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.

(ADVICE NEEDED READ THE EDIT)He is only 8 month, he needed treatment and I didn’t have the money. Surrendering him to his old shelter would get him the medical assistance he needed.

I sat there in their room crying and sobbing like a piece of shit. The worst day of my life, I can still feel him around the house, I just can’t get myself to believe that he is not gonna wake me up tmrw. He was my entire family and best friend and the reason I get up in the morning. I genuinely don’t see how I can live past this. Never been more defeated and broken. He was so good to me and gave me all I ever needed

When something terrible would happen in my life I used to say to myself at least I have my cat. I don’t know how to stop thinking that he feels like I abandoned him, or if he is scared right now.

He needed ultrasound and then a surgery for an intestinal blockage, he was in so much pain and my efforts with the vets were not enough. He made me feel so loved for the first time in my life.

Edit: A lot of people are now recommending that I get a friend to adopt him after his treatment and give him to me. I would love to have him back, in your opinion is it okay for me to do such thing? Or does the fact that I couldn’t handle him this time mean I am incapable of guaranteeing it to him in the future ?

I just wanted to share another success story for anyone that might be in similar situations and feeling helpless <3 All my love to you! And best wishes on a healthy return.

Even though she would go outside with us all the time and just sit in the yard, she decided one day to just run off down the side of the house and into the woods behind our house. I followed after her less than two minutes after her thinking she was going to be at the deck in the back yard, but she was long gone, no trace of her. We searched extensively however with no idea what direction she went into the woods and the steep hill side we had no clue.

I did all of the suggested things, posted on nextdoor, facebook, pawboost, EXTENSIVELY put out laminated posters all around the neighborhood. Left food, her litter box, and clothes that smelled like me outside. I even got a thermal drone guy to come out five days in(please research A LOT of them are scams) and search the neighborhood, to no avail. We followed every lead given to us, rented a trap from a local animal shelter, and caught several raccoons and a different stray black cat. We have multiple coyotes in the area, they even walk around in broad daylight on the street. I was so so so hopeless and thought she was gone forever.

A day before she was found my neighbors two houses over got a picture of her from their window which we could confirm was her! Then my next door neighbor saw a black cat when she took her dog out, then she showed up on our porch camera. We took the trap out again and left the window open hoping she’d go into one.

That same day we saw her on our porch camera I got her! She was just three doors down in the neighbors side yard. Although very skinny and scared, she is in good shape! My neighbors were amazing and let me know as soon as they saw her. On the last day the neighbor came over saying she saw Mabel in her yard but she got spooked by her name being called, she didn’t follow her more and instead showed me where she went. I went to look a little, sure that she was long gone but she was right there looking at me!! She was meowing back at me when I called her name and then came right to me when I walked closer.

Pawboost, neighborhood apps, posters, and getting the neighbors together was what really brought her home! My neighbors were really committed to helping me get her back and I got so many tips for black cats with my posters, even though they weren’t her it just shows how much people care!

Yesterday I received the worst news; my senior cat, Henry (10.5 years old) has an aggressive and terminal form of cancer. The surgery is invasive and disfiguring, the survival percentage is very low, and there’s no guarantee that the cancer won’t come back, so I’ve decided against it with the support of the doctor and surgeon, who agrees it’s the best decision and that hospice care is a brave and loving choice.

I spitefully stole him from a roommate after she let my cat’s bestie, Thomas, outside and he was hit by a car. I’ve had and loved Henry ever since. He has a brother named Hoagie, and they’ve been inseparable since Hoagie was born 4 years ago. I am so worried about how my baby will grieve this loss, and I hope that he and I can support each other when the time comes.

I haven’t stopped crying, and I’ve been sitting on my floor with Henry, watching him wiggle and make biscuits and listening to him purr, petting him all over. Just absolutely showering him with love.

I feel so selfish for thinking I had more time with him, that all of the obstacles we’ve faced were finally over and we could get many more years together. I guess that’s just not how the world works sometimes.

