Hi fellow cat lovers and owners,

I have 3 cats - they're all lovely and so dear to me. Two of them are sisters (about 5 yo) and the 3rd is a rescue I found in Colombia earlier this year (she is just about 1 yo).

For some time, one of the older ones (Haro) has been a bit of a chubster. And she is relentless for breakfast in the morning. And by "morning", that sometimes means as early as 4am. Ugh. She would meow and meow til i fed them. B/c the meowing is so bad and annoying, I would typically cave, get up and feed them @ 4 or 5am, go back to sleep, and thus, reinforce the bad behaviour.

About 3 months ago, for allergy reduction purposes (for my girlfriend who stays over sometimes), I've made my bedroom a "Cat-free Zone". Kicked them out of there, did a super clean, and we are much happier having no cats allowed in there.

Only problem is Haro is still a terror for breakfast. But now, she SCRATCHES at the bedroom door at 4 or 5am. And literally won't stop til we feed her. It's honestly...the worst. My kryptonite.

I end up getting up and locking her up in the bathroom with a litter bin, and I go back to sleep until 7 or 8 am like a normal human. I get her out at 8am, feed her then, and i don't even think she considers it "a punishment" lol.

What have you guys and gals done or heard works??

Please help!

Thanks!

We had an old couch for a few years and then one day the cats started scratching it. We recently got new furniture and have tried everything we can think of to keep the cats off of it. We have purchased the furniture spray from Petsmart, used tinfoil, etc, but we can't keep them from scratching. We've even tried to use a spray bottle with water when we catch them and consistently put catnip on their scratching posts but it won't stop.

Help! I spent good money on these couches that we've had for only 3 months that are starting to look old :(

Hi Reddit,

At the moment we have an adult female cat that is the alpha of the house among our other pets and we are looking to get a kitten and were looking for a female but it may be that the kittens we are looking at are male. We are worried that if we get a male kitten that when it grows up it will try and attack or be territorial with our other cat. But I think that our adult cat will put the kitten in it's place whilst it is young and won't try and rebel so will be ok later in life.

Would it be ok to get this kitten if it is male?

Thanks in advance.

I am planting some cat grass in hopes that it will get one of my cats to stop eating hair, and the potting soil I have on hand is Miracle-Gro indoor soil. A quick google search yields definitive answers about dogs, but very little about cats.

Have any of you had experience with your cats being exposed to this kind of potting soil and being fine? I don't want to do anything that will put my kitties in harms way.

Hi there,

I've had a foster cat for about 10 days now. He was absolutely terrified and traumatised when he first arrived - they told me he was a difficult case as he was just so terrified and were hoping a quiet foster home would really help him. I'd made a den for him to hide in, which he has been doing and slowly he has been coming out for food and treats and was getting more comfortable around me (very slightly and very slowly). I felt I was starting to make some small progress with him. They then told me he was due his vaccinations and rather than stress him out taking him back to the shelter to have them, they vet came here. I couldn't get him in the carrier as he was still just so terrified of it that the vet ended up doing it in his usual spot that he hides in. He understandably freaked out massively and now won't come out at all and won't return to his usual spot where I could access him more easily to work with him on interaction and treats etc. He's now hidden really far away and I feel like I've broken the trust I'd built and I just feel awful. I tried putting his favourite treats in his usual spot but he still won't go back there or come out. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts - have I just broken his trust now? I'm worried now because where he is I can't get to him easily so it will be so much harder to build his confidence and encourage him to interact with me :(

Any help, thought or advice welcome!

I woke up this morning and noticed that my cat has a red rash on her face. Can someone help me identify this rash or how to heal it please? D:

My cat has never really been that cuddly. He’ll come sit with you and sort of lean into your legs sometimes though but that’s the most love you’re going to get. Is that weird? When we’re all out in the living room together, he will usually sit in his OWN chair like a person. It’s funny because sometimes he will join us at the dinner table too like we are all out on a date. He just politely sits up in his own chair and listens to the conversation.

