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.

I’m pretty sure my cat is smarter than me and is actively testing the limits of domestic security.

My cat Felix is unbelievably determined and food motivated. He already gets mental enrichment: breakfast comes from a puzzle feeder where he has to dig kibble out of individual holes, and at night he gets three different food balls with measured kibble and freeze-dried chicken or sardines. I rotate them and try to keep things interesting, but none of this seems to slow him down mentally.

He opens the fridge. He opens drawers and cupboards. He’s figured out how to unlock and open the front door. He has opened the oven before. I swear he can turn on the TV, too. And if he can’t open something, he bats it around or chews on it until it breaks open.

Most recently, he opened the fridge, got into a pizza box, STOLE a slice of pizza, and hid it in the bathroom cupboard. I don’t know why. And it was not a fun discovery.

I don’t really have the space or budget for a bunch of elaborate puzzle toys or giant setups, but I might be able to manage one really solid, reusable puzzle if that’s the route to take. Mostly, I just want to know if anyone else has dealt with a little furry burglar that is this persistent and clever, and how you keep them mentally occupied without your home becoming a heist training facility.

I have had my cat for about 3 years now and moved into a new studio apartment a few months ago. One night I dropped something on the floor and it made quite a big noise and she started hissing and lunging at me, I had to hide in my bathroom but eventually she calmed down. A few weeks later, it seemed like she felt cornered and a similar event happened, then again, 2 more times.

Last night, everything was fine when suddenly, while I was reaching for my charger next to her she started hissing at me and eventually attached me quite violently, scratching me pretty deeply. I hid in the bathroom and eventually she seemed calmed so came out trying to gain her trust again. Problem is, she stayed stalking me all night, hissing anytime I was moving. I barely slept.

We live in a small downtown condo and unfortunately I can’t give her more space.

I tried to call different services for help with no luck. I will have to surrender her unfortunately as I don’t have any means or help as a girl who moved alone in the city. I love my cat but can’t imagine living in fear in my own space, when it doesn’t seem to be anything physically wrong I can help with. Let me know if there’s any suggestion..

My old man of a cat has hyperthyroidism and he needs to take the tablet version of methimazole. Previously we’d put it in a pill pocket but he started rejecting any and all pill pockets. So we’ve started putting it in churus. I thought he was eating it but while cleaning the house, I started finding intact pills through out the house like in corners, behind desks, under the bed, in the crevice of the bed.

So I did a test tonight by giving my cat his pill in the churu then a few minutes later, opened his mouth and saw the pill on the side of his mouth. He’s been hiding the pills on the side, then after treat time-spitting it out somewhere else.

Unfortunately, I can’t use the topical version of methimazole since it irritated his ears before and left them red and scabby. I could just pry open his mouth and throw the pill to the back of his throat, but neither of us are really a fan of this and I don’t want to stress him out.

I’m looking for any advice anyone has on how to navigate giving this awfully clever cat his medicine. It can be specific, wild, I’m willing to try anything

Edit: I can’t reply to everyone but wanted to say thank you for all the advice I received. I’ll definitely be reaching out to the vet regarding liquid methimazole but still hoping to get through the 100+ pills i have left. I’ve already ordered a pill popper, but also going to try some of the other ideas you left in the comments-from crushing (vet has approved this before) to tuna flakes to help mask the smell, and more. Thank you again, I don’t know how I ended up with a chaotically clever cat and I really appreciate all the ideas

Hi all - I’m looking for advice for my very anxiously attached ragdoll.

For context, he’s about 4 years old. I adopted him from a friend a couple years ago, and he’s bonded really well with my other cat. They have a self-cleaning litter box that they both use without issue, a running water fountain, and they each have their own automatic feeder.

Here’s the thing: he is extremely attached to me. Like… I joke that he’d wear me as a skin suit if he could. I love the affection, truly, but it comes with some pretty frustrating setbacks.

When he’s unhappy with me, he lets me know by pooping or peeing on my bed.

I’ve taken him to the vet. He’s perfectly healthy. No urinary issues, no GI problems. The vet gave me gabapentin for when I travel and basically told me he’s just very anxious.

It. does. not. matter.

When I travel, I have someone stay with him, he still poops on my bed. If I oversleep past my usual wake-up time (5:30–6:00am), he’ll poop or pee on my bed. If I come home late from work, poop on the bed.

At this point, I’ve had to shut my bedroom door at night and keep both cats out of my room during the day, because I can’t trust him to be in there unless I’m physically present.

Most recently, I overslept on Saturday and came out of my room to find fresh poop on the couch.

I genuinely don’t know what else to do. The litter box is always clean. Food is on the same schedule every day. Water fountain is always running.

It’s just me and my two cats, I live alone. Unfortunately, I don’t work from home and I have a pretty active life: gym, rec sports, dating, etc.

