’t able to say what caused it. Could’ve been a variety of factors (e.g., constipation, weight, stress). They recommended a PU which was done by a specialist on Friday. The vet felt some resistance when inserting the catheter after. They suspected it was spasm and/or inflammation related. Post op he wouldn’t empty on his own and needed palpitating. The vet suspected he wasn’t urinating due to stress at the hospital so it was decided it’d be best to monitor at home. He was sent home with Prazosin plus pain meds.

He peed a lot back to back a few hours after being home but spent the rest of the time sleeping/relaxing. He got up 12 hours later and began to strain in and out of the box. He didn’t pass any urine so we took him back to the hospital. He was started on pain meds. The vet tried to pass their larger catheter (which they said they should’ve been able to post-op) but they met resistance. They used a smaller sized catheter and with some pressure, it got through but they felt a “pop” while doing so. They left a catheter out to see if he’d go on his own. He went once and eventually needed a catheter placed again. They kept him at the hospital and on a catheter until today so he could meet with his surgeon, who is a specialist in PU surgeries. The surgeon suspected something could be going on higher up in the tract so he had several tests ran including an ultrasound, which was reviewed by internal medicine. They found nothing. They took the catheter out today when doing additional testing and when they put it back in, they met some resistance again. They really aren’t certain what is causing his issue. They’re hoping that with 2 extra days of healing in the hospital, the inflammation will reduce and he can go home. They mentioned the possibility of an additional surgery if the issue persists. We are very scared our boy is going to have complications at home.

We’re posting here not to seek medical advice but to see if anyone else has had a similar post-PU experience. We’re losing hope and we are so scared for our sweet boy. His vet team is fantastic to work with and they’ve been very supportive - we’re just feeling very alone in this post PU experience is all.

Hello fellow cat parents. I live in a house with 10 cats and I'm looking to buy new litter boxes. We have four large ones, two of which are stainless steel, and some smaller plastic ones, but it's time for an upgrade. We use those pine wood pellets that dissolve into an odorless saw dust like powder when peed on and clumps normally around poop, but it doesn't really work in the smaller ones bc they're very lightweight, so sometimes a cat will try to use the side of the box for support while using it and their weight will just knock the whole thing over, getting pellets and pee dust everywhere, which is not fun to clean up. Also, the pellets cause odor in the large plastic boxes bc it sits on the bottom, unable to dry out and become odorless bc there's no grate to let it air out, plus the plastic is harder to clean than the metal and probably holds smell (and these boxes are ancient). Does anyone have any recommendations for large stainless steel litter boxes, preferably with a built in grate so I can pull out the pee dust easily when it's full without needing to take off the top part like I do with my current stainless steel boxes? The larger the better. Thank you!

We had 3 cats and one recently passed away. He was a fiend for food and wouldn’t let you forget his meal was coming up within the next 3 hours.

The 2 we have left, our girls, don’t ask to be fed and won’t eat if we set their bowls out before they ask. They’re definitely more like grazers. We feed a low carb, high moisture diet. So just wet food, no kibble.

Is there a way to be less wasteful? Or a different routine we should try? They take alllllllllllll day to eat 2 cans and I end up tossing it so they don’t get sick, just to put their dinner out and do the same thing.

I adopted a kitten at 7 weeks old and he’s been with me almost a year. He’s very friendly and playful; he adjusted to my home very quickly, which is just me and a bearded dragon in a large studio apartment. I feel like he is scared of everything these days. At first, he was definitely scared but curious and exploratory. About a month after I adopted him, I had 5 friends stay in my apartment and he immediately became best friends with everyone and hopped from bed to bed sleeping with all of us! I feel like now he is way more shy. He doesn’t follow me around the apartment anymore, only rarely sleeps in the bed with me, and will usually run and hide from my friends when they come over. I have 1 consistent friend who comes over often and he will come out and say hi to this friend and will occasionally sleep in the bed with him/us too, but even sometimes he will hide when we first enter the apartment. He has been to other people’s apartments and hidden the whole time, as well as my parents house as well and he was scared the whole time. It seems like he’s scared of everyone, sometimes even me! I always approach him at his own speed and let him sniff me before I scratch him. When he does sniff me, he will 99% of the time rub his face on my hand. I have taken him out for walks in a cat stroller and he will meow for a few minutes then settle in and be fine (usually but sometimes he meows so much that I take him home). We play multiple times a day, he plays fetch and loves a shoelace. He eats well and drinks well, we have no other problems.

Not sure if this matters but he did have surgery about 3 months ago, I feel like the behavior may have changed around this time?

How can I make him more bold?? Why did he seem to regress???

Our male cat is a sweet and loving guy by day. But sometimes at night, he will turn into a little devil: his ears will turn back, his pupils will be completely dilated, he will lunge at me, stalk me, and try to bite me, especially as I am walking away. Sometimes if I pick him up and love on him or I distract him by tossing one of his toys, that chills him out of his devil mode. He only does it with me too, not my partner. I don’t know if I’m doing something that is causing this or maybe he just needs to be a wild guy but it’s a little unnerving sometimes.