Hug your fur babies tight for me. Shower them with love. Give them kisses. Cherish them and appreciate them. This year has been so awful and I can’t believe this is happening, but seeing how loved and comfortable he feels in this moment brings me comfort.

I wish I could add a picture of him to show off his sweet face.

I’m going to miss him so much.

Hi guys, really need some advice for my super picky cat.

he used to be pretty skinny so a few months back i bought some canned tuna wet food for him. He absolutely LOVED it and was eating like 4 cans a day (around 280g total). I was super happy he was gaining weight at first, but then i got worried about nutritional imbalance.

So during the recent shopping season i bought a bunch of different flavored cans like chicken, beef etc to mix things up. then the nightmare started... he totally refused to touch ANY of the new food. He only wants that exact tuna brand.

At first I thought ok if he gets hungry enough he’ll eventually eat the new stuff. So I put out the new food and waited a day. But when I checked my pet cam, I saw him walk up to the bowl, give it a quick sniff and just walked away!! He literally chose to starve instead. That was when I panicked a bit lol

His food intake has been super low these past few days cause I stopped giving him unlimited tuna. But today I had a small breakthrough, he actually ate a bit of a chicken treat that he used to ignore before!

Since his defenses seem to be breaking down a bit, what should I do next?? How do I safely transition him without making him starve? should I mix a tiny bit of tuna into the new food?

Any tips from people who dealt with tuna addicts would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!

We just put down our 6 yr old sweet orange boy today. He had been in and out of the animal hospital for the past two weeks due to urinary blockages that just kept recurring. Had a cystotomy to manually evacuate bladder first time and came home after a week, had to bring him back the next day due to straining immediately and he spent five more days there. Got him back two days ago, and same thing, not even 12 hours later he’s howling in pain and not peeing.

Vet agreed he has a very awful case of blockages and despite everything, needed hospitalization again, and we mutually agreed we did not want to put him through anymore with very little hope he would even improve. So we put him down.

I know we did the right thing, and even though we could have kept trying we felt he had been through enough and wanted him to go peacefully. I’m just so devastated, I don’t understand why his case was so bad, it’s just so unfair. He was so young and the sweetest cat ever, and I’m just really struggling with the fact that’s he’s gone and not coming back, especially since we only had him home for like three days out of the past two weeks. It doesn’t feel real, and I just wish I could stop being so damn sad. Just kind of wanted to vent honestly idk what I’m expecting from this post.

We have an ancient cat who is ok except one problem right now and we're not sure how to help her. She's pretty matted and we'll de-mat her one day but then the next day or two she gets matted again. We've tried shaving her but she hates it. We've accidentally cut her because she fights and we couldn't tell where her fur ended and her skin started. We do not want to hurt her at all, she's our little baby. Right now it's the worst it's ever been and to make it worse she has poop stuck in her fur. We give her baths and for the most part she's pretty ok with them. (Nice warm water, attention, treats. And I bet getting clean feels nice too). Right now though the poop is an issue, obviously. I don't want poopy cat water all over the tub (where I bathe my child) or in the sink (for very obvious reasons). Of course I would clean either place very well, but I feel like I wouldn't get it clean enough after. Any suggestions on getting her clean, keeping her clean, and mat free without hurting her. She is absolutely terrified of vets and has to be sedated if she were to go, but she's so old the vet suggested we only do it in emergency only situations.

I have a cat that is not legally mine (she is legally owned by the lady across the street) and when that lady got a kitten making her household 3 dogs, 3 cats, and 4 people, the 14-year-old Russian Blue decided she was no longer living with them, and moved in to my house against everyone's wishes.

We fought her on this repeatedly for months until we realized we were losing the battle, so now she stays with me and has for 10 months. I have been voluntold adopted by an elderly cat. I don't mind because I am single and live alone, she makes my quiet time entertaining, and I love her.

The story on this sweet girl is that she was raised on a farm as a security cat for chickens, and she enjoyed hunting and exploring her area. She lived off the land, hunting rabbits and small game with a terrier-mixed dog, and 2 collies. The lady across the street got married, moved to the city, and the cat still enjoys walking around the neighborhood hunting and just living her carefree cat life. This has been going on for her whole life, 8 of which have been in the city. The neighbourhood loves her, minus one particular person.

