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.

How often do you change your cats litter boxes?

I only get 3 bags of rubbish allowed per month 😢

It drives me nuts.

I literally am exhausted waking up early every night, like right now because my cat is so damn vocal.

He's 6 years old, hes fixed, vaccinated and as far as I can tell hes in great health(had multiple vet check ups). I did just move across like 1400 miles with him on the road a few months ago and im barely getting settled into an apartment with my roomies. We dont have much and someone lost the pieces to put his cat tree together but he has lots of toys and scratchers. We try playing with him throughout the day when we can but honestly i just dont know what to do.

He constantly yells and meows. Like constantly. It feels like a cat form of "Hey look at me, look at me look at me, ok throw this toy for me. No im not gonna chase it, throw it again, i just saw you lying down and i hate that. Uhh hello? Youre laying down at 4am again? UM hello? Hello ? Hello? hey HEY HEY. HEY HEY HEY HEY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEASE GET UP GET UP"

i really wish i had a non humanizing way to put it because ive brought him to the vet and they never give me helpful advice on it. If i wasnt so broke I would pay for a cat psychic to tell me what it is he wants because i truly think hes asking for like SOMETHING? Or anything?? And thats ok i love him but he only does this when literally everyone(even me and my roomie who is insomniacs) is asleep or trying to sleep. and like its not a pained meow or yeowl. Sometimes its a weird late night caterwall, BUT MOSTLY in the same tone he will meow repetativly like,

"Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow"

and then he escalates into a CRESEANDO. its ridiculous ?? Apalling ? Sometimes he also rakes his claws on the electrical outlets(like plucking at the fixture with his claws for that horrible nails on plastic noise, can you tell i have autism i cant take it anymore) or walls, not scratching but like making the most horrible noise. Or he'll take his paw and tap the door in a way where it makes a loud rattle.

Im almost in tears writing this cause i love my cat so much and im truely trying, like I went to therapy for 3 years so I can be more patient of a cat owner and just better but the way he keeps me up at night feels so grossly personal, like I feel like he literally doesnt want me to sleep.(hes a cat i know Im not holding him to any standard or mistreating him)

Its to a point where hes meowing so much that I have to put him in timeout in another room for like an hour at a time because i cant just move his litterbox everynight(roomates only agree on one litter box spot sadly) but he doesnt even know hes in trouble for the meowing, and its breaking me heart cause im like "No bro I love you, you just wont shut up". Like, i dont even care if he runs around like a maniac, i can sleep through that. Its when im like settling for bed and he quietly sneaks in my doorway and just meows loudly at me for no reason. Im so tired, its 6:47 in the fucking morning ALSO WHEN i put him in tomeout hes quiet ??? So im like "okay???" And i let him out because I AM GUILTY AND TIRED AND I LOVE HIM BUT HES PSYCHOLOGICALLY TORTURING MEEE. And then he does it again. Its a vicious cycle. Honestly is someone wants to send me to a pet psychic that does case to case charity work, please help me because Im behind on rent and i just cant lol

Tdlr: i love my cat, i swear hes trying to tell me something he wants or needs idk what it is, he wont shut up so hes going to timeout so much he cant tell what hes in timeout for. Vets say hes healthy, maybe bored but i dont know how because im his personal jester. I know im doing something wrong i just have no idea what.

Will post the Midnight Opera man if yall so desire to see the scallywag.

Edit: my god, the replies and views on this post for just the past hour or 2 or 3 or whatever is just fantastic. Everyone is so nice, Im thinking of stuff I hadn't considered, I felt catharsis for my fellow man struggling with me and our endeavor in loving our loud fluffy companions. Who's breath smells of death and fur smells of dreams. Thank you everyone, even the "Duh do this idIOT" commenters. No hate, everyone here is on my good side forever because you all got together to help me sleep, now Im actually gonna put reddit down and crash for real since everyone is so intellectually engaging. I hope non of you are ai and this all wasnt a dream. Thank you again, I will wake up a better cat owner now.