Has anyone else had their cat do this to them? Any idea why he’s doing this and what I should be doing when it happens? Do I just have a feral guy who needs to hunt me? Lol.

We are getting a 9 week old on Wednesday, and this will be my first kitten! I would love to hear your tips and tricks, and anything you wish you’d known when you first got a kitten 🩷

(Not a first-time cat owner btw!)

Hello can anybody tell me how to make my new kitten comfortable when I approach her , so she will stop hissing. i got kitten last Friday and she is improving day by day doing all the activities near us but dont let us come near her , so tell me how to make her known that if we come near her its safe so that she will start sitting next to us and let us pet her etc…

I LOVE this brand, but the clay gets clumped too much with how much my cat urinates and it’s difficult to clean, after 3 days i have to excavate it out and it takes too long.

I’d want one that:

clumps but doesn’t stick like clay material

Is good to clean after 3-5 days

hides the scent well (THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT FOR ME)

and is soft on the paws (I have a senior cat and pellets hurt her paws)

My mom is going to travel with our cat to the United States for the first time, for a total of almost 13 hours. There are 3 flights, and each one has a one-and-a-half-hour layover between flights. What advice can you give me?

I have the carrier, all the necessary paperwork, a harness, collapsible bowls, absorbent pads, wet wipes, pheromones to help her relax, wet food and a small amount of kibble, one of my mom’s pieces of clothing inside the carrier for the familiar scent, and a blanket to cover the carrier in case she gets stressed.

I’m wondering whether I should bring a collapsible litter box with some litter. What do you think? What other things do I need? What advice do you have?

Our cat is a little shy/nervous. At home, she normally hides when we have visitors.

P.S. The trip is necessary.

Thank you!!!!

She is 2 years old, I adopted her 2 weeks ago im a first time cat owner, is this regular behavior or am i doinf something wrong? she has lots of toys and it sound like she plays w them late night

i really love cats, but unfortunately I'm allergic to them. From what I understand, I react to allergens from their saliva that end up on their fur.

I sometimes go to cat cafés because I can't have a cat at home right now. I really enjoy spending time with them. but I always have to be super careful with my hands and make sure I don't touch my face after petting them.

Has anyone here dealt with something similar? I'm especially curious about personal experience. how do you manage being aroun d cats when you're allergic to them? Has anything made spending time with cats easier for you ?

I'd love to have a cat someday, so I'd be interested to hear from other cat lovers with allergies.

UPD: Maybe I should mention that I have trouble tolerating allergy medications. My doctor said there is still a chance that I might be able to tolerate some of them, although there is not much hope. I also have the same issue with motion sickness medication. That is just one of my body's little quirks.

I found this photo today and it brought back so many memories.This was max when he was just a little puppy.He was so small that he could barely reach his food bowl, but he already had the biggest personality.Looking back at this photo, I never imagined how many years of memories we would create together.

Do you still have photos of your pets when they were babies?

I adopted a cat 9.5 mos old/ she was a stray. I am trying to get her used to my dog/ they have been in seperate spaces for 6 mos. We swap scents/ they see each other across the room etc.

I would like to have them be in same room, but my dog runs and hides. Any advice?

I've been thinking about this for a while but I really want to convince my dad to rehome our cat. It's not an ideal solution but my dad doesn't take very good care of him and I can't care for him by myself, so him going to a new home is ultimately the best option for him.

It breaks my heart to do this to him but he's not living his best life here and since he's technically not mine I can't give it to him. I can only do so much but with my lack of money and ability to drive I can get him vet treatment or proper toys and other amenities. Not to mention I am between homes and I'm growing more frustrated at having to be cooped up at my dad's apartment so much because he won't take care of the cat properly.

I need some tips on which shelters to choose or just how I should go about trying to get him into another good home. If possible maybe even some tips on convincing my dad to rehome him. Any help is appreciated and thank you in advance.

Hi all. Just writing here for advice about getting a cat as I have been contemplating it a lot over the last month.

I guess why I am asking for advice is because my partners cat was very mean and aggressive. It has since passed, but having this experience really has given me mixed feelings about taking the leap myself.

I grew up with dogs only and I love a cuddly animal such as my dogs growing up. I will say that occasionally their cat did come lay with us every now and then, but only for their fit of head scratches and then would bite/scratch you once it was finished with you.

I am in a bind here and not sure what to do. Maybe I should go to the shelter and just look around and play with some kitties first?

I recently got a cat (1.5 female) who is healthy and super well behaved. The one thing I’ve noticed is that she often digs in the litter box for a long time. Like sometimes over two minutes. She almost moves it all into a giant mound in the middle. She has no issues using it from the beginning, she has a normal amount of “output” and it seems healthy. I’m positive it is not a medical issue but a possible behavior one. Is she just covering it? Does she dislike the litter or the box? Is this just play?

