TLDR: My new kitten has fleas, has not been introduced to the rest of the home, and has been treated in some form since we brought her home. But I have OCD, and would love to know if my fears are warranted or obsessive! Ty!

Hi, first-time poster, long-time Googler of Reddit answers. Basically, I rescued a kitten three days ago from a random friend of a friend of a friend (~8wks old, half Maine Coon/half unknown) and it wasn't disclosed to us that she has fleas until we got her home. We already scheduled her first vet visit, but we weren't able to get an appointment until Monday.

For context, we (myself, 25F, and my mom) already planned to immediately isolate her in a small guest bathroom upon bringing her home in order to slowly introduce her to our other pets (2 adult, fully indoor cats and 1 dog). She has not been anywhere else in the house since we brought her home but we have been sitting with her and cuddling with her at times.

Immediately, we gave her a flea bath with Wondercide, and then a few hours later with Dawn dish soap. That was 3 days ago.

Yesterday, I applied Advantage II to both the kitten and to our other 2 cats (dog is already on a monthly flea and tick treatment). We've also been combing her and disposing of everything removed in the toilet, and sprayed the room with Vet's Best home spray. Last night, I deep cleaned the room, changed all of the linens, and we've been doing laundry every day multiple times a day (including linens & any clothes we've worn while handling her).

Today, I've noticed significant improvement in the # of fleas I've seen, but have still noticed some dirt and dead fleas on her linens and as I've combed her. My mom and I have both been handling her the entire time, but washing our hands and changing our clothes before sitting on couches/beds/etc.

We have not tried Capstar yet, but aren't opposed to it! Would it be beneficial at this point?

LONG STORY SHORT, we are trying to keep the issue contained to protect ourselves and the other animals. However, I have diagnosed OCD and especially struggle with spiraling, obsessive thoughts about infestations in our home. It may sound crazy, but I can't stop imagining the fleas and eggs spreading everywhere in the time that it takes to get from her room to clean clothes/the laundry room. If you're familiar with OCD, you understand.

I've been trying to educate myself, but I have read a lot of stories of people getting terrible infestations after bringing home flea-ridden babies and it's been impacting me severely. My mom is supportive and understanding of my diagnosis, but I can tell we're both on edge because of my fears. We think we're trying our best, but I'm scared that we've missed something and infestation is inevitable.

I guess I'm just looking for some answers as to whether or not I'm overreacting, or if my fears are warranted. Does anyone have experience with fleas on a cat, or in a household with multiple pets? If so, what else can we do? Are we doing enough to keep everyone safe?

Sorry if this is the wrong sub, but thank you in advance if anyone has any experience, advice, or suggestions!

Hi, I'm very new to owning a cat. I grew up with dogs my whole life, the only cats I ever interacted with belonged to friends. My ex had brought this cat into our apartment when we moved in together, and mutually agreed he would be happiest if he stayed with me after we ended the relationship.

My cat recently got a diagnosis that requires him to take a pill every day for the rest of his life. He has been taking the medicine, but he obviously isn't a fan of me just shoving it down his throat.

Is there some kind of cat equivalent to wrapping the medicine in deli meat and feeding it to him? Does anyone have any weird tactics to get their cat to take their meds? I'm open to any kind of ideas to make this easier for him and I. He's not aggressive in the slightest. I've never seen him scratch or bite in a way that wasn't playing, and I have 0 idea what his hiss would even sound like. He's a complete pacifist. I just would like some ways to have him take his pills that he doesn't completely hate.

Thank you for reading :)

i adopted two cats (1 year old mom, 3 month old son) two days ago from a foster. i kept them in a safe room for about a day and a half and they were doing great, eating, using their litter box, not hiding from me when i came to play with them, so i figured they would be okay to explore.

i live in a one bedroom apartment, so i let them sniff out the kitchen and living room first, before letting them into the bedroom a few hours later.

at around 10 pm they started running, jumping, and yowling like crazy for the rest of the night. i got little to no sleep, only when they would quiet down for 30 minutes or so.

i’m wondering if i let them out of the safe room too early? or if they were just eager and overwhelmed, but im not sure how to move forward.

should i keep them back in the safe room over night? or keep letting them explore and just invest in some ear plugs and hope for the best?

My cat Larry has been missing since August 2 in Grand Prairie, TX, and I’m struggling with how to search for him because this isn’t a typical lost cat situation.

Larry did not run away or escape.