Since this cat decided to move into my house, the neighbour next door constantly fights with me, demanding that the cat have a leash, and that I should be keeping her indoors, and that I'm a bad cat owner, but she doesn't go to this woman's house at all. I tried to leash her, and had multiple neighbours yell at me for 'stealing' their little friend who keeps the mouse population down. I was threatened for leashing her, which is unexpected because most of these neighbours are elderly, and the ones that threatened me are at least 80 something. The cat also had major anger issues to the leash, and I have the scars to prove it.

Please note that this neighbour said absolutely nothing to the lady across the street for the past 8 years, and now, even though there are multiple strays (approx 9 in the area), she has decided my cat is the only cat going into her garden. She is ignoring the fact that I have pictures and videos of the strays in her garden, so she is demanding that I lock my cat into my house.

The problem with that is, apart from the fact that the cat has enjoyed her freedom for 14 years, she will escape whether it's rushing between my legs while I go to work, or breaking the screen in the window so that she can go out. She will escape, as if she's Houdini himself in cat form.

I am trying my best to keep the peace, but again this woman has not said a thing to the actual owners in 8 years, and has only deemed it an issue for the past 10 months that I have had this cat. Keeping her indoors is not an option, and I do everything I can to keep her safe. She has a curfew where after dark she must be home, I will tell her she has 1hr/20mins/etc and she actually listens to that and returns in that timeframe, but I don't know what else to do. This woman harasses me and blames me for any cat issues even though I have only lived in the neighborhood for a year.

I don't want to be throat punched by an elderly person, nor do I want to be harassed by the next door neighbour.

Update: it seems like a lot of you are freaking out about wild animals while ignoring the fact that she's been walking around the city for 8 years, and I have had her for 10 months. Also, for those thinking my cat will just disappear, she has a GPS tracker on her collar, I know where she is at all times. She also doesn't go near this neighbour's house.

My neighbor and I have shared custody because in the end it is still her cat, she just doesn't want to live in that house.

She is outside alone at most 1hr, in which she stays in her owners yard and hunts mice. Otherwise, she and I go for a walk together. She had more free roaming before she moved in with me, and I am trying to keep her in as much as I can get away with, mostly because I work 10-12hr days. She isn't running around the city, she stays in the same 3 block radius and does not go out without her tracker.

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.

I have three neutered indoor male cats: H (8), T (6), and E (4). I adopted all three separately, with E being the last to join our household.

E has always been the most challenging of the three. Even as a kitten, he had a lot of energy. He's still very energetic now, although that's generally manageable. He's also the troublemaker of the group, both in terms of getting into things and in how he interacts with the other cats.

He's on a special urinary diet and has some issues with constipation, but we're managing those reasonably well with the right food and supplements. That's not what I'm looking for advice about, though.

The real problem is that E doesn't seem to know how to play with other cats, or when to stop.
Our oldest cat, H, seems to know how to handle him. When H has had enough of being chased, he'll swat at E and hiss at him. E usually gets the message, backs off, and goes off to do something else or comes to cuddle with my partner or me. So, in that respect, they seem to have figured out how to communicate with each other.

The problem is our other cat, T.
T doesn't seem to know how to stand up for himself. E will chase him around the entire house, jump on his back, and keep pursuing him. T's only response is to run away, hiss, or make this awful screaming sound. E just keeps going.
They don't seem to get into proper fights. There's no fur flying around, and I haven't noticed any particularly aggressive biting. It looks more like E wants to play (at least, that's what I assume), while T wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

What makes this situation confusing is that they actually seem to get along quite well at other times.
They sleep together quite often and will happily sit next to each other. T doesn't seem generally afraid of E, and he can relax around him without any obvious issues. The fear or distress seems to happen specifically when E starts chasing him or approaches him as if he's about to start again.

