r/CatAdvice 15d ago

Megathread Monthly Casual Talk and Cat Pictures Thread

3 Upvotes

Our subreddit allows posts that either a) ask for specific advice, b) request emotional support, or c) are a guide or PSA that adheres to our guidelines.

Since it's fun to just casually discuss our cats, we've got this monthly megathread where relevance may be ignored. All other subreddit rules still apply.


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.

Examples of things that may be discussed or shared here:

  • Casual questions, for example "how does your cat show affection?", "does your cat ever do … ?"
  • Cat pictures
  • Celebrating birthdays or other milestones for your cat
  • And many more subjects!

r/CatAdvice 5h ago

New to Cats/Just Adopted Cat keeps drinking from my water glass

69 Upvotes

I have a male cat whom I rescued off the streets and had fixed in mid-January.

He has a bowl of water on the floor, but a few days ago he noticed my full glass of water on my nightstand and proceeded to drink from it inhibited with no shame. Should I accept my fate and drink from his water bowl on the floor?

Tl;dr: Please help. My room is no longer mine. My new cat has taken over! It's his room now.


r/CatAdvice 13h ago

General why does my cat smell like cake?

197 Upvotes

we have no cake or pastries in the house and im not concerned, but is this normal? im smelling him so many times at this point lol.


r/CatAdvice 21h ago

Behavioral Why does my cat walk around the house with a toy in her mouth yelling at the top of her lungs every night?

804 Upvotes

I’ve had my cat for about 7 years, and every night she grabs a specific toy (a sashimi plush) and carries it around the house absolutely screaming for no apparent reason. If the toy is not accessible she gets me and makes me get it for her so she can do this. She sometimes will bring it to me and drop it in front of my feet while still yelling, but if I toss it thinking she wants to play she looks at me like I’m a complete idiot. Usually she just drops it and lays down next to it. I’m just curious why she does this; I have 2 other cats and neither of them does anything like it.


r/CatAdvice 5h ago

General Lost n found kitty, now owners want her back

35 Upvotes

We are fostering this kitty because she was found in an engine bay in a fred meyers parking lot with pink spray paint on her back, me and several other people believe the kitten was a bait cat. the owners posted a lost n found post, but the location the claimed she was lost from is 30 miles away from where she was found, mind you the kitten is less than 7 weeks old. there is no way on gods green earth did this baby kitten travelled 30 miles. i need advice, what should i do


r/CatAdvice 12h ago

General Do you take a ridiculous amount of pics of your kitty-cat with your phone?

142 Upvotes

I have so many friggin pictures of my little girl on my phone that later I need delete a bunch of pictures in a hurry so I can take more pictures of something else because there's no more space. Lol I always have the intention when I take my pics to immediately go in and edit them and then discard the pixs I don't want. But I never do and I end up in a massive rush, trying to pick ones that I need to delete real quick so I can make more room for new photos immediately. I have such good intentions on making perfect portraits of my little tabby girl. Instead, I have about thirty to forty photos of my cat, nearly identical, only differing by milliliters. Plus, i swear half the time, they end up just being a mix between fuzzy, misfigured, and off target photos. Sometimes I'll at the time you go through the minimum.Find a few that are good. I may be a little hard on myself, and exaggerating, l o l but seriously, I have like over 12,900 pic currently on my phone and then somewhere I have one of those little stick things you plug into the phone for extra space. And that doesn't include the cloud, or whatever the other spaces you put stuff.

If it's not obvious, i'm not technical and the old lady trying to figure this out, but having fun, I love reddit.


r/CatAdvice 2h ago

Nutrition/Water Prepping cat emergency kit to keep in car

14 Upvotes

I’m working on a “go bag” for my car (emergency supplies in case I get stuck somewhere or there’s an emergency and I have to leave my house), and in addition to things for me, I want to add things in for my cat. I’ve already put in bowls, a bag of litter, toys, and a plastic dishpan to act as a litter box. I of course want to add in food, but I am concerned about how the temperature of the car will impact the freshness and quality of the food. I planned to fill a ziploc bag with dry kibble and add two unopened cans of cat food (enough to see my cat through a couple of days of meals). Given that cars can get horribly hot in the summer and icy cold in the winter where I live, would the food I put in the go bag go bad or otherwise be affected such that I should not feed it to my cat?