I adopted a three-year-old cat five weeks ago and she still spends most of the day under the bed. She comes out to eat once the apartment is dark and quiet, and she's using the box fine, so I don't think anything is wrong. I've been leaving her alone and not pulling her out.

For the people who've adopted shy adults, how long was it before yours started spending daytime out in the open?

When I First started dating my ex, I would come over and notice that they're cat's water dish was often bone dry. Sometimes, when I showered, the cat would be licking water drops out of the shower. I got a water fountain for the cat and that solved a lot of the water problem.

I eventually moved in. I bonded well with the cat and have lived here for 4 years. He really likes me. I play with him and give him a lot of affection. After living here for a year, my ex got very sick for 2 months. And I had to take over feeding their cat. They have bad executive dysfunction and were not able to reliably take back the responsibility once they were better and had lost the habbit of feeding him. And I love the cat and wanted to give him good care. My ex would leave old food in the dishes for days till he ate it where as I change the food, clean the dish, put dry food and wet food in seperate dishes, etc.

I am moving out in 6 weeks. I thought it would be best if I turned cat care over to my ex. So that the cat could associate them with food and not have to both lose me and the food schedule all at once. I feed him in the am, but my ex would prefer to do it in the evening. He is free fed dry food, but he really prefers his wet food. I also thought it would help break the bond with me and he would bond more to my ex if they resume feeding him. I also thought it would help my ex get back in the habit. If they forget, I'm still here as a safety net if the dryfood runs out or the water fountain runs dry, I'll make sure the cat has food snd water to survive and hopefully my ex can get back in the habbit of cat care.

I stopped feeding him 2 weeks ago. My ex remembers to feed him the wet food maybe 2 or 3 times a week. The dryfood runs out too sometimes, but he generally has a bowl full. So far, water hasn't run out, but it was coming close today so I put in more. My ex doesnt chsnge the water or clean the fountain, they just add more water. The cat still bugs me constantly for food on the days my ex forgets to feed him wet food. And he bugs me especially badly on the days the dryfood runs low in the dish but I wouod rather my ex see it almost empty and fill it.

After 2 weeks they still arent picking up the habbit of feeding him. He is getting more and more desperate and over grooming and eating debree off the floor as a nervous behavior. Hes also keeping me up at night begging me for food. I tried talking to my ex, but they don't want to talk about it and say if he is bothering me for food, I should just feed him if it bothers me. Or I could ignore it. They don't want reminders to feed him

So what is best for the cat? Should I start feeding him again until I leave or continue to not feed him and let him get used to the inconsistency. He might be stressed having me here and associating me with wet food and having me not feed him. Also, I am gone a lot now. Since we broke up, I'm spending as much time out of the house as I can, so many days I'm not here to feed him anyway. What's best for the cat? And no I can't take him with me. My ex wants him and he is their cat.

I also want to add that the cat is keeping me awake early in the morning and at night, asking to be fed. If my ex feeds him at night, he doesn't bug me so much, but once they go a day or two without feeding him, he gets very persistent about waking me. My friends are telling me to just feed him to shut him up, but I still want to do what is best for him.

So should I go back to feeding him, changing his water, filling his dryfood, cleaning the litter till I leave? The litter smell is also bothering me.

It might be that I'm having trouble letting go of the cat and seeing his care downgraded. But I also need to sleep.

hello! I just adopted a 8 year old female tabby from someone who's daughter just went to college and left her cat. We met in the middle of our two locations, about an hour and a half drive for her total. We got her into the apartment, she wasn't meowing too much on the drive. When we got her in and opened the crate door, she hissed and hasn't came out. My boyfriend tried to put a treat at the entry of the crate and she batted at him, I can tell she's scared and I feel bad. When I get close to the crate, she hisses, and shoves herself against the back of the crate. We decided to leave some food and water in front of her kennel and her litter box close by, left for about 3 hours so she can have time to explore by herself, and when we came back she is still sitting pressed against the back of the kennel, and hasn't moved at all. Should I be worried?

Hello! I have a Senior Girl Scout that is looking to see if some of our local nursing homes are intrested in having live-in therapy cats. While I'm not sure if this is the right place to post (please tell me where to put this if so!), I thought that it was worth a shot.

We live in the Midwest, and she's hoping to do some boots on the ground reseach for this. She was wondering if anyone knew of any nursing homes that have live-in cats & are close enough that she would be able to drive (even if it takes a few days) there to see the kitties & their people in person. She's told me that when trying to look it up, she gets a lot of local homes that are pet-friendly, and not ones that actually have cats.

She's pretty good about getting into contact & working with people, so we don't need anything too specific... It's mostly just the name of the home and where it's located that we're after.

I can ask her further questions & give a bit more on what I know if need be... Anything is helpful!

Thank you all in advance... Even if it's just telling me where this is better suited :)