I've also noticed that this behaviour seems to happen much more frequently when my partner or I are nearby or in the same room. I'm not sure whether that's relevant, but it feels like a pattern worth mentioning.
E has been living with the other cats since he was just a few months old. We introduced him gradually, starting with keeping him in a separate room, then letting the cats get used to each other's scents, and eventually allowing them to see each other and eat together. We took our time with the introduction, so this isn't a case of suddenly putting unfamiliar cats together.
We've tried quite a few things, but nothing seems to help.

All three cats have regular vet check-ups, and they eat, sleep, and use their litter boxes normally. We live in a three-storey house, so there's plenty of space for them to spread out. We also have around five cat trees/scratching posts and plenty of other toys.
We've tried actively playing with E to burn off his energy, including following Jackson Galaxy's advice on how to engage a cat in proper play. We really do try to play with him, but nothing seems to make a difference in how he behaves towards T. E just doesn’t like to play with us…. We’ve tried all kinds of toys, robots, laser (I know that’s bad, we’ve stopped), fishing rods..

When E starts chasing T, we currently tell him off using a loud, firm voice. We never physically punish him. Sometimes, we cuddle him until he gets annoyed and decides to leave on his own. Other times, we separate him by putting him in another room or keeping him out of the room we're in. Wherever we separate him, he has access to water and a litter box, so his basic needs are always met.

However, I don't know whether any of these approaches are actually helping, or whether we're just managing the situation temporarily without changing the behaviour.
I'm honestly at my wit's end. I love E, and I know he's not necessarily doing this out of malice, but I'm getting more frustrated with him by the day. I'm starting to resent him, and I feel terrible about that because I don't want to feel this way towards one of my cats.

I want all three of them to feel safe and comfortable in their own home, and right now, I don't feel like that's the case for T.

Sorry for the long post, but I really need some help figuring this out. I'm looking for advice beyond the usual suggestions like Feliway, adding more toys, or simply playing with him more, as we've already tried a lot of those things.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?
Does this sound like play behaviour that E doesn't know how to regulate, or could something else be going on? Why might it happen more when we're around, even though the cats seem comfortable sleeping and relaxing together? And most importantly, what can we actually do to stop the chasing and make sure T can feel safe around E?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

So I just moved into a new place with my two cats and there is a cat who already lives here (his name is Romeo). In an ideal world mine would be the only cats in the home but I moved for grad school and pet friendly housing was super hard to come by so I took what I could get. Good news is they’ve all been introduced and they’re civil with each other. However, Romeo will take any opportunity to eat and my cats are grazers, so their food bowl stays out. I really want my cats to have free reign of the house, but right now when I’m not home they stay closed in my room so Romeo doesn’t eat their food (he also has a marking issue but that’s another story). My room is pretty big and they have plenty of room to zoom around and climb, but it’s their house too they should be able to roam.
Romeo’s owner has suggested that I get the SureFeed microchip detecting food bowl, but those are ~$200 USD and I would love to not have to spend that kind of money just to keep someone else’s cat out of my cats’ food. I know there are slightly cheaper RFID ones, but my cats refuse to keep a collar on. Also I know one of my cats’ microchip has migrated from between her shoulder blades, so idek if the SureFeed bowl would be able to detect her chip since it’s placed further back. Is there any solution that won’t cost an arm and a leg? Would the SureFeed even work? Do I need to train them to only eat at set times? How would I even do that?
Any advice is appreciated. And if you have a microchip feeder I’d love to know how that’s working out for you! Thanks!

My bf and I adopted a cat 3 weeks ago from a shelter. He is 3 years old and they got him from the pound so we don’t know anything about his past.

He is very sweet, shows us affection, loves chilling around us and is playful but he is OBSESSED with food. We think he probably lacked food before we got him but it’s becoming a bit of a problem.

We bought an automatic pet food dispenser for when we’re away at work but also because when we give him his food he eats it really fast and everything at once.

But when we cook or eat he becomes really invasive and bites us and attacks us when we try to push him away. Of course we don’t use any kind of violence towards him, we try to re-direct him to his cat tree or his toys or if he calms down we give him a treat to try to make him understand that being calm when we are eating or cooking is good. We also give him his own pet food before we start cooking or eating in the hope that he won’t be hungry anymore and leave us alone (we give him the amount of food recommended by our vet)

Anyway it’s not working at all for now and we are a bit worried because he is becoming a little agressive as i said and being around food is becoming a battle.

