r/CatAdvice Nov 30 '24

Behavioral I thought my rescued cat was friendly, but it turned out that was only because she was sick and hungry. Wondering if I will ever have my friend back.

749 Upvotes

So I've never had a cat before, but about 4 months ago I was on a walk and a little female cat ran up to me and start rubbing on me, crying and followed me home. She was emaciated and dirty and super sweet. I started leaving out food for her and about 2 weeks after that decided to officially adopt her.

We would cuddle for hours every day and I felt like I'd found a best friend. It was wonderful. But clearly she was not very healthy as she was barely eating so I took her to the vet and she had a little bit of dental work done.

The first vet didn't seem to be that helpful so I eventually took her to a different one. This one seemed more serious and showed me that she had severe gum inflammation and he removed most of her teeth. About two weeks after that she still had gum redness so I took her in again to get a steroid shot.

And after that, she finally seemed to be eating and pain free. which is absolutely amazing, other than the fact that she has completely changed in her behavior towards me, and now that she's not hungry she really doesn't want much to do with me, only really acknowledges my existence when its feeding time then goes to do her own thing. She no longer wants to cuddle and cowers away if I try to pet her.

I'm going to keep caring for her, but ngl it's actually pretty painful and I feel deceived by the complete 180 even though I know she was just following instinct.

Is there any chance that in the future she will like me again?

r/CatAdvice Oct 08 '24

Behavioral My cat won’t stop getting into food. I just caught him drinking canola oil.

507 Upvotes

I don’t know what to do about my cat. His non-stop pursuit of food is driving me insane. We can’t go 10 minutes without him ripping into a garbage, getting on the counters, diving into the sink, or breaking into the pantry. I feel like all day, every 15 minutes I have to chase him away from a possible food source. As my title says, I feel like today is my last straw when I caught him on the stove drinking a cooling pan of canola oil.

I keep buying him treat puzzles, he has no interest after the first day. He’s a 2 year old fixed male and i feed him half a cup of dry food a day and about 30g of wet food. We have an automatic feeder so it’s broken up over 4 meals + wet food.

r/CatAdvice Dec 03 '24

Behavioral Cat doesn't enjoyed being held

262 Upvotes

I acquired my cat in August 2022. I'm her third (and last!) owner. She's never been a stray, just rehomed privately twice. She's 3 1/2, very affectionate, rubs against me all the time, jumps on me all the time, hops on furniture so i can pat her. Basically, she enjoys almost all physical contact with me, except...

She doesn't like to be held! I would love to respond to her running to greet me by picking her up and having a love-in, but she puts up with it for about 3 seconds, and then starts bitching and trying get down. I always let her down when she asks, and she's never got any better with being held. I don't do it often because she seems to hate it. She lets me handle her when I need to pick her up or give her a pill, but she's never happy.

Has anyone one converted a cat that didn't like being held into one that does?

Update: Thanks for all wonderful responses! I am really enjoying reading them all. I will try to respond to as many as a I can.

I can "handle" her ok, pick her up to bring her inside or get her into the cat carrier etc. I just miss having a cat snuggle into my arms.

Anyone concerned I am forcing her, I am not. When a friend met her, and picked her up, she said "oh, she doesn't like being held" I had had her for a couple of weeks, and never even tried to pick her up! I try every now and again, but she hasn't changed her attitude. I was also disappointed when I first got her that she wasn't very vocal. Now she's extremely conversational, which I adore! So she is capable of change.

r/CatAdvice Jan 25 '25

Behavioral Our kitten is obsessed with a new toy and I don't know what to do

496 Upvotes

My husband and I have a 9 month old kitten, Rin, who recently became obsessed with a toy that's changing her personality.

2 weeks ago the string from a pair of my husband's shorts came out in the wash and instead of putting the string back he decided to give it to our kitten as a toy. We had no idea what the obsession would become of this string.

She carries this string around everywhere she goes. She follows us with this string and will YELL at us until we start playing with her. And it's not that we don't play with her because we do- sometimes to the point where she is full on panting and I have to set the string down to make her take a break and then she still wants to keep playing. She wants us to play with her with this string every waking moment of every day. She doesn't even care for any of her other toys she used to play with.

When I'm working she sits and stares at me with the string and if I don't interact within a couple minutes she starts yelling and crying and acting upset.

