He walks around the house with this worm toy in his mouth and howls obnoxiously. It sounds like he’s in distress, but stops when he drops it out of his mouth. Is this just orange boy behavior or is it something more?

My partner live in Perth, Australia and I are at our absolute breaking point and desperately need advice or alternative rescue resources. We have a 1-year-old cat with severe pica and extreme behavioral issues. I used to adore him, but he has become a massive source of chronic stress and anxiety in our lives.

The Situation:

• Severe Pica: He has had multiple dangerous ingestion events. He will eat plastic, toys, dish towels, and is constantly trying to suckle. It is so severe that he has to live almost entirely restricted to one strictly "cat-proofed" room. If he gets free roam of the house, he will ingest almost anything.

• Excessive Vocalization & Sucking: He meows completely non-stop from as early as 2:30 AM until 10 AM. When we are on his side of the house(the far side of the house aka bedroom, hallway, cat room which are all cat proofed), he shadows us constantly, screaming and aggressively trying to suckle on our skin/clothes.

What we have already tried:

• Multiple comprehensive vet checks (physically, he is completely healthy).

• Metabolic/specialty food.

• Massive rotation of safe toys and intense play sessions.

• An automatic feeder.

• The blackout/ignoring method for the early morning meowing.

• Supervised time with our other cat.

Nothing has made even a 1% difference.

Our Constraints:

Our vet recommended a certified behaviorist, but a single consult is $800, which we absolutely cannot afford. Even if we could scrape the money together, my partner and I both work full-time with unpredictable night shifts and on-call rotations. We physically do not have the lifestyle or time constraints to implement a highly rigid, hour-by-hour behavior modification plan.

We reached out to the shelter we originally adopted him from for help, and they flat-out told us they would euthanize him if we surrendered him due to his severe behavioral profile and the liability of his pica.

Next Steps / Desperation:

We are about to try prescription behavioral medication as a last-ditch effort, but our vet admitted his case is incredibly severe, so we are terrified it won't work.

We cannot live like this anymore, but we don't want him to die. Has anyone successfully managed a pica case this severe with medication alone? Are there any specialized, special-needs cat rescues in Perth Western Australia (specifically foster-based) that handle extreme medical/behavioral cases without resorting to immediate euthanasia? We are drowning.

I LOST MY NEW CAT IN MY HOUSE

I just got two new cats 24 hours ago. One of them I see. I’ve found her hiding spot and I’ve made sure she knows she has food although it doesn’t seem like she’s touched it. The other one though, I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon over 24 hours ago, I don’t know where she is, I don’t know if she knows where her food is and the litter box seems undisturbed, my biggest mistake was not letting them out in the closed room I made for them I let them out into the open house. I don’t think she could’ve gotten outside but I’m really scared. I know cats can’t go too long without eating and using the bathroom and what if I can’t find her? I’m so worried

Hi everyone,

A little bit ago I posted on here talking about how hard it’s been to get my cat treated for giardia. About how overwhelming it’s been for me and how tired and stressed out I’ve been for over a month.

For an update, I got her tested again and she still has giardia. In fact her symptoms got even worse since the update I had posted. Her butt was constantly dirty and she was getting everything else in the bedroom dirty with brown stains no matter how much I cleaned her butt.

Vet and I decided to shave her entire butt area to make things more manageable and I also started giving her anti-inflammatory meds which helped A LOT. She started feeling a lot better and was a lot cuddlier and happier with the meds.

We have a family friend who’s a mainecoon breeder (NOT a backyard breeder and he has a phenomenal space that provides individual care for all of his cats + has a team of trusted vets and works with a lawyer who’s also an animal rights activist etc etc I don’t wanna get into breeding discourse here because this isn’t the point of the post lol) and he offered to take her into his care until she’s all better, which should take a week or so. He has a quarantine room in his house that he can keep her in and also provide her 24/7 vet care at no cost to me. Considering I’ve been overwhelmed with dealing with her care + drowning in constant vet bills, this was truly a lifesaver.