A few months ago, we adopted the cuddliest, friendliest cat I’ve ever met. I instantly became her person, and we bonded quickly!

However…I literally can’t walk anywhere without her constantly weaving in and out between my legs. I’m talking…every single time I walk when she’s around me. She tripped me down the stairs twice already, so it’s become an actual hazard for me. If I just get up off the couch to grab sometime from the fridge…she’s in my legs. I really don’t know what to do about this lol I’ve had dogs for the last 20 years, and I’m not sure how you train a cat?

I also understand that she might still be a bit anxious as she was apparently found living in a barn and likely had been there for her whole life. We’ve had her for two months, so maybe she’s still settling in/taking some time to feel totally safe. She’s one and healthy.

Edit: Seems like the consensus is that the lobster is too buttery, and I have to just learn to not die 😂

Hello all,

I am thinking about adopting an adult cat. I live alone and work 40 hours a week, so I would want to ensure that if I got a cat that it would be self sufficient enough to be content home alone during the day.

I’ve been visiting my local animal shelter where they have the sweetest 4 year old former stray. Whenever I’ve visited him he was hiding from the other cats, and while he doesn’t decline pets, he doesn’t ask for them either. The shelter believes he has depression or that he just finds the environment stressful. But I worry that even if I did adopt him and made him a happy home, he would still be depressed.

I basically just want to make sure I’m enough for this cat. I don’t want him to be sadder than he is at the shelter. Any advice is appreciated, as I want to make sure I’m 100% sure before committing to a pet.

Updating- wow, I'm pleased with all the replies and ideas. I appreciate all the advice and will be rinsing cans. I will also try the different things such as deodorizer inserts suggested. Thank you all!

How does everyone manage the smell from empty cat food cans? Does everyone rinse out the can actually wash them before putting them in a trash bag to limit the stink? I still consider myself new to cats after 5 years. I thought my process to seal up the cans was good enough.

Once empty, I put the cans in a separate plastic bag. I use the produce bags from grocery stores or smaller trash bags. After about 4-5 cans, this bag gets knotted up and thrown in with the regular kitchen trash. My husband csnt stand the smell, even the same day when it's a new tmcan bag and new kitchen trash bag. Its not like they sit there for days.

For background, I live out in the country. Our trash cans remain 1/4 of a mile from our actual house at the main toad for pickup. It would be too far to take full cans every week to the "curb" so we take trash out as it fills. Also, since COVID 4 years ago, I have anosmia/parosmia- no sense of smell or distorted. I cannot smell ANY of the cat food can odor except when I open the big curb trash can and they've been sitting out in the sun for days. Majorly strong smells, like rotting food, sewage, landfills, super bad farts....Basically, when I can smell something, it must be really bad.

Hello! Georgia is my precious little plant pooper :). When we first rescued her she was quick to use the litter box, but shes very picky about the litter thats in there. I tried just clay cause thats what we had atm(gifted from relative) and she only peed in it. Pooped in our plants pots instead, glad she didnt poop on the floor but not ideal :(. So then we tried pine, she hated it, refused to use it, tried clay again, same as before. Then I tried Worlds Best corn litter, she LOVES the corn litter, im not big on it being so dusty but she doesnt mind me cleaning her legs. The issue is that world's best is kinda pricey for me, and im having a hard time finding affordable corn litter or things like corn. Are there any brands im missing? Help is very much appreciated thank you :)

I’m thinking of having my cats nails clipped. When he walks on my partner or I and sometimes kneads during pets, his claws have hurt us really easily. Im wondering if clipping will help but he is very scared of his carrier and I’m also concerned with how clipping will go (never seen someone else handle
Him yet, we adopted him in the past year).

