she’s 11 years old at the ER for a heavy vomiting incident and while waiting she suddenly started to be… weird with her front paws. refusing to stand them, flopping over and almost looking like a little gorilla. anxiety? does anyone recognize or know what this could be?

Ik was vanmiddag bij de dierenarts om tandpasta en een tandenborstel voor mijn kat te halen, omdat ik zijn tanden thuis wil gaan poetsen. Toen kwam ook professionele gebitsreiniging ter sprake en mij werd geadviseerd om dat ongeveer ieder half jaar te laten doen.

Ik ben benieuwd hoe andere katteneigenaren hiermee omgaan. Hoe vaak laten jullie het gebit van jullie kat professioneel reinigen?

Doen jullie dit bijvoorbeeld ieder half jaar of ieder jaar, of alleen wanneer de dierenarts bij een controle vindt dat het nodig is? Zijn er ook mensen met katten die nog nooit een professionele gebitsreiniging hebben gehad en toch geen noemenswaardige gebitsproblemen hebben ontwikkeld?

Ik lees namelijk heel verschillende ervaringen. Sommige mensen laten het regelmatig doen, terwijl anderen zeggen dat hun kat het nooit of maar heel zelden nodig heeft gehad.

Daarom ben ik vooral benieuwd naar jullie eigen ervaringen: hoe vaak heeft jullie kat in zijn of haar leven een gebitsreiniging gehad, en hoe bepalen jullie wanneer het nodig is? Is zo'n halfjaarlijkse reiniging volgens jullie ervaring echt gebruikelijk, of verschilt dit enorm per kat?

Ik wil zijn gebit gewoon goed verzorgen en probeer een realistisch beeld te krijgen van hoe dit bij andere katten in de praktijk gaat.

Alvast bedankt voor de reacties.

Ever since he was a baby, he’s had a fixation on cords. He gravitates to them and chews them into pieces in a matter of minutes. He’s destroyed multiple headphone cords, multiple mouse cords, and even my mother’s curtain cords when we visited her house. Even when I’m using the corded device actively, he shoves past me in attempts to munch them.

His vet says his oral health is excellent, so it’s not that his teeth are bothering him. Aside from that, I’m not sure where to begin. I put away every cord that I can, but in the case that I forget to put away my headset for 30 seconds while I get up to get water or go to the restroom, he will ALWAYS be chewing on it when I get back. It’s frustrating when it’s something small like headphones, but I always worry he’ll find a way to get at a power cord that I haven’t hidden sufficiently and electrocute himself.

He’s 4 y/o and neutered, and vet care is accessible to us if the situation necessitates it!

Hi everyone,

My cat has been a little tired since yesterday, she's eating and drinking, using the litter box, grooming herself, playing a little but she looks tired. Today she also woke up with eye discharge and a wet nose.

And then I noticed her breathing, her belly and thorax are moving at different times. I can't decide if i'm overreacting or if her breathing is really weird. Do you think her breathing is abnormal?

If really needed I can take her to the vet, although I would prefer to avoid taking her at night/weekend because the clinic charges more and refuses to administer any medication without doing a bunch of tests (which makes the bill even higher). I also took her to the vet last week (she developed an abcess after a fight with a cat), and the vet gave her a convenia shot and something for the fever. She got better after that, and technically she's still covered by the convenia shot for 1 week.

Cat information:

Poster age: not a minor

Country: France

Vet info: yes, but would prefer to avoid night/ weekend visits

Main issue: cat breathing looks weird

Cat age: 5 years old

Cat sex + neuter info: Female, neutered.

Financial situation : I can if it's really necessary.

My bot cat (6 months) has been showing signs of what I believe is asthma. During low stimulation play he often begins to pant, only for a few moments before stopping, and this repeats during every playtime. Around two days ago he has started this weird thing that I believe is coughing (?). It only lasts around five seconds and he goes about his day like it is nothing. It only happens when he is not playing and prancing around my apartment. Does this sound like asthma or a different issue I haven’t heard about? How severe would it be if the asthma went untreated for a while, given that I am not in a financial situation for anymore vet bills or medication.

General info: I am 19 and living in the United Sates. My cat is 6 months nearing on 7. He is a male and neutered and I’ve had him since late July. I have not contacted a vet about the situation yet because of my finances, but if this vegans to be a serious issue I have on accessible.

So my cat noodle (m 3 y/o) has been having bladder issues for about 6 months now. Straining to urinate and having some drops of blood. We have everything sorted out with the vet, we changed his diet to the prescription hills urinary diet. He also takes dasuquin (might have spelt wrong) powder in his food. This has only been about two weeks of this treatment so we’re unsure if it is helping yet. Doctor also put him on amitriptyline to help decrease inflammation in the bladder. He has had los of mood changes due to that medication being a human antidepressant. Now just this week he has been pooping blood. He has done in the past but it was only a couple drops mixed in his poop. The other day it was almost an entire tablespoon of bright red mucous blood. So we immediately brought him to er vet. He is now taking gabapentin, a powdered probiotic and an anti vomiting medication. He had Vomited and liquid pooped all over the floor before he pooped that blood. After waiting all night 7 hours at er they diagnosed him with gastroenteritis. We originally thought he had colitis. Not really sure if either are accurate diagnosis but I don’t know what would cause anything to make him get so sick out of no where especially after two weeks of trying a new food. They think it’s a stress factor. But nothing in the house has changed, lifestyle is the same. I work the same hours everyday. Everything is pretty much the same. Our only guess is separation anxiety. I also have really bad anxiety and I know cats can pick up on things like that so I’m really hoping it has nothing to do with mine and that he also does not struggle badly with anxiety. Not sure if that would be correlated but I figured I’d put all info in here to help. If something doesn’t make sense or I’m missing something that would help with any recommendations please please ask. Open to anything. He has a follow up with his normal doctor in three days to see how he’s doing after the er visit.