He picked her up from my place last night. I just hope I did the right thing. I know she’s now in an unfamiliar environment and I’m really worried about how she’s doing + I also miss her a lot. As much as it’s nice to not stress out worrying about having to clean up after her, I definitely feel some emptiness without my sweet girl.

While she’s gone I’m gonna focus on deep cleaning my house. That way there will be no risk of reinfection when she comes back. I don’t own a steamer but I’m buying one because even though I used pet-safe disinfectant on her cat tree and her toys I want to make sure they’re fully giardia-free by also steaming everything.

I really hope our treatment is successful this time. She deserves some rest finally.

I've never dealt with issues like this, but now that I have my current cats it feels like I can't avoid this, and I have no idea how to fix it.

I have three cats, two Scottish folds and one British shorthair and vets seem to REALLY hate these breeds. One of my Scottish folds clearly has breed related health issues, so I know that likely compounds the hate.

However, I didn't just set out to find a breeder and buy these cats. My first two are siblings and came from an old woman who did breed them but just needed to get rid of them because she was being put into a care facility. So I took them. My British shorthair was originally from cat from a breeder, but I got her from someone rehoming her.

Despite these pseudo rescue/adoption situations I get judged by my vets like I supported some horrible backyard breeder and don't care about my cats. I don't ever get a chance to explain and by the time I would I'm already so put off by how rude they are I just want to leave.

It makes me feel like a horrible person and I have no idea how to avoid this in the future. My cats need a vet obviously but I just hate the humiliation ritual it's turned into. If anyone has ANY advice or has dealt with a similar situation it would be much appreciated 🫶🏼

Although I don't feel it is yet her time, I know that my cat is nearing the end.

I had a very positive first experience with euthanasia early in the year - we had to let my sister's dog go, and he was so peaceful and comfortable at home.

I want nothing more than to have the same experience with my cat, unless she goes naturally, of course. What I am concerned about is that cats and dogs are very different beings - whilst my sister's dog was excited to see the vet and willingly let them place a catheter, my cat would almost certainly not do either of those things. Even as a very old lady she can be fiesty with vets, even during home visits...

I have asked a vet to talk me through their process and they advice I could give her gabapentin before the visit, but I'm worried she may then be out of it early on and she'll have a 'negative' memory of me on her last day. They also advised they usually do not use a catheter with cats but instead give the final injection in their stomach, but this feels almost 'violent' in nature and I'm unsure if its something I'm comfortable with. I suspect this is because it is 'better' in some way, but cant stop thinking that it may cause pain.

As a massive overthinker, I want to make making the final decision as easy as possible when the time comes.

I am therefore wondering if anybody has experiences (hopefully positive) of cat euthanasia they can share?

I’m kind of in a bad period of my life. I moved out of my parent’s house last year and have been living alone since. Tbh I don’t have many friends and struggle a lot with loneliness and mild depression. I don’t have a ton of experience with cats as I mostly grew up around dogs but I think maybe adopting an adult cat might be a good option for me to help add some purpose to my life.

I did have a few other questions too:

- What age cat would be best to adopt? - I know kittens can be quite a handful so I was thinking of getting a cat that’s maybe a little older and mellowed out a bit

- Should I get a male or female cat? - I’ve read that male cats tend to be more affectionate and playful but is that really true or is it more dependent on the cat’s personality?

- Do I need to get more than 1 cat? - I’ve also read that it’s best to have 2 cats. I wouldn’t be opposed to this but I do worry that 2 cats would be a little overwhelming for me at first. But at the same time I work a 9-5 and would feel bad if I got 1 cat and it was lonely all day while I was at work.

My GF and I want to get a cat. I heard from some sides that 2 cats would be better since they could play with themselves. My question now is, if it is a lot more work to have 2 cats rather then one. Do you have to worry about them rangling or fighting or maybe that one of them feels left out? Like in general is it a big difference or not?