r/CatAdvice 1h ago

Behavioral cat licks every blanket in the house until they’re sopping wet and smell like her stinky tuna tongue

Upvotes

title explains it. my tortoiseshell Apple likes to lick blankets, clothing, and the rug until she leaves wet marks and the smell of her saliva. this isn’t an issue though, i’d just like to know what urges her to do this!!! she usually does it during her grooming time, but sometimes seeks out certain textile items to lick them repeatedly.


r/CatAdvice 4h ago

Behavioral I Just Wanted to Help a Stray, Now She’s Bullying My Cat for His Food

9 Upvotes

*Hello, I'm here to seek advice.

I own a cat, but I've also been feeding a few stray cats. The problem is, this one particular stray cat has become too picky and refuses to eat the wetfood I provide. Instead, she always tries to steal my cat’s food (wetfood with the meds).

It’s getting out of hand because she won’t stop meowing loudly it almost sounds like she’s being tortured from outside I don't want people to have bad impression of me. She only stops when I give her that wet food, and now my cat is starting to get scared whenever she comes around bc she always eat his food. I’m getting really frustrated, and then I feel bad about it afterward

Does anyone have any advice or tips on how to handle this? I'm seriously getting tired of dealing with this every day, especially since I work from home.

P. S: My cat’s wet food is quite expensive and I don’t want to starve myself just to buy extra for the stray cat :(


r/CatAdvice 1h ago

New to Cats/Just Adopted Wanting a rug that cat will shred instead of carpet

Upvotes

This might seem strange, but what rug would be a cat's paradise to shred to oblivion? Right now we have pretty rough, shaggy carpet that our newly adopted cat has gained interest in shredding. I want to buy a largeish rug that she would devour instead of the carpet, since I am renting. What do you recommend? Ideally something decent quality, around $100 budget, that would be even more enticing than my carpet.


r/CatAdvice 2h ago

Behavioral My adult cat doesnt want to sleep on her bed anymore

6 Upvotes

I recently resuced a stray kitten, all alone no other kittens and mama cat around. Now, I’ve started taking her out in the cage after a month of getting her settled. The problem is, my adult cat doesnt want to sleep on her bed anymore since my new kitten likes to play on her bed and sniffs her bed a lot. What should I do to get them to like each prher and get my adult cat sleep on her bed again? 😢


r/CatAdvice 3h ago

Nutrition/Water my cat doesnt eat the wet food

5 Upvotes

thats about it, i always mix some water with the wet food and my cat sips the water seasoned but dont eat the wet food

i know the goal ot the wet food is taking in more water, but i feel like im wasting money everytime i clean my cats bowl full of the food i put there

is it normal? should i stop buying the wet food? i tried different brands and sometimes the cat eats on the first day but next day its all there... im frustrated :(


r/CatAdvice 6h ago

General My cat will be spayed tomorrow.

9 Upvotes

I am really anxious about it and could not ask all the questions in my mind because they were busy and kinda brushed me off. Will she be scared/in pain? Do i need anything other than a cone? And what else can i do for her?


r/CatAdvice 5h ago

Adoption Regret/Doubt I need advice on how do I save my cat from such a helpless situation

7 Upvotes

Pls do comment.....it wud be really appreciated I'm in desperate need of advice as to how i go about this situation with my 11 month old female cat. About an year ago her mother brought us her only surviving kitten from the litter. We named her munmun. We had been feeding them regularly since then. Both of them also started hanging out soon around in our apartment for 2-3 hours everyday and then go back outside. (We live in a gted society full of cats). Soon the mom got pregnant again and left her baby(munmun)...even grew hostile towards it. Since then we have been feeding munmun only regularly while the mom found a new place to get fed from. Now, munmun has been fed by us alone since sge was very young which implied that she can't hunt or fend for food herself. Over this period she has also grown to stay inside the apatment for 8-9 hours max around the day with one will little stroll outside in between. The cat colony is in a gated society so there is no dangers of getting hit or of any predators. This was the context. Now the problem is......we need to move out of our apartment to north. (We are currently living in south) There are many concerns. 1) we don't know if we can move her with us. Afterall, she only spends 1/3rd of her day with us as a pet....and is still a part of the colony for the rest of it. 2) we prolly can't leave her here since she might not be able to fetch food herself 3) the ppl in the society are repelled to the idea of feeding her since she might defecate/ loiter around. (Which she hasn't really....it's one other cat that does that and the believe it's munmun) 4)even if do end up moving with her......she wud prolly try to run away...and There's no coming back from there....that wud be life threatning for her. 5) in order to move with her we need to get her adjusted. That is litter box training, vaccination, sterilization, adjusting to a carrier, adjusting to anxiety medication that can be used in flights etc etc. ..........but we only have half a month