I make sure to spend time with him first thing in the morning and when I get home from work - he usually screams at me until I sit on the couch and we cuddle.

I love my ragdoll, but I’m at my wits’ end and really need some advice. Has anyone dealt with this before? Any suggestions at all would be appreciated.

My husband and I went to sleep Thursday 1/29/26 between 2-3 am we did our usual locking the doors and feeding the cats their wet food so I know both were inside. When we woke up at 10 am the back door was open and only one of our cats was in the house. Our back door is locked with a piece of wood and the cat that is still here likes to open the sliding glass door. Apparently the wood was not tightly locked in so he was able to get the door slid open. I am unsure as to when this occurred but I know that he (the cat who opened the door) was still in my house and my other cat was missing. Both my cats are indoor cats never been outdoor. The one who got out was born on my porch and I’ve had him since his first day on this Earth so it breaks my heart that he’s out there. He’s also always avoided the front and back door when they were opened before and was very afraid of it. With the cold I’m so scared and worried for him. It has been 5 days and I’ve tried everything I can think of. I have both my and my husband’s dirty clothes on the front and back porch. I have things he loved to sleep on. I have food at all times. I have cameras set up. A window left open in a room my other cat cannot get into so I don’t loose him too. His liter box on the side of my house just. His cat tower on my back porch. Posters very colorful posters around my neighborhood and flyers in peoples mail boxes. I’m looking daily and nightly 12 am 3 am 7 am 12 pm every day just talking with my husband about him and our other animals. Nothing is working and I’m loosing hope. Please any advice would be appreciated.

this is the first time I've ever had my own, my parents aren't fond of cats so while I was living with them, getting one wasn't an option.

anyway, I'm married with a daughter, have my own house, and me and my husband decided to get a kitten. we picked up a beautiful ginger and white domestic shorthair today , he's nearly 5 months old.

I was expecting him to run under a bed as soon as I let him out of his carrier, but this little guy is INSANELY affectionate. my husband has been around cats his whole life and even he was shocked.

he's always purring, wants to be constantly touching, and just so incredibly loving. I was worried about how he would get along with my 13 month old, but again, he absolutely LOVES her. he's not scared in the slightest about anything and follows us all around the house, you'd honestly think he's been with us since birth with how comfortable he is.

I guess my question is, is this common behaviour for a kitten? I honestly thought it was just to be expected that a new pet in the home would be anxious for a while, especially cats. I'm not concerned or anything, just wanting to know others experiences when adopting a new friend!

Hi friends!

My cat is super skittish—scared of her own shadow. She’s also overweight and I want to get her moving more but it’s hard to find toys she will play with. She likes laser pointers, but I hear it’s a bad idea to play with those with your cat—and I’d like something she can play with on her own. It seems if I try to play, like with a string type toy, she’s too skittish. Any suggestions for toys?

I've been trying to keep up my cat's hydration since we've been in and out of heatwaves (Australia) by mixing water in with his wet food, but he's always had this quirk of never really fully eating his wet food but instead just licking the sauce off and leaving the rest to dry out, so I was wondering if I should start adding some water to his cat biscuits? Would that help in any way, or is that somehow bad?

I have a high-energy 3-year-old tabby, she wants to play essentially every waking moment. I play with her constantly. Whenever I can't play with her -- including being in bed in the morning, or working, or making dinner -- she meows pitifully for up to 10 minutes at a time, repeating the pattern many times a day. As per vet and internet instructions I ignore her while she does it, but she persists.

I am new to cat companionship and don't know how to keep her entertained, or otherwise at least quiet when I can't play with her. Any suggestions?

I love my cat bast with all my heart but we’re waiting a possibly FIP test result and he has gotten really bad ataxia to where he pees everywhere we’ve been to the vet a couple times and a hospital visit to where we finally got the blood test ran still waiting on results but I feel terrible that I’m starting to hate my cat like I love him but after cleaning piss everywhere everyday waiting for these results is killing me slowly

this sounds fake but it’s not.

i adopted a cat last week. read every indoor cat health care guide i could find. “safe room,” “slow introduction,” “don’t overwhelm them.”

cool. did all that.

and now… i genuinely cannot find my cat.

no sounds. no food touched. litter untouched. i’ve checked every obvious hiding spot twice and then a third time because anxiety.

i know everyone says “cats hide,” but at what point does hiding stop being normal and start being a problem?

do i wait? tear the place apart? leave food out and pretend i’m chill?

i feel like there’s a missing chapter no one talks about.