Do you have any advice for us ?

thanks in advance :)

I live in an apartment and friend of mine pawned off his cat on me for 3 months while he leaves the country for work. I never owned pets but I get along with the cat.

However, am a bit of a clean freak and the fact the cat (lulu) is running around the place smelling like poop every time she goes to the litter, or has dingleberries hanging to her fur every time she drops a coin, kinda ruffles my feathers. She goes 0-100 every time I try to clean them off and then procceds to sit and rub the smell off on the pillows I sleep on.

Tl;dr: How do I keep a cat from smelling like shit or clean them without turning my hands into a barcode?

P.S: I love LuLu to death, but I don't believe the whole cats are self cleaning thing, she smells like a hobo that shat himself in a bus stop. Her fur looks clean tho

Hi everyone!
First time posting here.
I have a 5 year old ragdoll/blue Russian that has barely used a litter tray.
She’s been quite happy to toilet herself outside.
Today I saw her trying to cover her poop by scratching at the grass. She’s never done that before.
Should I be concerned?

I had just woken up and I saw a flea crawling on my finger that had a cut this morning and I’ve been cleaning all day and I have an appointment with the vet on Friday (the soonest available) and I’m like freaking out 😭

I have a good eye when it comes to tracking bugs and small moving objects (Florida trained) and I have only seen that singular flea. I checked by cat and I only see flea dirt at the base of her tail and after finding that single male flea I’ve come to realize what I thought was just gravel from the lanai was actually flea dirt for the past I would say month? She had a bath Oct 2nd and it took close to a week to see the dirt again and then an additional week to see the actual flea.

I had combed her with a fine tooth pet comb I think two days ago while I was giving her her sanitary trim and I didn’t see anything else moving, and barely picked up any dirt but I did comb her again today and saw more dirt at the base of her tail. I’m going to do any even more thorough check once I’m done cleaning but what’s the likely hood if it being that singular male flea? I haven’t seen anything else, I used an upholstery cleaner on my bed, vacuumed it four times, and will do it again before I put clean sheets back on, also vacuumed my rug three times and I vacuum my rug and floors at least three times a day because she tracks litter everywhere. I double checked her cat house which I’m just going to throw away and get her a new one and I didn’t see anything moving, I also checked her cat tree and this wicker hamper she loves to sleep on and saw nothing moving. Also checked my vacuum after each use and saw nothing as well.

Hi guys! Unfortunately I’ve had this issue with our 9 month old cat (spayed female) basically since we got her. She will pee in the litter box and sometimes poop in it, but most of the time she’s pooping on the floor. I do have another cat, but I have 3 litter boxes in their room and she still does it. The cat room is filled with toys, windows, and cat trees for them to stay in while we’re both at work. I cannot leave them out to roam the house unfortunately because they turned on the stove once while we weren’t there and were lucky a fire didn’t start.

Her poop was mushy and bloody for a while so I took her to the vet for testing and she’s negative for everything. I’ve tired probiotics to help her gut hoping that would help, but she’s still going outside the box. I clean it every day so I’m not sure why this is happening.

My partner is very over this and is saying she isn’t allowed to come to our new house when we move if she can’t get this under control. I’m really running out of time and ideas on what to do. I’m not sure if it’s separation anxiety because I’m completely gone 3 days out of the week since I work out of town but my partner is home with them every day. He works late but lets them out for a while every night. But on my off days, they are out 24/7 if I’m home, but sometimes she’s still going on the floor.

I really need advice. She’s my baby and I would be crushed if I couldn’t bring her with us. We live on a farm so she would be a barn cat if she had to go outside, but I don’t want that for her at all. I just want her safe inside with me :(

My 1 year old male cat has been acting funny. He’s been trying to get outside more, has been either very clingy or very stand-offish and overall has acted a little different. The most concerning behavior is that he will just sit beside his litter box and stare until I get onto him. I clean it every morning. He’s my first ever cat. Any advice?