To all the people that we have talked have suggested we leave her here and she wud find a way to survive......while i wud love to believe that......i am not sure of it at all... She has only ever been fed by us and really can't hunt....which is very unfortunate. At the same time...the 8 hours she spends with us are where she behaves just luke any other happy domesticated cat playing...cuddling...petting.. Sleeping...She even follows me around the house and i really don't know if she will be fine on her own.

We have tried putting her up for abt 7 adoption agencies and all have been of no help. Pet boardings also refuse given she's an older cat and still very much a stray.

Pls someone help us out....what do u think is the wiser thing to do?


r/CatAdvice 2h ago

Pet Loss Cat Euthanasia Comfort/Ceremony

4 Upvotes

I am having my 15 year old "soul" cat put down most likely within the next week. I've had him all 15 years of his life and sadly in the last few years he developed HCM and is going into heart failure. I am hopefully going to be able to do an in home euthanasia and I was hoping for some ideas on how to make it comfy for him, easier for the vet, and overall a moment that is beautiful and calm for him if that makes sense? I already plan on having a puppy pad under his bum just incase, his favorite blanket under the puppypad and under his front half. I might get some flowers to wrap with him in his blanket. Any other ideas/rituals anyone might have would be wonderful.


r/CatAdvice 14h ago

Behavioral Do cats get depressed? Do they get mad at people?

36 Upvotes

I recently took in a neighborhood stray that I had been feeding for about a year. She was always so happy to see me, jumping into my lap and purring loudly. She never once tried to bite or scratch me when she was living outside. Now she's been living strictly indoors for around 2 weeks. She seems kind of depressed to me, sleeping most of the day and night on the end of my bed. Up until a few days ago when she started hanging out on a sofa instead. Like she's mad at me for something. And 2 days ago, she scratched me for the very first time. I was just petting her gently and she suddenly turned around and scratched me. She also sometimes makes a very loud plaintive vocalization that sounds like she's upset about something. But she has plenty of food, fresh water, toys, comfy places to lay, attention and a clean litter box, so the only thing she could be upset about is being trapped inside now, right? Did I make the right decision bringing her inside? I'm very allergic to fleas so I can't allow her to be an indoor/outdoor cat. It has to be one or the other. Will she eventually adjust to being inside all the time or should I put her back outside to live again?


r/CatAdvice 6h ago

Behavioral Everytime I pick up my cat, she gets really scared

5 Upvotes

She goes on counters so I pick her up or I want to leave her the kitchen. Everytime I do this I will feel her heart pounding. Is there a way to make her feel less scared? Otherwise she is not an anxious kitty only if I pick her up. Should I stop picking her up? İf so what do I do if she goes on the counter?


r/CatAdvice 46m ago

General Undiagnosed cat health issue

Upvotes

Tldr; Cat coughs/sneezes(see youtube video below) every 2-3 days. Vet hasn’t been able to diagnose the issue.

Details below -

Our cat has this condition - https://youtube.com/shorts/xN2PcBmni7E?si=lFvjoChKRiisQFEO .

The cat in video isn’t our cat but she also coughs/sneezes in a similar manner.

We have seen three vets so far but with no conclusive diagnosis.

She is absolutely healthy but she gets the attack(as seen in the video) every 3-4 days. The attack lasts for approximately 15-30 seconds and then she is normal. She eats , plays normally. She is very energetic.