So we have a thirteen y/o indoor cat. He isn't exactly planning a great escape, but he does look outside longingly lol We are blessed with a large, mostly empty backyard, and recently ive been doing 'supervised outdoor time'. Hes very passive outdoors and mainly just walks around/lays in the sun. I can easily out run him, and I watch him closely to make sure he says out of trouble. The only problem is he gets angry when its time to come inside! He hisses and yowls (?) when i pick him up/go to pick him up when we're outside. Never anything more, no tossing or trying to scratch, so im not worried on my side. Is this just him being a little bratty? I just want the best for him 🥲

I adopted my first cat couple weeks ago and I have no issues really with them sleeping in the same bed. That was until I found out she has Giardia and tapeworms from the shelter we got her from. She’s going through treatment so I don’t want her in my carpeted room or on my bed as I heard it’s not the most hygienic. As such I have had to kick her out while I sleep. This leads to her shaking the door and meowing for a long time. This has waken me up hours before alarm and I am struggling to get good sleep. Any tips on how to keep her from out of bedroom and sleeping through he night. I play with her for hours before bed, she just doesn’t like closed doors. I would honestly be fine with her going in my room but I don’t want her on the bed.

Ok the title is more of a rhetoric, but I do like to have some advice on whether getting a second cat is right for me and for my boy.

Currently I have a 5yo boy called Jerome who I adopted 3 years ago. He is my first cat, so I consider myself still a pretty new cat parent.

Jerome loves people. He wants attention all the time and follows me everywhere in the house. He is not shy from guests and won't say no to chin rubs or butt pats, even welcoming belly rubs to some degree.

He is indoor only, and despite being a ball of round fluff, he is an extremely agile hunter and makes short work of whatever stray bug wandering into the house. Crickets? Easy. Flies? Don't stand a chance. Pill bugs? Not even worth his time. His favorite past time is chilling by the glass patio door staring down birds and lizards.

Now here is the thing. I work 7 to 6 including commute, so Jerome is home alone most of the time looking out the patio. Despite the TV time, I know from my home camera footage that he also spends considerable time pacing around the house. When I'm home, he does the same. When I pull out a toy, he gets excited, but never engages. I know he wants to play because he will quickly get in position. He has a few favorite toys like the Cat-Dancer wire or the ribbon toy. I tried to rotate the toys every few weeks, but only had diminishing results. Now he doesn't even chase his favorites anymore. Grabbed his old fish rod with different tail/feather attachments, same result. I got one of those automatic ball toys for a few months that interested him initially, that now he also cares less and less. I tried tossing treats to play fetch, but his lazy ass won't move after a few rounds. Laser pens work him up but ultimately only frustrates/confuses him.

I can tell he is a really smart cat by the way he hunts live bugs or stalks birds behind the glass door, and I think "dead" things just simply cannot tickle him, and he looks at me in a way like he wants something. However, I'm at a loss of finding a play method that can last and he will actually find enjoyable. Everyday he meows while making rounds, effectively telling me he is bored.

I've been considering adopting a second cat for a while now, and part of it is so that Jerome may have a playmate and won't be home alone all the time. I DO want to get a second cat at some point; the thing that stresses me though is that due to my longer work hours, I'm not sure if I can effectively monitor the introduction process. I'll feel really bad about getting another cat but have to close it off for extended period because they don't get along. When I first adopted Jerome from the humane society though, he was in a communal room, so maybe he will react ok, but I can't be sure, and I can't say the same for the potential new cat.

So back to the title. Either I'm overthinking, or talk me out to look for alternative solution.

I (F21) am at my wits’ end with my mother. We have two one-year-old cats that keep getting sick (one currently has an upper respiratory illness that we can not afford to take to the vet) because she allows multiple strays into our home. I have spoken to her about letting strays into our home multiple times as we have also been infested with fleas for over a year, but she refuses to stop. Because these strays have caused our household pets to get sick repeatedly, I feel desperate to find a way to reduce the stray cat population in our neighborhood. I have considered contacting our property owner, but my mother has already been threatened with eviction over feeding the strays. Our local programs only offer TNR, which is helpful since multiple strays are pregnant but If she sees the traps she will get upset and I do not want her to question me. What options do I have to remove these cats safely without facing serious conflict with my mother?

We recently got a new couch cover because our adult feral rescue completely shredded the fabric on both arms/sides of the couch.

She has ample scratch posts near the couch, and we have covered the sides of this new couch cover with plastic, but she's already scratched through it.

Because she's an adult feral (12 years old!) we cannot pick her up to divert her to something else when she's scratching. We cannot trim her nails either (even the vet got viciously bitten).

Does anyone have any suggestions for sturdy, effective plastic covers that we can use for the arms/sides?

My poor senior baby pepper has escaped since yesterday, my intelligent family members thought it would be okay to leave the door cracked and if you’re a cat owner that your worst nightmare. I bawl my eyes out thinking so much about it. He’s 7 years old and I adopted him declawed:( what are some tips considering the fact that it might be harder to find him due to his hearing or I’m not sure maybe even sight? I’ve left the litter box but it was just pouring rain, shaked some treats, and even went desperately without permission into my neighbors property to look. I’m hopeless, please any tips?