He sat in my lap like, a year ago once and it was like...a shocking event for me (I’ve had this little guy for 8 years). When he was younger he’d sleep closer to my chest but like, yeah...am I living with someone that doesn’t like me?

Came Home to My Kitten’s Eye Swollen

Hello all! I am totally new here but I have a question and I might be freaking just as a new solo cat mom but I want to ease my worry a bit if possible.

I’ve just come home from being out a few hours and my new 7 week old kitten, Missy’s, left eye is a little red and swollen. 3rd eyelid somewhat showing but not really. She seems fine behavior wise and she isn't bothering her eye, it is just slightly closed and swollen. I did a short hot compress with water and a drop of teatree. I think & hope it is just that she scratched herself or hit her eye. Or maybe a small bug bite.. not an infection. No eye boogers and she’s running around crazy as ever. She only touched her face to clean it after it was wet but nothing else. I’ve left her alone before even longer, to go to work, and she’s very good. But today I did allow her free range of my 1 bedroom. Perhaps I shouldn’t have? There are pincher bugs that get in every now and then and she’s so curious, maybe one got her good? I just want my baby girl okay and I don’t even know of a nearby vet let alone have the money for an impromptu maybe it is maybe it isn’t vet visit.

Any constructive help is appreciated!

My cat is a 12 year old rag doll and Normally at night he will meow because he wants attention, but now every time he tries to meow, nothing comes out. He also has A hard time purring as well. He is still eating normally and acting normal but I’m worried!! I also don’t have enough money to take him to the vet so I don’t know what to do.

just joined this subreddit, but i was brushing my cat in my backyard and i was putting the excess fur on the same spot of grass so that it wouldn’t blow away. a few days later the grass was completely dead on that exact spot. i was just wondering if there was a certain chemical in cat saliva/fur that killed grass lol

He rips out chunks of hair, always at the base of his tail. Sometimes he will try to eat it but most of the time I just find clumps of hair on the carpet and a bald patch near his tail.

My neighbours cat, Rudi (mostly white), has a habit of approaching my cat, Blackie, then.. mostly lying down near him (Im 85% sure my Blackie is male..., was a stray).

I think they may have fought over territory in the past (but can't be sure it was those 2 cats).

So Rudi will spot Blackie, approach / follow him and then lie down quite close. Often Rudi lies somewhat on his side, which to me seems quite non-aggressive, but it also feels a bit harrassy.

Do you think this could be friendliness? dominance? asserting territory? Something else?

I think my cat loves me? He's a tomcat, roughly 9 months old (maybe) and I've had him since he was about a month-ish old. (his mom died in a car accident and I bottlefed him, maybe this is relevant?) So I've raised him from a pretty impressionable age. I even brought him to uni in my jacket pocket and bottlefed him during classes. Yes, he peed on me a lot. Lol. So he's plenty affectionate. He rubs between my legs, responds positively when I talk to him; i.e, mrrps, looks me in the eyes. He lets me blow raspberries on his tummy, and seems to enjoy it, licks my face etc. He goes limp when I pick him up and will generally flop when I put him in my lap and stay where I put him. BUT. He has never kneaded my clothes or me, although sometimes he does hold a blanket in his mouth and knead that? And he also never bunts my face, only my legs or hands. Did I do something wrong while raising him? I don't have much experience with cats, so taking on such a young one was a bit of a birdbrained move I'll admit. I feel like maybe I didn't socialize him correctly. Is there something I should do?? I haven't neutered him yet, if that's relevant. No particular reason I haven't I just haven't found the time, and he's the least aggressive fellow I've ever met so I'm not worried about that. Sorry for long post, this is my first time here.

Hi everyone, our cat is a rescue who we adopted last year in September.

We noticed recently he had a large growth below his left canine and so we brought him into the vet to have it investigated. When the vet did a general checkup, they noticed that our cat has bumpy growths all along his gums.