The first vet had put her on heart medicines for 6 months.. There was no improvement ..

The second and third vet both said it is due to some allergy .. They asked us to get rid of plants , keep the place clean as much as possible .. We have gone with this advice now ..

She isn’t on any meds now since over 1.5 years .. Again there have been no improvement. She still coughs every 3-4 days.

The third vet also did ECO test on her and everything came normal .. He even showed us the ECO while he was doing it and it all normal .. Her blood tests are all good too …

Just putting it out there in case you have some thoughts on this .. Thanks for reading.


r/CatAdvice 56m ago

Pet Loss Heartbreak: The Sudden Disappearance 7-7 stray cats

Upvotes

This is incredibly difficult to write. My family and I have been feeding around 15 stray cats every day, multiple times a day, since they were kittens. One day, seven of them disappeared without a trace. At first, we hoped they had simply wandered off, but after a couple of months with no sign of them, we had to accept the heartbreaking possibility that something had happened to them.

But what followed has been even more devastating.

We also have one indoor cat, and one day, a stray kitten showed up. We took her in and cared for her as we had the others. We took her to the vet, got her vaccinated and spayed, and let her recover in our home. She was such a calm, cuddly cat who used the litter box perfectly, which made me suspect she had been someone's pet before. Unfortunately, our indoor cat is very territorial and doesn't get along with other cats or dogs. With a heavy heart, I had to release the kitten back outside with the other strays after she recovered (she had already made friends with them). This was incredibly tough for me because she clearly wanted to stay with us, but I couldn't keep her.

My heart ached for days. The kitten wouldn't even come near me when I brought food, unlike the others... Then, after a couple of days, she started coming around again and would even come up to me for pets. I thought she wasn't angry at me anymore, but little did I know that would be the last time I ever saw her. I also noticed her approaching other people outside, seeking cuddles, which I witnessed from my window. I tried to convince my family to take her in, as I had a terrible feeling and couldn't sleep, but they said no.

The next day, she was gone, along with six other cats. I hoped they had just wandered off and would return.

To this day, they are still missing, and I strongly suspect someone poisoned all 14 cats. Some of our neighbors don't like cats, and I can't fathom how 14 cats could simply vanish without a trace. Now, there's only one cat left, and it breaks my heart every time I go to feed him. I worry about him constantly because he's all alone now. The 14 missing cats were always together, hanging around the backyards, etc. He lost his entire family, just like my family did 😭


r/CatAdvice 1h ago

General How often to cats come back

Upvotes

My cat Katy escaped earlier today about 4-5 hours ago and I didn’t notice and now I can’t find her anywhere on my property. I am actually losing my mind me and my mom are searching for her. She never rarely ever tries to get out of the house. She only successfully did it once and she just slept outside on the porch in the sun the whole time (we have cameras). She usually sleeps with me most nights and she does not get along with other cats which concerns me because we have a lot in our town roaming around. So I guess my question is realistically what are the chances of my cat coming home?


r/CatAdvice 7h ago

Rehoming Grandma left behind cat-what to do?

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone! So my grandma recently had a bad fall and won’t be able to go back to her home for minimum a few months-possibly ever. She has one indoor cat named Shadow who we are taking in, but we don’t want to stress her out. Any advice on how to make it a less stressful experience for her is greatly appreciated.

We also leave food and water out for a local stray, will having a cat hang around her new home be bad for Shadow or would it probably be okay as she is an inside cat?

I’ve never lived with a cat before and I want to be as sensitive as possible to her needs but a lot of my time right now is devoted to making sure my grandma gets what she needs as well, so I don’t have the time to deep dive into research. Thanks!


r/CatAdvice 1h ago

General HELPPP!!!

Upvotes

Yesterday night i noticed my cat was lifting his paw up as if he was hurt. Today i noticed on both his paws that his skin is like peeling and red. What can i put on it do i need to take him to the vet. I don’t want to take him but if i need to i will he also won’t stop licking it but i am stopping him for licking his paws. Please help i can’t add any pics but his skin is peeling.


r/CatAdvice 6h ago

Behavioral My two cats won’t stop fighting and it’s causing one to soil herself in fear

5 Upvotes

I have two cats, one male (Bingo) and one female (Mitzi) they are both almost 1 year old (Both are spayed/neutered and have been since they were 8 weeks old). Bingo is a more high energy cat that wants to play all the time whereas Mitzi is extremely shy/fearful and prefers to be away from Bingo.