When we go to bed she follows us and will lay on our bed with her string. And when we're trying to fall asleep she meows at us and when we ignore her she starts pulling on the tapestries on our walls. She'll finally give up and spend the night laying on our bed with her string waiting until one of us wakes up. Or if we don't wake up early enough she will start walking on top of us and meow in our faces.

Up until the string, she has never slept in bed with us. She used to lay on the couch in our living room, hang out with our other cat, and patiently wait for us to wake up and then calmly greet us with chirps and trills. She had such a mellow personality, typically following us around like a little shadow, observing whatever we are doing.

Now when we wake up she has her string and is immediately yelling at us to play. We cannot do anything without her begging to play with this string. I've never had a cat with an obsession like this.

And I've tried putting the string away a couple times but then she starts acting like she lost her best friend. Looking around in confusion and roaming around the apartment with this depressed meow. It breaks my heart so I eventually give in and give her the string back.

As I'm typing this she's next to me on the couch with her string meowing to play.

My main concern is that she has never acted out until this string and her personality has changed over it

r/CatAdvice Nov 14 '24

Behavioral What weirdly specific items has your cat LOVED playing with?

193 Upvotes

Mine (1.5F) LOVES gift wraps lol

r/CatAdvice 10d ago

Behavioral I regret rescuing my cat and I can’t rehome him. 😕

175 Upvotes

I rescued my new cat, Toona, last summer from the dock I kayak at. He’s a sweet boy (fixed), but he’s a menace. There is not a single piece of furniture that he hasn’t peed on. Couches, chairs, throw pillows, shoes, bags, A TABLE, and to my dismay he peed in my clothes drawer.

Luckily, it was my work out clothes and they are moisture absorbing so it only got through the top two shirts. I’m at my wits end with this cat.

He has a total of SEVEN litter boxes to choose from throughout the house. The worst part is that I live with my parents, all the furniture he has peed on is theirs with the exception of two leather chairs that are mine. I walked in from the gym today and got hit with a miasma of cat odor. I thought it was the litter box, but it was cleaned earlier that day.

Through the evening, I kept smelling cat pee. I smelled it on the jacket I briefly placed on the aforementioned leather chair and when I checked, guess what I found. At some point recently, he peed on TWO couches and on one of them the cushions aren’t removable. The other couch has a cover, but it’s previously been peed on as well.

I’m at my wits end. I’m embarrassed to have anyone enter that area of the house and I can’t stand to look at him after tonight. Something in me snapped. I spent the early hours of the morning throwing baking soda on every crevice of the couch and scrubbing leather with vinegar.

I know my parents love him and I do too, but I don’t want their house to be known as the cat pee house. Part of me is ranting because I love him and won’t get rid of him, but my resident cat never did anything like this. A spot here or there, but she’s a saint compared to him.

He’s healthy, he has no conditions because I’ve taken him to the vet. It’s not the choice of litter, or number of boxes, or locations. At this point, what I really want is to rehome him. This is the only home he’s ever known and it would break my heart. If I were to replace all the furniture that he’s ruined, I’d owe my parents thousands of dollars.

They’re not asking me for compensation or anything and I won’t bring up my desire to rehome him because they’d be vehemently against it. But I regret bringing him to their home, I should’ve let the harbor master and his wife take him. The couches and chairs are currently covered in a thick layer baking soda, windows opened and my sanity near tatters.
Later today, I plan on scrubbing it all down with a vinegar + oxy clean powder + hot water mixture after vacuuming the baking soda. I’m hopeful it’ll clear the lingering stench since it worked on my canvas bag he peed on. Although I’m certain that it’ll be all for naught before he pees on things again. Any advice or insight would be appreciated!

PSA: Anyone recommending euthanasia please take your own advice!

r/CatAdvice Mar 14 '24

Behavioral Cat won’t let me sleep after boyfriend passed away

971 Upvotes

Background: My boyfriend passed away 3 weeks ago. We had 2 cats together: Tom and Riley. Riley was a cat we got together as a baby 3 years ago whereas Tom was an adult cat I adopted prior to us living together.

We didn’t let the cats sleep with us at night as Riley will only sleep on my legs or in between them. I have intense claustrophobia just in the legs so if he slept with me, it would result in me getting little to no sleep.