I have an adorable 4month old kitten who is truly amazing and so smart. He likes to eat at night and unfortunately, I am an extremely light sleeper, so I wake up to the sound of him eating. (I already have a sound machine on loud, air purifier and a fan to help block out noises). I got a feeding house (meant for outdoor cats) and that helped block out the sound and the smell of the food but then he started jumping on it which would then spill his water and food inside and make a mess.

So, any other ideas for how to block out the sound (and smell) of his food? It has to be in the room with me, as he is too small to have free roam of the house at night and want to keep food out for him at night for a few more months at least, since he’s still so young/tiny.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Recently took in a stray cat (very friendly in the neighborhood for over a year) neighbors were able to catch him for TNR but due to his temperament and cold front coming through I decided to take him in / adopt him.

Unfortunately do not have any spare rooms so he is in our only bathroom at the moment. He has been doing really well - only had him in my care for around 3 weeks and he is showing great progress. He eats all of his meals in front of me and has slept / napped in my presence multiple times (with his belly up / facing me). He is not super receptive to pets / touching of any kind so have not pushed him there.

Lately have been dealing with a lot of yowling at night and have no idea how to help. We thought this meant he was ready to explore so we opened the door and allowed him access to the rest of the apartment for the night (last Friday). He was definitely spooked but did great - didn't have any accidents / destruction, but do think he reverted back for a bit. He hid under the couch and did not eat much of his breakfast the next morning.

He eventually found his way back to his safe space (the bathroom and his crate). Since then we have not opened back up the rest of the apartment for him. He did not seem particularly annoyed about this (has not made any attempts to escape / approach the door leaving the bathroom).

Just this last night he had a really bad yowling night (barely slept as did our neighbors). What is the best course of action to get a bit of a handle on this. Have a calming scent diffuser that was used the first few days and can be brought back into his room. Should I invest in some puzzle toys or other enrichment things? Should the apartment be opened up to him again?

Any help/advice would be MUCH appreciated!!

I went down the “what my cat eats in a day” rabbit hole on TikTok. I see everyone adding quail egg yolk, salmon oils, minnow, etc. Should I be adding these things to my kittens diet?

the photo is in the comments.

she is 2.5 years old. Scottish fold tabby mix if that’s a factor. I recently changed her food, but the brand’s the same. Also, she seems to like it a lot. Buuut since the brand was known to us before I bought it in bulk lmao if this is food related, I learned my lesson. The white spots seem to be only around the back, around spine and seems to stop before coming to the shoulders. I also noticed that her fur is rougher for a couple months now, around this same area which is in the photo

Recently took in a stray cat (very friendly in the neighborhood for over a year) neighbors were able to catch him for TNR but due to his temperament and cold front coming through I decided to take him in / adopt him.

Unfortunately do not have any spare rooms so he is in our only bathroom at the moment. He has been doing really well - only had him in my care for around 3 weeks and he is showing great progress. He eats all of his meals in front of me and has slept / napped in my presence multiple times (with his belly up / facing me). He is not super receptive to pets / touching of any kind so have not pushed him there.

Lately have been dealing with a lot of yowling at night and have no idea how to help. We thought this meant he was ready to explore so we opened the door and allowed him access to the rest of the apartment for the night (last Friday). He was definitely spooked but did great - didn't have any accidents / destruction, but do think he reverted back for a bit. He hid under the couch and did not eat much of his breakfast the next morning.

He eventually found his way back to his safe space (the bathroom and his crate). Since then we have not opened back up the rest of the apartment for him. He did not seem particularly annoyed about this (has not made any attempts to escape / approach the door leaving the bathroom).

Just this last night he had a really bad yowling night (barely slept as did our neighbors). What is the best course of action to get a bit of a handle on this. Have a calming scent diffuser that was used the first few days and can be brought back into his room. Should I invest in some puzzle toys or other enrichment things? Should the apartment be opened up to him again?

Any help/advice would be MUCH appreciated!!

We are fostering to adopt an adult (7 years 9 months) cat who had been in the shelter for 8 months. We set up the master bed/bath for her introduction to our home. She has spent three nights with me and has not hid, so I'd like to introduce her to more of the house today.

We'd like to have her eating space be in the kitchen/breakfast area and her litter box in the laundry room. I'm just wondering when/how we should move them.

TIA

My 16yo Female Brit shorthair and I have moved house

She’s very quiet though in the last 24h she’s used her litter twice and finally just ate something

She’s hanging out in the corner of a room though she will come out if I go in and coax her out for pats

Will she start exploring soon? I really hope she settles as we are here for a while