Do we think it’s worth the headache of dealing with his carrier and potentially getting scratched? He has a post at home and I’ve seen his nails come off (I’ve seen random claw pieces every now and then) not seeing anything else really destroyed, though I’m sure my couch has some small tears. Mostly so we can interact with him and feel less scared

Sometimes he smells like fabric softener, sometimes like perfume, sometimes like a scented candle, and today he smells like a sporting goods store. He’s an indoor cat and he doesn’t have access to these things. It’s usually his neck area. Why does this happen?

so... my roommate has two cats that she keeps locked up in her room all day save for maybe when she's cooking or getting ready for work in the morning. i just adopted a baby cat, and often play with him in the living room, sometimes the roommate's cats will play paws with mine under her door. i know they can hear him meowing and playing, and i wonder if they get sad. i don't know what i can do for them, i also noticed that my roommate has trashbags over the window to the point that they can't see outside. i wanted to let the two out while she was gone (we do not get along, that's why i will not speak to her about letting them play), but she put a padlock on her door. so those kitties are in there all day long. :/ one cat got significantly fatter since i last saw him. what do y'all think i should do to help?

TL;DR: My cat wakes me up every night by walking on me, pulling at my sheets/rug, and playing with cables, and I’m exhausted and at my breaking point despite trying an automatic feeder, nighttime play, blocking/deterrents, and giving her plenty of enrichment. What else can I realistically do to stop this behavior? I’m desperate for serious advice because I can’t keep living like this.

I adopted my cat a year ago. She’s two. I’ve moved to a new apartment about 6 months ago with one roommate, I got the bigger room & bathroom so I could have her automatic feeder, water, and auto litter box in there. I don’t want her litter box in the shared space.

With that said, she’s taken interest in one of my closets where she rustles around in there before bed and/or between the hours of 3-5a and wakes me up. I wear noise canceling ear buds but I guess I’m a light sleeper. Ive closed the doors but now she pulls at the rug and it’s damaging it. Foil doesn’t work. I’ve started to deter her with unpleasant scents and blocking it with items, but now she pulls at my sheets and plays with the cables behind my bed and the feeling of this wakes me up.

She doesn’t meow but she’ll walk on me. I try to ignore it but it genuinely makes me so angry I have to wake up and firmly say STOP. I have a hard time going back to sleep. I can’t see myself going through this for the rest of her life. I’m ready to give up. Other posts say lock her out of the room - I can’t do that with her food/water/litter box in my room. They say get an automatic feeder. I already have one. It goes off at 6:45a and 6p and when I play with her at night she gets a light snack after. I can’t get another cat right now.

I almost never have people over because she will likely wake them up too.

She has a cat tree in my room with her bed and blanket covering it that she sleeps in everyday. I give her porch access all day and close off access before bed. I put toys away so she knows it’s bed time but leave some out during the day. I’m going to put up 3 cat climbing stoops on my wall this week. What am I doing wrong?

I’m hopeless and tired. I need serious advice.

my cat got sick a few weeks ago. at first, he was still eating normally, but as his sickness went on, he eventually stopped being able to eat on his own, so i started feeding him by hand. i used a dropper instead of a spoon because he didn’t like the spoon, so i mixed his wet food with water so i could feed it to him through the dropper.

he’s better now, though. we already took him to the vet, he’s finished all of his medications, and he’s only taking his vitamins now. he’s also much more active and has gotten some of his strength back, but he still refuses to eat on his own.

he does show interest in food. he’ll smell it and even walk over to his bowl, but he just won’t actually eat. we’ve tried different kinds of food, including chicken, but he’ll only eat if i personally put the food into his mouth.

i’m getting really worried because he’s getting so skinny, and i can’t always feed him myself since i have school ☹️☹️ has anyone experienced this with their cat? what can i do to encourage him to eat on his own again?

Apparently I can’t post a picture of what I’m talking about but if you’re unfamiliar with the product, it’s a mat with bars overhead that have little toys dangling from them. I just feel like if I were a cat, it would be so much fun but I’m not a cat so idk.

Before I spend my real adult money on one, someone please let me know if you’ve tried it, or like have a human baby and also a cat and whether the cat liked it or not.

Thanks!

​

Just what the title says, looking for an autofeeder that won't let food go stale. My cat won't eat the food from the autofeeder bc it goes a bit stale. I'd love to get back on an autofeeder so I'm wondering if anyone has one they can reccomend. Thanks!