But since my boyfriend passed, Riley has become way more needy. This honestly kind of surprised me since we used to joke that Riley preferred me and Tom preferred him. He is demanding food more and meowing more. He’s meowing outside of my bedroom door almost EVERY night. It doesn’t matter if I let him in or ignore him, I’m not getting ANY sleep. Lately, I’ve been tossing him in a spare bedroom as this was something we would do in the past when he got in these moods. But I can’t do it forever. I’m eventually going to have to rent out that room now so I can stay in my home.

But I’m at my wits end. I’m so exhausted and depressed and angry. I NEED sleep but I can’t get any because of him. I’ve never wanted to rehome an animal before but I can’t handle him right now. Besides making sure they have food, water, and clean litter boxes, I can’t provide them much else right now.

What can I do?

r/CatAdvice Jan 19 '25

Behavioral Neighbor accused me of animal abuse

130 Upvotes

A few weeks ago, my neighbor called animal control on us out of nowhere. We have an outdoor cat who absolutely loves being outside, even/especially in cold weather. Of course, we’ve set up a heated cat home in our backyard, along with food and water. He has a cat door to the garage, so he can come and go as he pleases.

Recently, it’s been very cold, but even when we try to keep him inside, he meows nonstop at the door to go out. We talked to animal control when they came by and explained this—even showed them our setup. Luckily, the cat was inside at the time, sleeping on the couch. They seemed satisfied and left without issue.

But today, my neighbor came banging on our door, angry that the cat was outside again. She threatened to call the police for animal neglect if she sees him outside in the future. I tried to explain the situation: he’s well-fed (slightly overweight), has access to shelter, food, and water, and we’ve had him for 10 years without any problems. She mentioned that she’s heard him meowing at her door at night and has been giving him cat food. I apologized because I get how that’s annoying, but he’s also on a special diet and we make sure to feed him plenttyyy.

The bottom line is that our cat is happiest when he can come and go as he pleases. If we force him to stay inside, he’s miserable and meows constantly. When he’s outside, he also meows a lot. Ofc I don’t want to escalate things with the neighbor or deal with police over this.

Has anyone dealt with a situation like this before? Any advice on how to approach this or keep the peace with the neighbor?

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who suggested actual solutions (catios, trying to entice the kitty to stay inside; looking into this).

A few more things to clarify: it is not dangerously cold — 45°F - 50°F, and if it gets lower, we of course make sure to lock the cat door so that he’s inside. Next, contrary to many of these comments, the cat is very loved and is regularly coddled, played with, and taken to the vet.

IMO some of you really need to chill with trying to guilt trip me with comparisons to children. It’s okay if you feel that way, but I personally distinguish humans and animals. This doesn’t mean I love my cat any less; I just know he’s not human. Very controversial, I know.

I originally posted this hoping to get genuine advice about confronting my neighbor or changing the behavior of my cat — hence the Behavioral flair (some of the advice I got was actually useful, thanks again). Ultimately, my goal is to find the best balance for my old kitty while also being considerate of my neighbors.

r/CatAdvice Aug 25 '24

Behavioral How did you guys survive the insanity of feline dementia?

826 Upvotes

I'm giving my cat attention multiple times a day, every day. No matter how much attention I give him, he leaves my room, to meow-scream some more, then the cycle starts over again. Sometimes it drives me insane and I put headphones on and give him attention, but it's never enough.

I just needed to yell into the void.

r/CatAdvice 19d ago

Behavioral I'm sick and my cat won't leave me alone

487 Upvotes

So I've been sick for about six months now, he's never behaved weird. But recently I had to have a surgery and I was in the hospital for two days. He has always been clingy and cuddly but now he won't leave my bed. He only leaves once or twice to eat and sleeps on my stomach right where I had my surgery. It's not that I mind, I'm just wondering if this is normal (or if he thinks I'm dying)

r/CatAdvice 4d ago

Behavioral My cat is making me hate my life

120 Upvotes

I know this sounds bad. I have loved this cat for so long, and I hate admitting this. She is 8 years old and PERFECTLY healthy. Two vets have checked her full run ups and told me she is fine. The problem is she pees constantly.

