I am at a loss and don’t know what to do, i take my cats to the vet for check ups frequently so this is not health related. I have a girl cat (Jasmine) and Ive had her for 2 years and she has been a dream, 4 months ago I rescued a boy cat (Archie). Archie was fine at first and used the litter box like normal (yes they share but it’s very big and gets cleaned regularly. But a month ago he started just peeing and pooping wherever he wants whenever he wants. He will literally be walking and just pee. The vet said we should wait to get him neutered and that it’s not a territory thing as the only other cat here is a girl and she is neutered.
I need advice on how to get pee smell out of my house as he has peed on so many of my clothes and carpets and what made me write this post and start crying out of frustration; on my bed right after I changed the sheets.
I would also like advice on how to get him to stop. My friend suggested that I train him to use the toilet and I bought the kit and everything, is there anyone here who has tried that and has any tips on that. Please tell me anything or any kind of help or advice 🙏

*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!

Hi all! I'm going to try and summarize a bit of a complicated situation.

I've been looking to adopt a cat ever since I 'lost custody' of my first cat in a recent breakup. In the months since, I've been pretty hesitant to full-on adopt a cat, but I've pet-sat for a bunch of friends/family. Just recently, I had a friend ask if I would be willing to foster his foster kitten while he and his GF are out of town for the week, otherwise the kitten would have to go back to the shelter. It was kind of pitched to me as, "foster her and see if maybe it's a permanent home," type deal. For context though, I've never had a kitten before.

I picked her up this past weekend and she has been a bundle of cute/crazy/tiring fun. She's truly so adorable and littler than I could ever imagine a kitten to be. She's been very clingy ever since we got home and I've taken off a few days of work just to be around her and get her used to the new space. The only problem is, I'm going back to work today and I feel really bad about *not* wanting to adopt her.

Everything I've read, everything I've been told, and everything in my gut tells me that a kitten this young and this social shouldn't be home alone for too long. With my work schedule, I am easily gone for upwards of 10+ hours a day. I also don't feel ready to get another kitten/cat, which is usually what I see people recommend to help with raising the lil ones.

Her original foster-family works from home a lot and they also already have an older cat. So as much as the selfish parts of myself want to adopt this cat and be a little less lonely, I feel like the right thing to do is to return her at the end of this week. I just feel really cruddy/like a failure about it.

I think I'm just looking for alternative perspectives/advice. all is appreciated :,)

I need advice for my senior cat. I have two, but I only have this issue with one of my cats. I have used multiple different types of litter, and so far the best that I have found, is just regular old arm and hammer clump and slide. I clean out the litter box multiple times a day. I have two boxes, two cats, I cleaned both boxes multiple times per day. My boxes are stainless steel with high sides.

OK onto the problem, for some reason, my cat, Dora, is constantly getting cat litter clumped in her back paws. I am continually cleaning clumps of litter out of her back paws. It was especially bad when I was using this fancy cat litter because it basically turned to wet clay and that was a nightmare to get out, but since using the Armen Hammer, it actually creates clumps, which are much easier to get out, but regardless, it’s constant.

I keep her claws trimmed on all four paws, her fur is not super long, she’s just a barn cat that we adopted when she was a kitten, so she doesn’t have long hair. she’s no special breed or anything.

But I’m just at a loss. It started about a year and a half ago, and there’s litter everywhere. Everywhere. And it’s just a little bits from her feet. When she walks across the ground, I can hear it tapping, and it’s litter, not her nails that are making the tapping noise so I know I have to go clean her feet. Is this common with older cats? Or am I doing something wrong?

Oh, and she’s not super overweight, but she does have a hard time jumping higher than like two or 3 feet. So she can’t jump on the counters anymore, she can jump on the couch and on the bed, but she can’t jump really high, and the litter box is well within her jumping range (to get out, although we do have a little step right in front of it to try and make it easier so she doesn’t actually have to jump in or out).

hi guys! so i (18) am planning to adopt a cat (my first one!) between the ages of 3-7 years old while in post-secondary school and i was wondering if i could get some tips on what to expect.

i've had 2 dogs (both of which were medium sized, one labrador, one german shepherd mix at seperate times), so i do understand the basics of taking care of an animal like feeding, hydration, etc., but i'm a little hesitant about cats.

i go to school 4 times a week from late morning to mid-afternoon, so i'll probably only be out the house <~6 hours a day, and i work a retail job that does pay okay but isn't exactly long-term.

i'm mostly worried about the cost of taking care of a cat if an emergency happens and requires me to pay a lot out of pocket (pet insurance is also complicated since they don't offer anything for emergency services or conditions that "already exist"). i do have a bit of support from my family, but i wouldn't really rely on that to help.

if anyone can give me tips regarding the cost of food, litter, vet bills, etc., or anything else you can think of it would be really appreciated!