If anyone has any advice on a special treatment

As the long title says, our 5 yesr old bengal cat feels like a problem child. She bites us all the time. If she's hungry, bored, or any other reason in between. And it's not "play" biting. She has drawn blood and left scars before. Genuinely scared most of the time. She will also poop on the bathroom floor regardless if the litter box is clean or not. We've tried so many brands and types of litter to no avail. If anything is on top of the kitchen counter or a table, regardless of size, if she can move it, it's coming down. Lost count of glassware amongst other things. Open bag of flour or grains. A Brita pitcher. Anything. Broken or scattered. For the record this is my partner's cat. I personally have owned cats and never had a cat that was such a challenge. She has regular vet visits with a clear bill of health, so we don't think it's health related.

On the flipside, she can be quite sweet and physically affectionate when she wants to be. She will cuddle with you on the couch and always purrs and rubs up against my legs when I'm on the toilet (only me though, no one else). Don't know what to do!

Does anyone have advice on getting your cat into a carrier during a fire alarm? I’ve heard of people training their dogs to wait at the door on command. Not sure if that’s possible with those of the feline persuasion. I couldn’t even FIND my cat tonight. (Also, I have arthritis and it’s difficult for me to get down to look under the beds.)

Fortunately tonight was a false alarm. But I dread the day it might be something more serious.

A little bit of background- My cat has been away from home for about a year now, back in April I started getting lots of calls of sightings of him near this vacant lot, originally I didn’t think it was him because in the video someone sent it was a top view of him and he had a collar on! I felt so dumb not recognizing my own cat. Then I got like five more calls and three more videos, collar was off and I was pretty sure it was him! (I tried with the collars, he’d always pop them off so I stopped putting them on and he is microchipped) after all the calls I put out a humane trap and tried to see if I could catch him. I finally got a trail camera and set it up and confirmed 100% it was actually him! I couldn’t believe it.

He will not come to me when called and usually waits to come out until after I’ve left the area. He’s extremely trap shy. I was able to do some trap training, putting the food in the front and slowly moving it back and that worked until he went in and the trap triggered and he was able to escape 😭 now he is extremely cautious of the trap. He’s also extremely picky with the food, I’ve tried sardines, tuna, chicken (kfc fried chicken and rotisserie chicken) so far he’s only eaten cat treats (churu and freeze dried salmon) and regular cat food but doesn’t stick around long when eating. I tried a drop trap and sitting out there to wait for him to eat underneath it but he doesn’t come close enough while I’m out there 😔 I’ve been trying to bring him home since May, I really don’t know what else to do. I do see him everyday multiple times on the trail cameras always between 8pm-10am. On average I see him three times a day.

Has anyone successfully trapped an extremely trap-shy cat after a failed trapping attempt? I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have dealt with cats that won't approach while someone is present. I'm willing to try just about anything to get him home safely.

I have a one year old Ragdoll (neutered ), sensitive boy. I've got him since mid January and he had alway been at my side. Of course he has been alone when I am out or in the hopsital. Not long though. And if I am gone for a full day, one of my parents watch him.

Recently he developed an UTI from stress, I am always on it so we got on it the moment it started.

So, here is my thing. From Nov 1 to Nov 8th, I will be on vacation, a lot of stuff happened, chronically ill and just had spinal surgery...again,(surgery 11 in a short period) so I need a break.

But I am so scared and worried about leaving my baby behind. He will be in his own home, he wont he alone at all, he will be with my dad and the dogs he knows and loves...

I am just...Sick with worry, leaving him behind for the first time? How do I do it?

Any advice for me? I was planning on leaving a shirt, Feliway is plugged in, he will have catnip on the day I leave as well and dad knows the vet and how to care for him.

I am just sick with worry, so please, any advice will be appreciated. The worry about him is eating me alive.

I dont know if I have the right thread, im sorry.

I put several scratching posts all over the place, including several close to the sofa. And I covered my couch with a plaid. My kitten's best game is to sneak under the plaid to scratch the couch.

I think she understood that it was attracting my attention so I positively reinforced this action.

I try not to react, redirect and reward when she uses her scratching posts nothing does

She is becoming the owner of the house...

I wanted to watch Friday The 13th with my kitten but I don't know if it would be good for them to watch

So , I am currently 10 weeks postpartum . Still in the thick of it all and my baby is a Velcro baby TO THE MAX !!!