Note: I’m not asking for advice on litter box issues. He’s still going to the bathroom regularly. I’m just asking if his behaviors should be monitored or if there are any specific issues anybody knows about.

I've had my boy for about 3 years now, I adopted him from a shelter at 10. He was surrendered by an older person who couldn't take care of him anymore, when I adopted him he was in a single kennel. Where I live they have a sort of cat room, where some cats all kinda chill in a large room together. But he was by himself, I wasn't sure if it was because he was new and they were quarantining him or if he just didn't get along with other cats.

I've had cats my whole life and we've never had just one, he was my first cat I adopted on my own since moving out. I live in a one bedroom apartment and worry that there's not enough space for the 2 of them or that they'll fight. All this on top of the hassle of having 2 cats and introducing each other and litter box disputes.

But I think he's lonely, he sometimes attacks me. In some cases he's overstimulated which I understand, but other times it seems unprovoked. I try and play with him using his favorite ribbon toy but he loses interest in it along with his other toys very quickly. So is another cat what he needs?

**cat has been to vet**
Hi everyone,
My 2y/o male cat Peanut Butter, desexed, (totally healthy, been checked by vets but they’re at a loss. Will be seeing another to get a second opinion. Honestly thinking of a behaviour specialist or something) has had some issues going outside the litter box his whole life. It was much worse when he was a kitten, where he’d poop and pee just outside the box.
When my ex and I split up and he took his cat with him, the issue seemed to disappear for months, so I chalked it up to territory and the older cat bullying him around the litter boxes.
But two days ago, he’s started pooping in the exact same spot as he used to, a few feet away from his boxes, and does it continually around the same time of morning. I’m at a loss. There’s been next to no change in his lifestyle, and I have a really small house/yard so I’d likely know if any other cats were coming by, and I feel like he’d be going closer to the back door if that were the case.
I’ve previously tried all types of litter incase that was the issue, new boxes, different cleaning products, more regular cleaning, etc etc but nothing seems to be working.
He has 2 big litterboxes in his own space (laundry), and I never close the laundry door so he always has 24/7 access.
It’s now at a point where instead of intermittently pooping outside the box, or just when he deems the boxes dirty, he’d now rather poop on the tiles every morning.
I don’t use liner bags cause he’s scared of the plastic noise, and I’ve even tried no litter at all to replicate the tile feel but he’s just not having it.
He’s an incredibly nervous cat, and is scared of almost all people/things except myself and my boyfriend, so I worry that something’s scaring him and forcing him back into his territorial behaviour. The only thing new in his environment is the guy I’ve been seeing, but Peanut loves him to pieces, even sits on his lap and asks for cuddles, and he’s only ever done that with me.

Any help in between searching for another vet for a second opinion would be greatly appreciated. I just want my little man to be ok and feel safe in his own home, and I’ll do anything it takes to make that happen.

Thank you to anyone who’s read this far. As a gift, my cat’s legal name on all his papers is: Señor Pablo ‘Peanut Butter’ Escobar

Hi, I find it really difficult to sleep with the door open, usually because of the noise i can hear from the outside,(i also just feel super exposed for some reason) I have a roommate too but it’s not that big of a problem

i just got a one year old cat, she sometimes hops on my bed to see me but she mostly just likes to sleep on my chair in my room, she doesn’t cuddle at night, just goes in and out.(she gets plenty of love in the day)

I feel really bad locking her out at night but I can’t sleep comfortably with the door open, She doesn’t really meow at the door or anything i just feel so guilty. Is it okay, or should I let her come in ? Will i get used to having the door open or should I just keep that boundary for later in life

He’s seven months old now, and recently he’s begun scratching the couch and carpet. I do realise his cat scratcher might not be as tall as it should be, but he had been using it for a couple of months before this. I try pick him up and move him to the scratcher when he does, he usually just goes back to the couch later. I really want to get him those big rectangular cardboard scratchers since I have seen him pick at an old cardboard box I had left out. I’m just worried it’ll cause a mess? Are they designed not to fall apart? I want to get both vertical and horizontal (to stop both the couch and carpet scratching) but I’m wondering if a taller and bigger cat scratcher would be more worth it. He’s a lovely cat and well behaved in every other aspect, so I’m hoping this can be solved! Honestly I don’t really care about the sides of the couch.. but the carpet is worrying considering I don’t own the house.