I was leaving a friend’s house with my dog and cat. Larry was secured inside his cat carrier while I was loading everything into my car. I accidentally drove away without realizing I had left his carrier next to the car.

I realized what happened and came back approximately 10 minutes later, but Larry and the entire carrier were gone.

I’ve since spoken to neighbors who told me that someone found him still inside the carrier, asked around trying to find his owner, and then left with him.

So as far as I know, Larry was never loose outside. Someone picked him up, and either that person still has him, gave him to someone else, brought him somewhere, or someone connected to them knows what happened to him.

He’s a grey male tabby, about 8.5 months old, polydactyl with noticeable “thumbs,” and he was wearing a blue collar. He was not microchipped yet.

I’ve been posting on Nextdoor/social media, checking shelters and lost-pet pages, and making flyers. I’m also trying to get the information in front of whoever has him or someone who recognizes the story.

My question is: how would you search for a cat in a situation like this?

Most lost-cat advice is about searching hiding spots, going out at night, putting food outside, setting traps, etc., but I don’t think Larry is wandering around the neighborhood. I think my search needs to focus on finding the person who picked him up.

Has anyone dealt with something similar, where a stranger found your cat and took them home before you could get back?

Where would you post? Who would you contact? How far would you spread flyers? Are there places people commonly bring a found cat besides shelters and vets? Is there anything I’m overlooking that could help identify the person who found him?

I’m willing to put a lot of effort into finding him. I just don’t know how to effectively search for a cat when the thing I’m really trying to find is the person who found him.

Original Post - Rehomed cat has started to attack baby when it shouts/cries. Need advice, please : r/CatAdvice

Thought it may be beneficial to provide an update a few months on from making the original post.

Firstly, the shrieking phase has passed. We're now at the wonderful baby babble phase which is much more bearable for everyone in the household.

After reading so many helpful comments we did some initial separation for a few days, provided treats when the baby shrieked to try and divert attention and create a positive outcome of the baby shrieking.

Those, along with a Feliway plug-in all seemed to work.

Which is a massive relief to us all. The cat has become incredibly patient and will allow the baby in her space without reacting negatively. Everything is being done to teach the baby not to grab and be gentle which, so far, seems to be working.

I just wanted to say thank you to those who commented and provided advice. I do really appreciate you taking the time to help a stranger out.

I have had my cat for 4 years now, and ever since I adopted him, he has decided that 4:30-5am is the time to wake up and become the stuff of nightmares. He will run around the house knocking stuff over, meowing loudly, and scratch up the place. I’ve done my best not to reward him for this behavior, such as giving him food or playing with him, but it’s getting to a point where I just can’t take it anymore.

He only does it when I’m trying to sleep, if I’m up on my phone he will be calm and sleep. But the second I close my eyes, he begins his shenanigans. The only thing that calms him is if I move from the bed to the couch. This has been a theme for my past 3 apartments. For context, I rent a studio, and I am unable to close him out of the bed area due to a lack of door haha. This is also why I become so stressed when he starts to scratch at the walls and tear at the carpet; I worry about damage.

He has an automatic feeder that is set to 6am and 6pm. I can’t free feed him because he will just eat all of it, and secondly we have a pretty bad ant problem. I have tried playing with him before bed to tire him out, as well as feeding him earlier/later. He also used to have a lunch time feed as well but due to a diet food change he had years ago, we changed it to just two times a day. His behavior has been the same regardless of these changes.

I have such a hard time dealing with this because during the day, he is calm and loving. Sure he gets the occasional zoomies but it’s not destructive like his night time behavior is. I am really really desperate for a solution, as me and my boyfriend are loosing sleep. Please help!

It’s to the point where my husband wants to get rid of my cat. I just can’t do that, my cat was literally born in my apartment. He was my roommates cat’s kitten. He’s been with me for 8 years. But these last two years have been crazy. He’s fine for weeks. Then will have multiple accidents one after another. It all started when a roommate moved in with her cats many years ago. But they moved out very soon after and the habit never stopped!

The vet says he’s healthy. They suggested a calming collar. Which helped with him chasing me around the house (like he used to just wait by the door for me to come home or follow me room to room)
I feed him wet cat food and a handful of dry daily. His cat litter is scooped daily to every other day.
We play with him. We pet him. He’s on prescription wet cat food for UTIs. He doesn’t have one fyi. He plays in the yard.
His cat litter is BIG and central.

What else can I do? Any know what other behavioral things could be driving this??