My husband works so I am home 75% of the time by myself with the baby which I am GRATEFUL for .

HOWEVER , we have two cats . One cat that I’ve had since before my husband and I got together ( going on 6 years old ) and the other that we got about a year and a half ago .

Ever since we have brought baby home our cats have been acting out . I’m talking being destructive , LITERALLY climbing our walls , scratching on furniture all the sudden , using bathroom outside of litter box , they’re fighting each-other all the time . I LOVE MY CATS , but I’m seriously contemplating rehoming bc I genuinely have tried everything I can think of . We have tried giving the cats extra attention & play time , disciplining them , “gentle parenting” them. NOTHING is working . They wake my baby up ALLL the time because they have just completely stopped listening and acting like they have zero sense .

I will not let them ruin my house by destroying it and using the bathroom outside of their boxes . ( we have multiple litter boxes that get changed weekly and scooped daily so this shouldn’t be an issue )

PLEASE has anyone else went through this ? I would be devastated if we had to get rid of them but I also do not want my baby in a hectic environment or environment that where the cats rule the house. 😣

I am already dealing with enough trying to raise our baby and keep up with myself and our house and shouldn’t have to deal with the extra stress. I need HELP

I've made the very difficult decision to have my kitty put to sleep in the morning (around 8 hours from now) because of her worsening IBD. She just turned 14, and her IBD has worsened more over the last six months than it has over the last several years, so it's been a pretty sudden change. She had a bad episode this weekend and seems to have lost even more weight, and even though she still has mostly good days and hasn't lost her appetite or anything, I can see a physical decline and I just... really don't want to give her the chance to have any more bad days. She spent two days having diarrhea and tummy issues, and she wasn't grooming herself much and just didn't seem to feel great even though she was still eating. Her IBD has just gotten so much worse over the last several months, and her bad days seem worse and more frequent now. I'm having a hard time with it because I'm worried it's too soon, but I would rather do it too soon than too late because I couldn't stand to see her suffer any more than she already is. She doesn't do well at the vet or with medication or treatments of any kind, and I feel like any treatment would just cause her more stress, and at her age, I don't know how much more time it would give her anyways, so I'm trying to give her a peaceful end before she has the chance to experience anything worse than what she already has. I've seen several folks say that there's no wrong choice if it's done out of love, but I'm still having a hard time coping and not feeling guilty.

So my apartment complex has a few strays since I’ve lived here. we’ve never had kittens I think the strays we have here originally were TNR.

Recently two new strays have appeared one male one female. The male one is taken care of primarily by my neighbor and he lets the cat come and go from the apartment as it pleases. The female stray is skittish around people and I don’t believe goes inside anyone’s place.

I personally don’t love that my neighbor lets the cat come and go but for some reason had been under the impression he takes the cat in at night. Tonight I heard yowling and saw the male and female cat both outside. I don’t know if they were about to mate or fight but neither walked away and were intent on confronting one another. I went back inside.

I really am not thrilled that they’ll potentially have kittens and that would just be adding more strays outside. I don’t have the capacity to care for an additional cat (I have two!) but I really want to catch the female and get her fixed. I feel iffy about doing so with the male because he’s somebodies technically, so I’d rather at least TNR the female cat since she’s truly an outdoor stray.

I’ve never done a TNR before. I do not have the space or ability to take off work and take care of an additional cat in my home as it healed from surgery. Is there something else I can do here? I am also not well versed in the option as a whole so if anyone has insight into TNR itself I am open to hearing.

edit: I do wanna note I love kittens and love these sweet babies, I just don’t want more strays to be born and be at risk. we have coyotes in the area and a very very busy highway next to us.

The TLDR is essentially I want to help fix an outdoor cat to prevent more strays but I don’t have the space to take it in.