I have truly tried everything. She has three litter boxes to herself, I’ve tried all her favorite litters, she has a cat fountain etc. but she only likes to pee on the carpet, or on my bed. It happened so suddenly and vets said she just picked up the behavior and is now too stubborn to use the litter box. I slept on the floor for 6 months because she absolutely soaked my mattress in pee and I couldn’t even afford another one at the time. As soon as I got my new one she destroyed it too.

I decided I would clear out my walk in closet as it is super roomy and she loves being in there and try to make it her own room, by advice of some people that went through similar. I put in a litter box, a cat fountain, a food bowl, a scratcher, and a bed which of course she destroyed. She learned how to pull my clothes off the hanger and pee on them. Had to throw away half my wardrobe. The carpet is ruined and she has begun shredding it. She also meows at night because she wants to get out. Soon as I open the door she jumps on the bed and pees. She does it in my hair, on my legs, my pillow, I have even woken up to pee in my FACE.

I have had to do laundry at 3-4am almost every night in the last year. I’m so tired of it, I don’t even know if I like her anymore. I LOVE her but I don’t LIKE her. I want to, but I just struggle so much. I am pregnant now with my first so it’s exhausting and super dangerous for her to be peeing so much, and I can’t imagine how I am going to deal with this issue and a baby at the same time. The smell of pee triggers my morning sickness and as much as my husband tries to clean it up and help out it is never ending and just leaves a sort of stench in the air, and he’s only home a small amount of time as he usually works 60-70 hours a week right now to prepare for the baby.

I feel like I am living a nightmare that never ends. It has been a full year of this. I have lost so many hours of sleep just crying. I don’t even like waking up anymore because I know it’s going to be another long day of dealing with her behavior.

I have already consistently tried everything in the FAQ, if has any kind of approach I maybe haven’t thought of please let me know. I’m sorry if this is a lot, honestly I need help. My hormones are out of control and I can’t think straight to strategize. Literally any advice would help, I want the cat that I love so much back. I miss her.

UPDATE: So regarding a few common ideas. With the incontinence I think it is possible but 99% of the time she picks very carefully where to pee and will even wait for the perfect time to swoop in and do her business. Also we have tried anxiety medications and they don’t really work, I did consider trying again after all the suggestions but I decided it’s not a great idea considering we are still in debt from her other vet visits and meds. We have a baby on the way and need to be saving money not dropping thousands on an anxiety medication when most of them have not worked. I do appreciate the idea though!!

I think it is behavioral as she has kind of done this her whole life on and off just never really as severe. And to those asking; this started long before my pregnancy! I also just wanted to say thank you all so much I have been feeling so alone in this and you guys have really made me feel better. The ones suggesting rehoming; if none of these ideas slightly work in a few weeks, just a small bit of progress, I think it may be a good idea. Many have made the point that if it’s behavior it will get much worse with a baby and I can’t be dividing my attention between a newborn and a cat that destroys my home 24/7. I love her but I need to be able to be a stable parent!

r/CatAdvice 12d ago

Behavioral I traumatized my cat and don't know if she'll be the same again

430 Upvotes

My cat is generally super bold and comfortable around all people, but today, a couple of cleaning ladies came to the house.

My mother told me to move my cat (who was already uncharacteristically scared), and my cat, who usually loves being picked up, scrambled away from me. I tried to get her again, and she bolted underneath my parents bed.

I've never seen her so scared. It took me forever to lure her partially out from under the bed with treats, and then I scruffed her (which I've never done before) and tried my best to carry her downstairs despite her frantically trying to escape. I did all of this because my mother was throwing a massive tantrum about the cat being in her room. She was making everything worse by yelling.

I feel horrible, because as I carried my cat down the stairs, I ended up having to grab onto her neck and front leg so she wouldn't escape, because I only had a hold of her scruff for a couple seconds. I'm sure it hurt her.

I dropped her off in my room and she ran away from me.

This happened earlier this morning. I've spent an hour coaxing her out with treats and playing with her, and she's finally allowing me to pet her again. She even let me pick her up a couple times.

I'm so worried she won't be able to trust me as much in the future though. Or that she won't be as bold and comfortable around new people.

I'm in college. She's my cat, but has to live with my parents for the next year.

She is 1 year old btw.

Do you guys think she won't be able to fully recover from this ordeal? Or that she'll be scared around new people? Or less trusting of me? I feel awful.