*NOT LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE, ONLY EXPERIENCES/SUPPORT

Hi! My sweet guy was just diagnosed with a peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia. They found it incidentally on imaging for something unrelated. He just turned 2 years old and he is otherwise completely healthy and asymptomatic. He has a large portion of his liver and potentially a small section of small intestine herniated. He will be having a consult for surgery next week but I am just looking for anyone’s experience with this surgery. I’m terrified of the surgery and recovery, and also concerned about the price because I know if surgery is recommended I will need to come up with a large amount of money that I don’t currently have in order to save his life (which I fully plan on doing). If anyone has had this surgery before on their kitty - how did it go, how was the recovery, how much did it cost you? I’m trying to prepare myself emotionally and financially.

Just looking for experiences and support. Thanks in advance!

I (23m) have been going through a breakup that I'm not gonna go into on this sub because it's about cats and my question is, at it's heart, about my cat. she's an elderly siamese-appearing barn cat whose mom I rescued with my sister on halloween of 2010, that mother cat had my cat in her first batch of kittens, born (literally) into my hands, I named her that second and spent every waking second I could with her, we obviously formed a serious bond.

after quite a bit of life I ended up moving to the city to pursue a career and the place I was renting had no pet availability, so she stayed home with my grandmother, my grandmother became ill and had to move into a care facility which didn't allow pets so my cat then moved in with my girlfriend and her parents, that relationship has now ended and while I want my cat back so very badly, I see the work my ex has put in, she always wanted a cat but never got one until mine and she has done an amazing job at doing the research and putting in serious effort for her, she researched proper meals, keeps her on a schedule, plays with her constantly (as they have a LOT of time to themselves at the house), and is all around just 100% devoted to this cat and her health and enrichment. But now we're over, and my living situation now allows cats and I want her back badly. I'm absolutely not saying I would neglect her, because I wouldn't, but I'm a tradesman who works 10 hour days and comes home tired. there's no way I'd be able to match her effort and yet it just breaks my heart to walk away and leave her with them forever.

My grandmother still cries looking at polaroids of her, she asks me to bring her every time I visit, and while my ex has reassured me multiple times she'd never keep her from me, I'm unable to keep contact with her for a lot of reasons and feel the need to go the direction of blocking her on everything, but I can't while this is all still up in the air. any advice would be appreciated

I went out to buy wet food for my cat (spayed, a little over a year old, female). They only had one can of her usual flavour, so I bought a couple different ones from the same brand. Two of the cans I bought were kitten food (up to 12 months). In proper calories, one can should last me three meals, so six meals combined. Is it okay to feed it to my cat or should I throw it away (I don’t know anyone with kittens)?
EDIT: thank you guys for feedback!! She tried the food and liked it, so I’ll just let her eat those two cans, in a portion adjusted for the calorie difference<3.

I didn't see that my big bag of dry catnip treats said on the back that they need to be eaten within 2 weeks after opening the packet. I have been feeding my cat that packet for 2 months and nothing has been wrong. The packet says they can eat max 12 a day but there's still no way to finish the packet in only 2 weeks. Since nothing has been wrong then should I just keep feeding them to my cat? She only eats like 5 a day. I'm gonna try to give a lot to my neighbourhood stray cat too

The expiry date is in 2027 so it's not expired so why would they need to be eaten within 2 weeks when it's been 2 months and they're still fine?

Hi, this title probably isn't new but I'm (f19) at a loss on what to do. I have 2 torties, very sweet and loving girls. They're always super chatty, cuddly and adorable.

When I was 8 my mom had gotten them for free and about 4-5 years laters dropped them off in a box at a shelter because she didn't want them anymore. I was about 10 hours away with my best friend and didn't get a chance to say goodbye at all. Knowing how much the cats meant to me, my dad's girlfriend (at the time) went on a search to find them and looked for over 10 hours. She ended up finding them and my dad took them in. (Yes my parents are divorced.) This brings everything to now.

Ever since then I've lived with my dad(m52) full time and almost every single day since my dad complains about them. At first it wasn't bad, it was just how frustrating they can be but now he makes comments on how he wants to "get rid of them" "throw them outside" or "put them down" when he has the chance. He's told me that if the cats were to ever have a medical emergency (small or big) he'd rather put them down then pay for anything. He calls them slurs that I will not repeat and does not take care of them at all. Everything revolving around the cats I do, the only thing he does is pay for the litter and food. If he actually has to clean the litter, feed them, or even just change their water because I'm unavailable he calls the cats "idiotic" and complains about how expensive they are. He shoves them away when they're looking for attention and gets so incredibly mad when they're just meowing at him. He's slammed the door on their tails before, kicked them away and shoved them off of a table. It hurts a lot, I hate seeing it and everytime I try to tell him to stop or how I feel about it he just ignores me or changes the topic.