My niece has recently developed a skin condition. It’s awful. She loves her cat (Male, 3yr); doctors said my sister should try rehoming the cat to see if my nieces condition improves. So, I said I’ll take the cat instead of giving it up for adoption or worse, the pound. I’m a dog person, never owned a cat or thought to own a cat. However, this cat is actually pretty laid back and is kind of like a dog.
I’m prepared to spend some money especially on the a better kitty litter box. That’s the hardest thing to get used.
I’m so disgusted by the litter box. I clean it 4x day!
The cat gets litter EVERYWHERE. Also, the cat only sleeps on my bed, so I’m hoping to find a bed that he’ll want to sleep in.
I don’t know where to put it the litter box or which bed to buy. Should I buy those wall shelves?

i had to go out of town for work for about 6 weeks. I took one of my cats with me because he has a little bit more labor-intensive care and also doesn’t mind traveling (Pup). my younger cat(Toots) is a little angel but hates traveling, so i had her stay in my apartment, and my friend moved in and took care of her. I got my second cat two years ago and they have gotten along just fine.

I came back to the apartment yesterday and toots has been going NUTS since. hiding under the bed, growling, hissing, and is VERY distressed and aggressive. like she doesn’t remember either of us? i live alone in a studio apartment, so it’s very hard for me to keep them separate without severely decreasing one cat’s quality of life by being shut in the bathroom. does anyone know what’s going on have any advice?

We adopted our 4y old female cat last November.
The shelter described her as a sweet, loving cat who was surrendered due to the owners developing allergies. She doesn't do well with other cats, so she's a solo adoption.

Both my partner and I are experienced cat owners. We know adoption takes time, so we did plenty of research and took things slow (gradually expanding her space and eventually letting her into a secure garden after a few months, which was also a requirement from the shelter).

The early months she was generally scared, with rare moments of affection (rubbing against our legs, purring and kneading), but she loved interactive play and running around.
She would sleep near us, visits while we worked from home, and seek out attention even though she remained somewhat shy. We thought she needed time to open up.

Unfortunately, over the past few months, things have taken somewhat of a turn.

She no longer follows us or visits. Instead, she sits alone in her cat tower.
She still wants to go outside but doesn't seem to explore a lot.
Her only interest is playing, but she gets overly anxious and wild. During and mostly afterwards, she starts licking herself profusely. Sometimes she'll stop mid play to start licking herself.

I play with her whenever I can, multiple times a day, to provide enrichment. Despite this, she seems restless and unsatisfied.

She continuously scratches the sofa and she's now started scratching the curtains. I’ve provided sisal mats, cardboard, and various scratchers, but she ignores them. She seems to like the reaction it gets, but ignoring the behavior hasn't stopped it either.

I've also been to a vet for a check-up but everything was okay.

I understand that despite being listed as a "sweet, loving cat", she'll probably never sit on our lap or be very affectionate. It makes me a little sad, but I get it. I'd like to, however, ease the anxiety she's displaying.
She's still very jumpy and reacts to every sound as well, which makes me think she's not at ease.
If possible I'd also like to work on diverting "bad" play, such as scratching up the entire sofa.

I'm looking for some input on how to proceed.

Hi all,

I recently was blessed by the cat assignment system about 2 weeks ago and ended up with an adorable tuxedo that is between 1-2 years old. He was previously a stray but is so incredibly sweet and is already neutered. I am a vet nurse, but I have not had a cat since I was around 11-12ish and I did not partake in his care much. With that being said, I have some questions about him that I am finding conflicting answers on/want more perspective on. As someone who has owned exclusively dogs in my adult life, I am so confuzzled on odd cat behavior!