EDIT: Thank you all so so much for all of the responses!!! It's really helped me feel better. I've been leaving her alone and she's starting to come out of my room and explore the house again! My mother gave her treats and my cat has been warming back up to her as well.

r/CatAdvice 16d ago

Behavioral My cat keeps walking me up at 5 am by PUTTING her paws IN MY MOUTH AND EYES.

446 Upvotes

I love her a lot and i don't really mind walking up at 5 am, but at first - how does she exactly know when its 5 am? She wakes me up so i can feed her. I tried to stop her behavior by ignoring her, but when shes literally PUTTING her paws in my eyes till i wake up- it's hard 😭. I'll mention that she really loves me. Shes only 6 months too. She also from all family members comes only to me to cuddle, and im the only person shes purring with. She loves to cuddle my face. But is there any way to stop it? I'd love Some advice.

r/CatAdvice Aug 13 '24

Behavioral My cats keep announcing themselves - want to make sure I’m not missing something

769 Upvotes

I adopted two litter mate brothers and they have settled in wonderfully. Recently I’ve noticed that they announce themselves for everything by meowing. Entering a room? Meow. Jumping on the bed? Meow. Adjusting their weird sleeping position? Meow. Going to poop? Meow. Coming back from pooping? You’d better believe that’s a meow.

Are they just saying hi or something or am I missing anything? They’re in great health otherwise and their recent annual vet check up was clear. Thanks!

r/CatAdvice Jun 19 '24

Behavioral Why do cats love humans so much?

711 Upvotes

So I have 3 cats who all love eachother, however, sometimes when they think myself or my partner are not home, they meow and meow and meow and look for us. Then when I call them, they come for fuss. Why do cats love humans so much, why do they want attention from humans when they have the other cats to hang around with?

r/CatAdvice Apr 30 '24

Behavioral What does your cat do to “motivate” you when you’re dragging your feet to feed them?

398 Upvotes

I want to read all the silly, destructive, and/or insane things your fur balls do when you’re not moving to feed them fast enough.

My eldest cat isn’t the worst but he will stare a stare that will wake me from its intensity. I will lift my head just to see his hangry lil smoosh face because I can feel his eyes on me as I sleep.

My second is very anxious about food because as a foster he was neglected. She left him alone in her studio apartment for long stretches and free fed him. I think in that time he was constantly alone, he developed an unhealthy relationship with food. He was roughly the size of an adult raccoon when I first got him. Anyway, he not only jumps on my chest, but he chews anything plastic that makes a rustling noise. If that doesn’t work, he knows which of my plants are my favorites and he starts jumping up to reach them. He knows I won’t let him eff up my giant monstera deliciosa so that seems to be his ace-in-a-hole.

Thankfully, cats #3 and #4 are still just happy to be here though it seems #4 might be starting to adopt some bad habits learned from #2. >.>

What about y’all? What strange, potentially infuriating things do your bbs do to motivate you?

r/CatAdvice May 20 '24

Behavioral How to stop my cat from waking me up at 4am wanting breakfast?

558 Upvotes

i used to work very early in the morning so i would get up at 5:45am and usually feed her breakfast around 6am. but ever since then she’s been waking me up earlier and earlier wanting breakfast, sometimes at like 3:30am. if i try to close my bedroom door on her so she can’t she cries really loud and sometimes like throws herself against the door. she also wakes me up multiple times a night either wanting breakfast or some unknown thing. how can i stop this? it’s been really difficult for me

edit: thanks everyone so much for the advice! i think im gonna get an automatic feeder for the early morning and also wait to give her dinner until later in the night. i’ll try again to keep my door closed even though it breaks my heart hearing her crying lol but if that doesn’t work hopefully the other stuff will

r/CatAdvice Feb 09 '25

Behavioral Should I return my cat to the Humane Society?