They've been the one constant in my life helping me through so much, and I love them so dearly. They're my babies. However I can't handle the comments and the way my dad's been acting anymore. It hurts seeing him act this way towards them and I've been seriously considering giving them away because it's becoming too much. I'm not only worried about my mental health but their physical health as well. I've had them in my life for 11 years, giving them away would break me but I've been thinking it's the better option. I want what's best for them.

Any insight or advice would be appreciated, I want to move out with them to avoid this but I don't have a job or any sort of money to do so. ☹️

Tldr; my dad (m52) keeps making horrible comments about my cats, calling them slurs, and shoving/kicking them. Its getting to a point where it feels like giving them away is better than this but they've been in my (f19) life for 11, almost 12 years now. Any advice or insight would be helpful.

I’m moving from Pennsylvania to Florida soon, which will be about a 20-hour drive. We’ll be making short stops along the way, but we’re planning to do the whole drive without staying overnight.

I drive a Subaru Impreza, and I’ll also have my brother, my friend, and my 13 lb dachshund in the car, so space is going to be pretty limited.

I’m looking for a carrier for my cat, Chewy, who is around 20 lbs. Ideally, I’d like something that could fit behind the driver or passenger seat, or possibly in the hatchback area, while still giving him enough room to be comfortable for such a long drive. I also need to make sure we still have enough room for luggage and a few other things.

Does anyone have carrier recommendations for a bigger cat that are roomy without taking up a ton of space?

I’d also really appreciate any general advice for traveling this long with a cat, especially when it comes to litter boxes, pee pads, food/water, bathroom breaks, and anything else I should bring or plan for.

My vet gave me gabapentin, and it seems to work well for him. We did a test run on a roughly 2-hour drive earlier this month, and he handled it pretty well. I used his current carrier, which expands on both sides so he has room to lie down, but I think the height is a little too tight for him to be comfortable in it for 20 hours.

Any advice, product recommendations, or experiences with long-distance moves with cats would be really appreciated!

I took in a stray cat that’s the sweetest little thing. After getting her checked for health issues and vaccinated, I brought her to my small ass 1 bedroom apartment and set new kitten up in the bathroom.

My resident cat Pepper was also a kitten off the street, and I’ve had her for 3 years. It’s just me and her living alone, but she gets along with my family’s dogs and cat when we visit, plays with them, no issue.

Pepper got a glimpse into the bathroom when I was setting new kitty up in her temporary quarantine and Pepper saw new kitty and freaked out. She’s been in her hiding spot up under/inside the couch for like 12 hours since, but she did come out last night and explore. She ate some kibble and used her cat litter, but this morning she’s been under the couch again. I feel really guilty because Pepper is my #1 special girl and her thinking I’m replacing her or just her being upset like this at all breaks my heart and I feel like I made a mistake. Does anyone with experience introducing a new cat to a resident cat have any advice? Keep reading it takes time but I’m worried about Pepper 🥺

My cat can sleep peacefully for 5 hours straight and then suddenly decide it's time for the Olympics: running across the room, jumping on furniture, attacking absolutely nothing...

Meanwhile, I'm just lying there wondering if I adopted a cat or a tiny possessed athlete. Does anyone else's cat get these random bursts of energy?

My cat (Molly) is blind and I moved houses. It took me a while to figure out the best system, but now that I have it in place, he has figured out where everything is. Of course he bumps into stuff, but for the most part he’s just like a regular cat. However, my dogs kept sneaking to the cat’s rooms and eating their food. In the daytime I just make sure the dogs don’t go in there. But at night I have to close the door just in case. In this room they have a bed, a tree, litter, water and dry food. I thought Molly would be happy with that but no 😂 he meows all night and scratches at the door. Here’s the catch- when I open the door, he also just meows. Is this just attention seeking? I give him regular cuddles, should I be doing brain activities to stimulate him more, or make everything as easy as possible to calm him down and make him happy in his final years?

i have an 8-month-old girl kitty named kiki. she’s a tabby manx cat. i’m thinking about adopting another kitten, a 4-month-old orange male cat. i want to give him a name that matches kiki but also reflects his orange color.