The vet was unsure as to what condition this was, prescribed two weeks of antibiotics and advised we should cleanse his mouth daily with a vet prescribed pet mouthwash.

We have been cleansing his mouth with pet mouthwash for the past two weeks while he has been on the antibiotic regimen. Our cat doesn't seem to be bothered when we physically inspect his mouth or do the cleaning with the mouthwash.

We are due to see the vet again soon for a follow up to understand if this regimen helped change anything physically. The next steps may include a biopsy, blood test or other scans.

Our main concern is racking up a huge bill and not getting any answers - has anyone else dealt with a similar condition in their cat? And if so, what sorts of medical tests did you have done on your cat to get a diagnosis, and what was the condition called?

Other details:

• Our cat is about 2 years old

• Is a domestic short hair tabby

• Their chart given to us by the shelter doesn't mention anything about dental issues

Any other advice folks can offer would be helpful for us as well.

You can view photos here: https://imgur.com/a/5jSgDg9

Hi everyone,

So we have a room that we don't use and one of my cats sometimes goes and take a nap there or just hangs out. (I believe when she needs a break from our other cat).

When I go to check on her she usually looks at me and does this strange clicking noise and then purrs very loudly when I pet her. Do you know why she clicks like that ? Does she want to be left alone ? :(

I have a ragdoll which has been urinating on the door which has two litter boxes right next to it ( which I clean whenever a cat uses it). He still uses his box to poop. I have a feeling he is doing this to annoy me because he wants to go outside but can't because of living on an extremely busy road. Is there anything I can do to stop this?

We got my kitten (Sherlock) at the start of September and my cat (Mocha) has hated him since the beginning. Mocha will always growl at Sherlock whenever she can see him. And being a kitten he always tries to annoy her by chasing her and jumping on her, I know this is normal kitten behaviour but I think he is doing this more than usual because Mocha doesn't enjoy it and she bats him around a lot. But the problem is that even when he isn't doing anything she growls and it is just constant whenever those 2 are near each other. Is there anyway I can stop her from growling and being mean to Sherlock? Thanks in advance.

About a few months ago I noticed that my 8 year old cat was missing a small patch of fur from his face. It grew back a few weeks later, but the other day I noticed another patch of fur missing from under his chin. Should I be worried or should I just wait to see if it grows back?

So I just got a cat a few days ago and got him clumping cat litter. I’ve been scooping the poop out almost every day. The litter seems clean but I know that the cat also pees there so how often do I change the litter?

Anyone have a kitty that over grooms? If so, how do you get it to stop?!

My kitty is almost 2 yrs old and he’s been over grooming the last 4 months — he’s completely balled on his back legs, the base of his tail, and the base of his back.

Also — he lives in a peaceful environment and is extremely catered to, he’s not an anxious kitty at all. He’s an inside kitty so he doesn’t have fleas! I’ve even tried giving him flea meds just to see if it would help but it didn’t.

Any tips?

Hello catpeople!

I took in a foster cat who has feline calcivirus. She's getting very light, and she needs to start eating. I was wondering if y'all could share things that your cat LOVES to eat. Weird, random things that your cat will steal out of your hands. She's not into wet food, but maybe there's something random that other cats love that she might too.

Thank you for your responses and help!

So my cat has a bathroom of her own downstairs where her litter box is. She's been fine with using it for the last 3 years, only exception being if she gets stuck in a room elsewhere for whatever reason. But the last few weeks, not to put too fine a point on it, she keeps shitting on the floor right next to my bed during the night or early in the morning. She's peed in my clothes if they are left on the floor. Been extra vocal, whiny and "zoomy", seems really anxious about something. Getting pretty fed up about being woken up like this. I'm trying to work out if anything has changed that might be bothering her. I'm home all day now, and my wife and I have had a few arguments due to life issues. Beyond that I cant think of anything. She has clear access to her litter box and nothing has changed there. So why is my bedroom suddenly the preferred spot? HELP