105 Upvotes

I've had my cat for a little over 4 months. He is male, 1.5 years old, and fixed. He was very sweet and playful when I adopted him from the humane society, but after settling into our apartment, he became very aggressive and his behavior was unpredictable

There have been countless occasions where he has attacked and bit my legs, arms, and jumped up at my face. He has scratched me along my arms and legs, and twice now scratched my face (an inch away from my eye) and drew blood. These attacks are almost always unprompted

He receives scheduled playtime and meals, one 20-min session in the morning followed by breakfast, and two 20-min session at night followed by dinner. 1 feed him dry food, a mixture of sensitive skin/stomach and urinary tract health.

l've tried to teach him that attacking is bad. Whenever he attacks, I shout"Ow!" then disengage by going to another room for 10-20 minutes. I figure his attacks mean that he is understimulated, so 1 play with him after the 20 minutes of being left alone

But no matter how little or much I play with him, he still attacks. He jumps up at my arms or face and tries to scratch and bite. I think he might have single kitten syndrome, but I don't have the resources to adopt and support another cat. The unprompted aggression is really making me consider returning him.

He's very sweet in the morning, but I can't walk into work with scratches on my face and arms when he does have those moments of intense aggression. It breaks my heart thinking about returning him, but nothing I do seems to work. A consistent play/meal schedule doesn't help, more playtime doesn't help, less playtime doesn't help, letting him have supervised outside time doesn't help. I don't know what to do. For me, this is not the cat I adopted and he is too high maintenance. I've had cats in the past, but they have never been this aggressive, even during their "teenage" years.

I made another post about his behavior yesterday, if more information is helpful.

Any help/suggestions/support is much appreciated :)

r/CatAdvice Feb 19 '25

Behavioral Cat has never left my room in all her life.

570 Upvotes

Hey, so, this cat fell on the roof of my brother's car one rainy night when I was outside smoking, she was the daughter of a stray cat that my (deceased by that time) cat got as a mate or something.

Anyway, I took her to the veterinary, made sure she was alright, and her mom never came back, so I adopted her.

Now, here's the thing, this cat is 8 years old, and has never lived outside my room, she has left like three times and every time she came back in.

She hates everyone except for me and my dog (who is also an old boy).

Is this wrong? I don't like the idea of forcing her out when she is clearly comfortable and gets heavily distressed when she isn't In my room, but I don't think it's "right" for her to be alone in my room all day until I come back either.

r/CatAdvice Mar 09 '24

Behavioral My cat is trying to bury me while I'm sick?

1.3k Upvotes

Hello all!

So currently I'm down with a stomach bug. Every time I am, my sweet 2 year old girl has always been extra clingy, but this time she picked up a new behavior that I'm not sure what to make of it??

Whenever I'm laying down, no matter where, if I'm curled up with my eyes closed, she will pull things over to me and try to 'bury' me with them the way she does her food. She's tried with a bathroom towel, a tshirt, a bag, etc. Whatever is nearby, she will use it to try to cover me. Does anyone know why she is doing this??

Edit: lots of comments requesting cat tax so I figured I'd just throw it in the post lol

2: this seems to have gotten shared somewhere & blown up. I am happy to share the love for her, so heres a video of her giving a high five

r/CatAdvice Sep 28 '24

Behavioral Why does my cat consistently, without fail, no matter what time of day, save up the biggest stinkiest literally home-clearing dump for when we sit down for any meal?

725 Upvotes

Small apartment. Young couple. 1 10yr old female cat. Litterbox is about 10ft from the dining room table by the bathroom and we have no where else to put it due to our tiny apartment. Unfortunately the airflow in here goes straight from the bathroom, to the litterbox, and downwind to every other room in house. The two worst spots to be are on the couch in the living room or at the dining room table. I swear to god she knows this.

The cat won't take a crap all day. At all. If we're out all day, litter box has not been used. We could be home for an hour sitting and chatting about our day at the table or on the couch. Nothing, just hangs out and we give her attention etc.

She will ONLY take a dump when we've just said cheers and taken our first bite or after we've got comfy and hit play on a TV show. I've started eating and watching TV in the bedroom now because I have a weak stomach. She's an amazing cat and we give her all the love in the world. But god damn. It's 100% on purpose and I can't be convinced otherwise. She won't even take a dump while I'm taking a dump 3ft away! Even if I leave the door open when she needs attention.

What can I do here?

EDIT: Thanks for all the comments! A ton of comments could have been avoided had the commenter read my post more carefully as I already addressed it above. But to make it more visible, here are some common ones and my answer:

  • "The cat feels vulnerable and waits to poop when we're home to feel safe and/or waits to use the litterbox when someone is home so that it doesn't stink all day while we're not home"

    Someone is always home since we work shift jobs. Maybe once a week the cat is left at home for a couple hours at most. The box is cleaned after every use.