I have two cats. A male that is, I think, turning 8, and a female that is 6. I adopted the female from a shelter when she was a baby and, aside from sometimes puking because she eats too fast (not really her fault, explained later), she’s super sweet and not problematic at all.

The male was a stray. He showed up on my doorstep when he was 1 or 2 if I had to guess. I love the little guy, but he’s a dick. He dominates his sister. He will kick her out of spots where she is laying if he wants them, take some of her food if his isn’t enough (which leads to her eating the next meal super fast), and he will randomly start attacking her or us sometimes.

I can put up with all that, honestly. Couldn’t give less of a damn. But for the last 3-5 years, he has developed inappropriate urination. I THINK, I’m not certain though, it started when an old roommate introduced a third cat to the house. He would pee upstairs, and downstairs which is where I stay. I have spent so many freaking hours cleaning cat piss on my hands and knees. I use the enzyme cleaners. He’s now on royal canin SO for his dry and wet food too.

Now, as far as I can tell, he has only peed downstairs in the last 2ish years. I have litter boxes with coverings that I have to keep half open because if they’re fully closed, he won’t use them, and if they’re fully open he’ll not contain his pee to the box. Other than when I rarely forget to leave them half open (at which point he’ll just pee in my garage somewhere as that’s where I keep them), he ONLY pees in my room. I think it’s a dominance thing to make sure his sister knows that the provider of resources is his and not hers. He has peed on probably 50% of the walls in my room. It’s the marking kind of peeing, he doesn’t do it squatting down like he does in the box.

Today is his third day taking a quarter tablet of fluoxetine. It will be doubled in 4-6 weeks if necessary. I’m going to pay to have the entire carpet in my room ripped out, replaced with vinyl flooring, and the entire room professionally cleaned. The vet, besides saying there are other medications, doesn’t have anything else to recommend.

How likely is this to work? Am I just throwing away a few thousand dollars? I love the little guy but I’m going insane man. This has been the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever dealt with and i don’t want to give up but idk wtf to do.

A few days ago, my cat was diagnosed with mediastinal lymphoma. We also discovered that he is feline leukemia virus positive. After discussing with his vets, prognosis even WITH chemo for this type of lymphoma would only buy us 2-3 months (if that), so instead of putting him through the stress of everything that comes with treatment, we brought him home on palliative care with the hopes that he may have another month (maybe two if we’re lucky) of good time. I am incredibly devastated and heartbroken, not just because he is my soul cat, but because he is so young. Tomorrow is his 4th birthday. He’s been through so much in his young life (he was diagnosed with FIP when he was 5 months old and while going through treatment got pneumonia AND ringworm) and it’s just so unfair that he made it through everything else just to end up here. I don’t know how I’m going to survive losing him but for now I’m trying to focus on doing everything I can to make the best of the time he has left. For anyone who has gone through something similar, any suggestions for things that made end of life care easier? Or things I can do/make/buy to remember him by? Any advice is appreciated.

I’ve been spending lots of time with my boyfriend and his cat recently and I’ve noticed a few things he mentioned and that I have seen about his cat that I want to see if anyone has any advice about. Thank you in advance!

Today when I went over to work on homework with my boyfriend, his cat was meowing constantly by the door and then came up to me and sat in between my legs and just stayed there. Then he went back to the door and kept meowing over and over again and wouldn’t stop. In addition, the cat has been sleeping next to my boyfriend suddenly after I leave to go back to my house, something he didn’t used to do. My boyfriend said it’s something new because usually the cat would leave the room while he slept but he’s been super clingy over the past few days. And also when my boyfriend and I are cuddling, his cat comes up to us and also likes to sleep next to us. Just wanted to see what might be causing this change as it happened pretty suddenly!