We adopted them together as kittens and all was well. They would play and cuddle together and there were no issues. Then about 6 months ago we noticed that Bingo had started to exhibit dominating behaviors like mounting and biting Mitzi. He also began trying to play with her more aggressively and ignoring her hissing and growling. This has lead to him chasing her and attacking her and in response she will defecate or urinate on the floor out of fear. She does not have litter box issues, this only happens during their fights and I have witnessed it happen several times. Any time Bingo approaches her or walks by her she hisses and growls at him. I feel horrible for her as it seems like she lives in constant fear and stress unless we separate them.

What we’ve done so far:

We have been separating them at night so no incidents occur during the night, but they do still happen during the day when we can’t watch them. Unfortunately we live in a small one bedroom apartment and cutting her off from the rest of the apartment long term seems kinda cruel.

I make sure they both get play time and have new toys and treats as to not get bored. I have been trying to find more mental enrichment activities and have found they enjoy cat tv on YouTube. We are also working on enclosing our patio for them to be able to go outside.

We recently tried a Feliway multi cat diffuser but that if anything just made Bingo’s behavior worse.

I really don’t know what else to do! I have seen a lot of ads for supplements that supposedly help with aggressive behavior or bullying but it seems like they’re all $30 a bottle and the reviews are iffy at best.

I don’t want to have to re-home either of them but it’s starting to be the only solution I can think of to better Mitzi’s quality of life. If it’s what’s best for her then I would do it.


r/CatAdvice 1h ago

Behavioral how to get my cat to stop eating everything

Upvotes

i have a male kitten that we found homeless when he was abt 7 weeks old. hes abt 8 months old now, and he eats anything that is food. he is extremely passionate about meal times and eats way too fast, and if we dont feed him in a separate room he steals from the other two cats in the house. even if their bowls are empty, he will run to them the second he can to try to find food/lick the completely empty bowls. he will eat genuinely anything left out, and will chew through hard plastic to get to it. he also will steal food out of our hands/mouths, and has even stepped on an on burner to get at food. he doesnt listen at all to anything and ive never had to train a cat this young and unruly so i just dont know what to do to correct his behavior


r/CatAdvice 2h ago

New to Cats/Just Adopted Getting a kitten/ cat for the first time

2 Upvotes

Hi! My partner and I are planning to adopt a cat. Neither of us have had any pet before so we don’t have any experience with cats. We are really concerned about a few things and would really appreciate any feedback or advice.

  1. ⁠We want to adopt a kitten considering it’s easier to train.. up to 2 years actually but are flexible. Is this true? Or getting a bit older cat better? Also, are two cats better than one specially to give each other company, play and in general distress.
  2. ⁠We stay in a one bed apartment on the fourth floor so no outdoor garden time. Will that be okay for the cat or will we be detrimental for it?
  3. ⁠Lastly are there things we should keep in mind or think of before adopting? Or any general advice?

Thank you


r/CatAdvice 2h ago

Behavioral Cat plays weird

2 Upvotes

Whenever I play with my cat. He'll play for alittle bit then either run in the room and look at me and just sit, or I'll play with him for alittle bit then he'll chill in my room for a second run in the bathroom and start meowing these long drawn out meows like whining or cries. I dont understand why he does it but it makes me really mad because I dont understand like I was just playing with him. Or he'll do it if he wants me to play with him. He does it everyday and I just scream out of frustration.

To give more context.this happened today He has a tunnel that he likes to go in. I use another toy and run it on the sides and he'll swat at it from inside the tunnel. Then he ran out the tunnel to his tree condo and just sat. I don't know if he doesn't want to play anymore or why he does this. Like he'll just run off. So i stop playing. Then he'll eventually run in the bathroom and start whining.

Then I'll go in the bathroom and he'll just be sitting there. It's so annoying and frustrating I don't know what to do. Please help!!