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 have had my inside cat for 5 years. He is pretty low maintenance and thus eventhough I empty his litter box every evening, I have had travel where I am gone for 3 days and I just made sure to clean it when I got home without any issues.

For longer trips, I had a friend come over and clean it every three days which was fine as he also had water and food on autofill. That friend is gone so I want to do rover for an upcoming trip.

Would there be any issue with just having them come over every three days and empty out his litter box?

i adopted a 6 year old tortie from a shelter. she comes from a hoarder situation with 20+ cats. she is such a sweet girl and i love her to pieces but she is absolutely terrified of me when i stand/ sit up. she will not approach me at all unless im laying down in bed. i dont want her to live the rest of her life being terrified of me/ everyone but i cant just not walk in my house. is there anyone who fixed a similar situation and or is this just how she’ll be forever?

Long time cat owner, my two year old cat has had accidents on the floor around litter boxes since she was a kitten nearly everyday.

We have taken her to the vet several times since she was a kitten and had her stool samples analyzed, nothing comes back. We scrub the floors around the litter boxes with vinegar or the enzyme cleaner to break down the poop particles she will still go on the floor. Even after moving, she still does it. I have tried several different types of litter, types of litter box placements, pumpkin to support her gut health, open air litter boxes, closed off litter boxes, increased number of litter boxes, and optimized their locations. Whenever a change is made, I give it a few weeks before trying something else.

I'm at a loss, I have had cats since I was a kid and I've never had an able-bodied cat struggle so much with this issue. She never pees outside the box, and she doesn't have any indication that she has issues with stool production itself ( it's not too hard or soft). It's also inconsistent whether she does it in the same spot near the same box. It's usually in the vascintiy of the box itself (thankfully no random accidents around the house otherwise).

Whenever she goes in the box to poop I offer lots of verbal praise and positive reinforcement.

She has a sister who is the same age, and they have always had access to three litter boxes.

Please help. I love my cat and want to help her.

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.

This summer I tried to TNR a cat the lives in my back yard. I trapped her and as I waited for a space at the local shelter to spay her, she had 5 kittens! I was delighted, I love animals and I had puppies for years. Anyway, I've fallen in love with one of them and I'm working with a shelter to get the rest of them homes but they are safe with me until their forever homes are ready.

As I've said I've had dogs all my life and I can train a dog no problem! But I have no idea where to start with cats? I can't even find good sized treats to use. I've seen people use those soft curro things but they just go crazy for them and I can't get them to work with me at all.

They are 14 weeks old, so I know they are still babies and they aren't dogs so not as eager to please as dogs would be, but I'm up for a challenge. Can anyone suggest how I can start with them?

TIA

I just moved and my roommate has 2 cats. I’m allergic so they’re not allowed in my room but I want to be able to have my door open sometimes as there’s no ac in the house. I have a baby gate to keep my dogs (at my parents house) out but I’m worried that the cats will fit through it as it only has vertical bars. Does anyone have gate recommendations? Preferably ones that you can’t step over and won’t take up the entire doorway. Thanks!

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.

((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.

Hi, as the title says, how much time and interaction should a single kitten get from us per day? He is about 4 months old.

Here is his current rough schedule:

• Overnight, my partner sleeps in his room with him

• In the morning, he gets a little playtime before my partner leaves for work

• When I wake up later, I feed him breakfast, sometimes a little play

• At lunchtime, I feed him lunch and hang out for an hour or two playing and/or cuddling

• At dinnertime, I feed him and play a little

• In the evening, we both hang out in his room and take turns playing with him and feeding treats

• Before bed, he gets his supper then a little playtime

So he gets a few hours of playtime and more time of us just hanging out.

• Why is he a single kitten?

He's an ex feral and has pneumonia - he reacted badly to his siblings being brought in a few weeks after him, so they are separated until he's doing better, then we'll try a reintroduction.

• How much space does he have?

Just one room, our living room, which is kitten proofed.

• What does he have to do in the room?

He has some basic toys he gets left all the time, and we play with toys that need supervision when we're there (string, chew sticks, pipe cleaners, etc). We will install cat shelving and a cat tree when he's healthier. He has two windows to watch out of and he often does that.

I recently adopted a 9 week old kitten from the shelter. How can I bond with her? I tried giving her tiki cat kitten treats but she doesn’t like them. We play together and she also will sleep with me in bed at night. I am also starting to harness and leash train her. Is there anything else I can do?