Edit to add: I appreciate the suggestions to refill it more frequently, but at that point I'll just keep refilling a bowl LOL. Just looking for recommendations on an auto feeder that will keep the food fresh

I’m moving into a bigger place and finally financially stable to adopt another pet. I’m looking to adopt another cat but not sure if my cat wants that. My cats is a female just turned 3 and is very clingy. I’m gone most of the weekday at work and I have a pet camera and she get super lonely and just ends up sleeping all day till I get home. She’s been around two other cats but one was very territorial and fought with her. So just hesitant to adopt another cat and not have it work out having to bring back the other cat. Super sad.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

When to say goodbye.

I have three cats. One of them passed away young. The other one stopped eating a few months ago and started walking wobbly. Every morning i was afraid to find her dead on the floor so I took her to the vet. She was put down.

Now my last cat isn't eating. I don't think she is hurting but she is definitely losing weight fast. Our vet put him on steroids and appetite stimulant. Now he is losing weight slower.

I don't know when is the right time to say goodbye. He is not hurting but he is declining. I think the only one that's hurting is me! Everyday is a sad day for me to look at him.

It will be selfish of me to put him down right? I should let nature to take its course. He isn't hurting. He is mostly just sleeping, wasting away.

Sigh....

hi everyone! my boyfriend and i plan on getting a kitten soon but i’ve only ever had dogs growing up. Obviously he grew up with cats and i assume he will teach me the essentials but is there anything specific we should be looking out for/ setting up prior? tia!

For context, I work for an in-home care/companion service for the disabled elderly. My client is a 97-year-old dementia patient. She has one pet: an orange tabby cat trapped in her bathroom.

I'm 17, this was just a short summer job before school starts again. I found the cat my first day. He's shut in a small, window-less bathroom with a small food and water dish that only gets filled and cleaned by me because my client forgets. No toys, no bed, just a dirty litter box in the corner. I feel so bad for the sweet kitty! Idk how old he is, but hes super sweet and cuddly and just wants held. Such a sweetheart but I'm not allowed to let him out. Hes stuck in there day and night, and unfortunately I'm super allergic, so even I can't spend too much time in the bathroom with him bc I have to take care of my client and my allergies just get to bad. The most I can do really is refill the food and water. I just finished my last day the other day, and the poor kitty's situation still keeps gnawing me... I don't know what to do or how to help.

My client really can't take care of him and has no family who can. He has no quality of life in that bathroom and is so miserable, I feel terrible. But at her age, he is all she has left, and gets very emotional any time I've tried to suggest a possible rehoming. The family feels the same way. But it just isn't humane to me.

Any advice? I feel bad for my client because I know she really does love him, but she can't take care of him. They don't even interact. And i'm scared for what may happen to the cat now that I'm gone. Is there anything I can do? I have no knowledge of cats or pet laws.

😻 EDIT: 😻 My client and kitty move to a more secure facility for her dementia this weekend; I will contacting Animal Services as they do. Thank you all so much for your encouragement and advice, its helped a ton. I promise to update you all when I know for sure kitty is safe.

I’ve started noticing that my cat acts like a completely different animal depending on where we are in the house.

In the living room, she’s super social and follows me everywhere. In the bedroom, she suddenly becomes independent and wants absolutely nothing to do with me. But if we’re in the hallway, she turns into this little attention-seeking menace who wants me to follow her around.

It’s so specific that I’m starting to wonder if cats actually associate different rooms with different routines.

Does your cat have a particular room where they act completely differently? I’m curious if this is a normal cat thing or if mine is just weird.

26M. I work in the office 5 days a week and am away from home for about 9.5 hours (including lunch and commute). I recently got a 10-week old kitten and she is extremely playful, oftentimes at night. I live in a 650 sqf, 1 bedroom apartment and was wondering if I should get a 2nd kitten so she has a companion.