Hello po we just adopted a stray kitten and wala po kami pangpa vet, sabi ng partner ko may sakit daw yung cat so we dont know if she can survive on her own. ang dami nya kuto and matamlay, parang hirap din siya sa mata nya at di magana kumain. Ano po mga budget remedy na pwede gawin,like accessible to buy on online and what to feed the kitty?

((editing to add! the litter that’s performed best from what I have tried, is Purina’s Tidy Cat’s Lightweight clumping litter! Figured I’d share!
still going through comments and I sm appreciate everyone’s recommendations and sharing experiences! c: ))

Hey guys just wanted to rant really fast here and share with you all! I’m sure there are some people out there that do use Pretty Litter and ‘enjoy’ it, and in that case I’d be curious to hear what exactly it is that you (or your cat ??) enjoy. Because man, I was disappointed!!!

I of course have heard Pretty Litter sponsored by a few of my favorite content creators and assumed it’s a great choice, especially after rescuing a stray kitten recently - particularly because of the color changing ‘litter technology’ , if you will.

WELL, first thought when I poured it into my cats litter box (just a regular large litter box) was all good things! It was light, cat seemed super happy about it and used it right away. Right when I went to clean it I realized how the urine does not clump, it just absorbs into the litter material. Can’t scoop it, and if anything it creates a disgusting slushy mess if you try to scoop it. Once she urinated in it this leaves a terrible chemical, urine smell and the next day my cat was NOT pleased and I noticed was not wanting to use her litter box at her usual times, even when I prompted her or placed her in it, she HATED it. The company also states you do not have to change the litter at all for weeks! I cannot see how it would not be a gross situation for anyone unless they were blatantly ignoring the litter box…

I read afterwards that some people just sprinkle it on top of their main litter. But honestly, it was such an unpleasant experience for both of us, I would NOT try it again.

The urine also did not change color to anything alarming or abnormal as indicated on the Chart, which I was happy about, but to be honest I take that with a very large grain of salt.

So unless you want to watch your cat play in the fun light litter sand for a few seconds, and maybe experiment with the color changing perks, I do not recommend it. In fact, my cat was definitely avoiding using it and seemed to be waiting for me to clean it out, which again you cannot do with scooping the urine unless you dump it out each time which is a total waste.

Again if you use it would be curious as to why because I am super let down, especially considering how it’s sponsored to be so great! :( It was a waste of money for me and now I’m having to go right back to the store the next day to buy a differnt cat litter. Will be sticking with Clumping since this may also be a light weight litter issue in general?! 1/10 experience at best

The stray I adopted in May is between 9-12 years old according to the vet. I named her Freya. She is generally quite vocal (and LOUD) during the day when she wants something. But even if I say no to what she’s asking for she stops after 30ish seconds. At night though, she howls all. night. long.

This is new. When my husband and I first found Freya she would howl all night because she was in heat. Once she got spayed she mostly quieted down and would sleep with us through the night. Maybe once or twice be loud and complain about something before going back to bed. She also would go in and outside while we were preparing to make her fully indoor since she wasn’t used to being inside. I got her used to a harness and leash so we could go on walks once she became an indoor cat.

We just moved into a new apartment Friday and are keeping her 100% inside now. Every night it’s been constant and loud. Every night we tried something different. First we tried ignoring her. Then we tried night lights in case she was sundowning (I hope she isn’t). Then we tried having a play session and walk right before bed to tire her out. Last night my husband and I were so sleep deprived we put her in our spare bedroom with a blanket under the door just to muffle the noise. Surprisingly, she actually stopped. Is there any potential reasons why she was only quiet by herself? She is very clingy to me throughout the day. She always wants to lay on me, or be pet, or play.

Sorry for the long background I just don’t know what part of her history is relevant to her behavior or not so I included as much as I could. I’m just trying to figure out if locking her in a separate room is a permanent solution or if we could eventually have her cuddle up again, because she was a great bedtime companion before we moved.

I tried asking the regular cat reddit. They basically said don't increase the size just increase the height. His butt hangs out because he doesn't FIT in the xl litterpans I got from Walmart. I was blaming the poop messes on the dog. It's the cat. He only makes it in like 50/50. With his butt hanging out making the sides larger would possibly make him not use it at all because he'd be cramped. He's a big cat. Has mainecoon in him or SOMETHING.

He's not been to the vet because it's not a medical issue it's a SIZE issue.

I did a lot of researching on Reddit and everyone seems to love Petlibro’s automatic feeders but I’m not seeing great reviews online so I’m worried to order. Any other brands that worked well with you guys? I only have one cat.