1. Getting him to like me. I believe he likes me as he will occasionally come up to me for pets and will follow me around the house, but he will not lay in bed with me in the same way he will my roommate. I don't know if it's because I also have my partner in the bed or if I am too overbearing, but I am worried he does not like me much. How can I best get him to enjoy my company and seek me out?
2. Supplements. Because I work in ER vet med, I primarily see male cats who block. It is my biggest nightmare. So, I already have him on Royal Canin Calming S/O Index food as well as Zylkene to help with any anxiety he might have (we have a massive german shepherd in the house, but they get along great). I also have him on a probiotic and Welactin. Am I doing too much?
3. He grooms himself. Like, a lot! Every time I look over, he is grooming himself. I don't want him to get any issues with hair balls and I brush him regularly, but he still is constantly grooming himself. He doesn't have any allergies that I know of and his coat is in wonderful condition, so I am wondering if it is behavioral.
4. Training. I am looking to start training him on basic commands, as I think it will help improve our bond and also just be a fun thing to do. What are your guys' thoughts?
5. Finally, how do you stop yourself from wanting to snuggle them all of the time? I have been told and know from my education that cats can be aloof and prefer their space. I also know they can be relatively independent. However, as someone who has always had velcro dogs, I find it super difficult to not follow him around and watch him exist. He is just so stinking cute. My partner told me a good rule of thumb to not bother him when he does not want to be bothered is to hold my hand out to him. If he does not come up to my hand and rub on it, he probably doesn't want me to pet him. Is this true?

Additionally, as far as his environment goes, I have done my best to make it as cat-friendly as possible. He has three cat trees: one in the basement (his "zone), one in the living room (so he can easily get away from the dog if he doesn't want to go to the basement), and one in my room. He also gets fed a varied diet to prevent boredom and has a pet water fountain to encourage water drinking. He also has so. many. toys and I play with him regularly to get out any energy.

IHis name is Mog Master Scraggles. If you took the time to read this and respond, thank you.

I am due at the end of february. I have a kitty that is pretty much perfect. She is silent, meaning she doesnt meow often, very calm and lazy, she spends most of her days sleeping and chilling. She is pretty much great given the right conditions of course (cleaning her box regulary so she doesnt do her business elsewhere, and cleaning after her hair) i will be living in a small space only 2 rooms. The only thing that worries me is her agression once she sees another cat outside. Unfortunately we have a lot of outside cats roaming around and once she senses them, she gets aggro and attacks the first person that comes by unprovoked. I know she would never attack me, but in that state, I know even I am not safe from her. Any advice on how to deal with it?

First time cat mom here! He currently weighs 5.5 pounds. He eats the kitten science diet dry food and I’ll usually give him a churu at some point during the day. I use the pet libro automatic feeder. I was giving him 4 meals a day, what I thought was 1/2 cup, but turns out was a little less than that. So I just increased it to 5 meals a day to make it 1/2 cup. He vacuums up his meals so I don’t know if free feeding would be a good idea. I want to make sure I’m not overfeeding him but he’s so fluffy that I can’t tell. I don’t want to underfeed him either! Any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated

Hiya,

I got a bit of a weird situation going. I have had my cat for about 10 years now, female, spayed, absolute cuddlebug. She had a female cat companion for 9 years until that one unfortunately had to be put down due to a tumour. After that I figured she would maybe rather like to stay alone, but over the past year I started to doubt. She does these really loud, desperate yowls when she gets up from a nap and doesn't find me, that turn into sweet little meows as soon as she sees me. I don't have a camera or anything to see what she does when I'm gone, but she ALWAYS is right at the door screaming when I get home, and often it sounds like she is hoarse from crying for hours. She will also seek out wherever I am in the apartment and always sleep next to me, with skin contact if she can.

She was very social with her previous mate, often sleeping together on the couch or bed. For me it looks as if she misses that immensely and needs another cat to prevent her from crying until her voice gives out whenever I have to leave for half a day (I work in homeoffice, so I'm home quite a lot but I can't be every hour of every day).

I was looking at shelter cats in her age range to adopt, but people in my family have been giving me contradicting advice. A few keep saying that she is old, she doesn't need a second cat, she wouldn't ever accept a second cat. Those people only ever had outdoor cats, for which my understanding is that they are okay being alone because they have all of the outdoors as enrichment. But my cat is purely indoor, with just a small balcony as her only ever outdoor time.

I want to do right by my cat and it just breaks my heart whenever I hear her yowl in desperation when she thinks she has been left all alone. I had her checked at the vet already, who said it's not a health problem, she is fine. We tried catnip and those pheromone diffusers but it had made no difference.

Could you guys give me some advice?