I can afford it financially but am unsure if it's necessary or a poor idea due to my apartment size. My kitten has tons of toys and a cat tree will be coming in the mail next week. She also eats very well and always uses her litter.

We got sent a big boquet with lillies in it. My dad put it on the table and I took it outside when I came home to see my cat laying next to it. Should I give her a bath? Just monitor?

I have an 8 year old stray i took in, and I thought he had asthma but the vet never diagnosed him with asthma until today when he had his xray. Hes been prescribed a puffer twice a day.

Anyone have any advice on how to get your cat to inhale his puffs. I bought an acrocat mask for him but if wont be here until tomorrow.

He was previously on pills and takes those no problem but getting him to inhale worries me. I dont want to waste it. Im just over thinking im sure but I feel its going to be a feat.

We have 3 dogs and 1 kitten (6 months old now) for around 2.5 months now. Everyone gets a long great, but we do have a few cat doors in the house just to make sure he can get a break from the dogs if he ever needs one! My question is, should we get a second kitten? Our current one loves to play, and he tries to get the dogs to play but the dogs just stare at him like hes crazy! Would our kitten benefit from another cat, or would ensuring that he gets that play time he needs from us humans be enough? We do play with him a ton and he also goes on walks with the dogs on a leash/harness. I dont want him to ever be bored or lonely, but I would also HATE to get a new cat that doesnt fit in with the dogs!

He literally crawled inside my bed to poop on my sheets T_T (vet is already involved, and we're pretty sure we know why, don't worry)

How should I clean this?? I'm in the US. I'm throwing away my mattress pad and I had a waterproof cover under that. I'm currently washing them (and the comforter and the pillows) in Seventh Generation sensitive detergent since it has enzymes in it and plan to do at least two washes. Is that good enough?? Should I add in something else?

I’ve become the only owner of 3 cats. All littermates, one male and two females. 7 yrs old. Adopted at 3 months, roughly. All vaccinated etc. Indoor only. They were ‘friendly’ to each other when young, but that’s decreased a lot over time. While I used to have a full house with kids and a partner, all are gone now. It’s just me. I’m not a huge ‘cat’ person and I’ve been dealing with substantial personal stress and health issues the last year and a half related to the empty nest. It isn’t relevant to my question but it’s the background.

Originally all 3 were fine with each other and all explored the house. Now, somehow, the girls cannot stand to be around each other. One is a bully (N) and the other (S) has retreated to a bedroom on the second floor. I’ve tried to be cautious and moved around litter boxes and food and water so it’s all approachable to all without stress. That had
been working.

Until N got more confident and came up to the second floor. Previously her S had the reign up there but now she is reluctant to leave the bedroom and even more skittish than she used to be (even with me). S is very loving and loves my attention but is on edge whenever she leaves the room. I could easily move a litter box and food there but I feel she would never leave.

I cannot do a good separation/introduction with the set up of my house. Gates/screens are impossible with the open floor format and there are no doors to block. I would have to carry her downstairs and put her in a cat enclosure to keep her down there and I’m afraid it would make her more stressed.

I have tried pheromones etc. The house is open and large and I don’t think they had an effect. I try to spend time upstairs but it is only bedrooms and I’d rather coax S to come down.

Advice? Their brother (U) is a fat f&ck and goes everywhere eating everyone’s food and using all the litter boxes because he’s a fat f&ck. lol. He doesn’t give 2 craps and angles for all the attention all the time. He’s a ginger and an idiot. The girls don’t care about him.

I work full time and aren’t home for extended periods which doesn’t help. They are scared of anyone they don’t know, due to the fat f&ck’s trauma of hearing the doorbell when he was a kitten and running whenever anyone came over he didn’t know. It became contagious and now I’m the only one they like. I don’t have any family who can help anymore.

Is there a way to get the girls to be ok with each other? They had been fine, but this last year was extremely stressful for everyone, with a lot of losses in the house. One of them must have upset the other and I can’t quite do cat family therapy with everyone. I don’t want to set up S in a tent downstairs in a slow progression if there is a less stressful way.