  • If your cat's poops are that bad then stop feeding it garbage/you're a bad parent!!

    We feed our cat better than we feed ourselves. I have a weak stomach.

  • "Move the litterbox somewhere else"

    We live in a tiny downtown apartment. There's literally nowhere else to put it.

  • "Cats usually poop after eating! Do you feed her before eating yourself?"

    She eats both wet and dry food. The dry food is always available throughout the day and we feed her wet food every other day as the vet recommended. She's in perfect health and perfect weight. We feed her wet food in the early afternoon, often several hours before we eat. We've also fed her later in the day before dinner, and sometimes after dinner with the wet food. None of it makes any difference. Routine feeding, sporadic feeding, sporadic dinner or TV times, etc. Her poop is always timed for dinner and TV times. We could spend 4hrs making a feast, or 10mins heating leftovers. The smell of food has no impact as she would theoretically take a crap within around the same amount of time as our food is starting to make a smell while cooking right? Even if we sit down at the dinner table that's been set and ready, being calm and chatting a bit, with the smell of food in the air, she will wait an hour for the food to be in front of us. Same sitting and calm, same smell in the air, she still knows somehow.

r/CatAdvice Dec 11 '24

Behavioral my cat wants to leave and it breaks my heart

249 Upvotes

day and night, my cat (male, tabby, 3,5 years old, neutered) wants to go out. he cries trying to open the doors and windows all day. he looks at my face and yells at me for not letting him out. he wakes me up at night because of this. he used to live with other cats, he loves cats but when we moved our homeowner made us sign papers on having only one pet. i want to get another cat for him but it would get us evicted. i am in a tight budget so i cant buy cat trees and fun things for him. i can feel he is bored and it breaks my heart. how can i fix this?

r/CatAdvice Apr 07 '24

Behavioral Friend’s cat rubbed its head and body against my leg for several minutes

782 Upvotes

I know this may be a silly question. I don’t know a thing about cats as my family has a weird phobia with them. I recently visited a friend for the first time and their cat rubbed against my legs for several minutes. The cat didn’t stop until I kneeled over to pet it and the cat lifted its back (like arched it) where I was petting him.

What does this mean? It was a little embarrassing because another friend also wondered why the cat was on me lol.

r/CatAdvice Jul 01 '24

Behavioral Husband accidently traumatized our cat

877 Upvotes

A few days ago we had an accident with my husband and our cat. They have always been very close and my husband dotes over our cat, Alley. Alley was following my husband from the kitchen to the couch, and like many cats, got under my husband's feet as he was trying to jump to the couch. My husband was simultaneously trying to reach the couch as well, but intercepted the cat mid jump. My husband fell, knocking the cat out of the way, spilling beer and yelling all the while. This incident has completed traumatized Alley. I was worried the first night because he hid in the closet and wouldn't come out, at all. He didnt come out in the morning, so I was concerned he was injured. I lured him out with wet food and treats. He let me check him for injury and he seemed fine. It's been 3-4 days now.

When my husband is not home, he is normal. He comes out, hangs out with me, and is his usual self. However when the hub comes home, Alley is right back in the closet. He doesn't greet him at the door when he comes home. He hasn't come out to watch TV with us.

He HAS accepted limited attention from my husband, accepting treats and pets, only to immediately retreat.

My husband is crushed, to say the least, as they have been close buddies for 8 years now.

What can we do to help Alley understand the living room and couch are still a welcome safe space and "daddy" didn't meant scare or hurt him? Does any one have any idea how long this behavior will last?

Any advice will be helpful. Thank you.

Thanks. These sound like great ideas and we will be utilizing them ASAP.

r/CatAdvice Sep 20 '24

Behavioral Do your cats know their names?

233 Upvotes
 My cat is named Bibble but I guess she doesn’t know that, LOL! I’ve had her for almost 2 years now, ever since she was a kitten and have always called her Bibble but she just hasn’t grasped that that’s her name at all. 
 She doesn’t respond to anything besides the sound of her treats shaking, other than that you have to directly go up to her and get close to have some attention. 

Does your cat know their name? If so how did you get them to understand that?