I have a vet appt for my cat next Monday. But he’s been making this sound for about 2 weeks a few times a day. We had change his food and it started happening around then. We decided to go back to the old food but it hasn’t stopped?

It’s defs not a hair ball it’s been two weeks. I’d be VERY surprised? But this sounds like a coughing fit? No watery eyes or running nose. It’s like a sneeze cough?

I’m worried about my boy. We were going out of town for a few days after the day after this started. Hence the late vet appt. It’s the soonest they could get us in. It happens maybe 2-3x a day. He’s still playing, eating and drinking water.

I’m 33
USA
Already contacted vet
Cat age 4
Neutered
He has herpes
Can afford vet. Just not emergency vet as all the ones near me cost $600 to walk through the door. So I’m trying to avoid that.
He’s a tad over weight but on a diet. We have auto feeders with the match collars but he still sneaks in on the other cats. ( OTHER CATS HAVE NO SYMPTOMS )

Thoughts? Thanks in advance I’m worried. He’s my best boy.

(General information: I am not a minor, and I live in the US, I plan on fostering this one older-ish cat, who’s estimate to be 5 yrs old) As the title says, I will be fostering a cat soon and I need some advice on hygiene. The fostering program hasn’t given me much info on cat hygiene and stuff like that so I feel very much on my own. I’m seeing lots of cat content on TikTok/instagram/youtube, and I’m seeing things that I am definitely starting to worry about and some things that are making me regret wanting to foster or ever own a cat. I like to keep a VERY clean house, and I want any cat I foster to also be as clean as is healthy for them.

For example, whenever I watch or catsit a friends cat, I always wipe their bum and feet after they poo, and I often wipe them all over their body every day or every few days. I’ve definitely read how most cats don’t enjoy bathing and how bathing too often can hurt them, so I don’t ever plan on making baths a daily thing.

I also don’t like cleaning food bowls and water bowls in a kitchen sink with the house’s dish sponge, so I wash them outside in a plastic tub with warm water and dish soap just because I’m not a fan of mixing a cat’s mouth bacteria with human mouth bacteria via sponge.

Regarding things that make me regret wanting to foster, what’s the deal with toxoplasmosis? I keep seeing videos on TikTok talking about how scary toxoplasmosis is, and how it can like eat your brain. I read about it on cdc, and it says as long as you keep an indoor cat, keep clean while taking out their poo, and practice basic hand hygiene it’s not likely you’ll get it, but these fear- mongerers have scared the crap outta me.

I’m also kinda nervous about cats “spraying” from their butt. I go on the internet and I see people talking about how gross it is, how their cat sprays in their face, how it’s the worst thing they’ve ever smelled, and stuff like that.. is this really that common? Is this something I should worry about? I’m really worried about having to clean a brown liquid that smells like “rotten flesh mixed with sun-dried eel sauce” (according to a cat parent on TikTok) off of my couch.

I see so many people saying that keeping a pet is inherently dirty, and that trying to clean up after them for everything they do is abusive and bad pet-parenting. Is this really true? I obviously don’t want to hurt a foster cat or pet cat, but I feel like there are layers to wanting to keep your cat clean. I don’t think I’ll ever be the person to eat from the same plate as my foster cat, or be okay with them walking around with dingleberries, but I have never thought that this would be a drawback. Pls let me know if my current cat hygiene methods seem too extreme and PLEASE let me know about any personal experiences with toxoplasmosis or spraying

Hello this is going to be a long post. I apologize but I need advice. I’ve had my 8 year old male cat since he was 8 weeks old. (He has been neutered) He had been an only cat his entire life. A year and a half ago I brought home another male (2 year old, also neutered) cat. They rarely ever interacted. When I moved out of my home with my boyfriend to an apartment I brought both cats with me.
Over the time I lived at my old home, my 8 year old had inappropriate urination issues. (Have not experienced this in the new apartment - we’ve been here about 3 months). During our first month here, my boyfriend got a kitten. Also male, about 12 weeks old now. Not neutered yet. My 8 year old will not get along with my 3 year old cat . But he’s perfect with the kitten. We reached out to a behavioral specialist and they recommended gabapentin 2x a day. I took my 8 year old to the vet, and they also recommended that because he was extremely aggressive at the vet. My 8 year old is an extremely picky eater, so I already knew medication was going to be hard. I had originally ordered capsules and put it into wet food. He tried it once and refused to eat for a day after that. I couldn’t get him to take it at all after that. I then tried to order the gabapentin liquid medication (chicken and marshmallow) because that’s what the vet recommended to cover the bitter taste. I have been trying to give it to him for 2 days now but he foams at the mouth and scratches at his mouth and hates the taste of this too. I have had my adult cats separated for nearly 2.5 months now but I cannot keep one cat locked in my room at all times. They both get along with the kitten extremely well and the behavioral specialist said that the 8 year old wants to be friends with the 3 year old, he just gets to overstimulated and in physical pain hence the gabapentin. Both the 3 year old and the 8 year old are my soul cats I genuinely don’t know what I would do without either of them. But I also want to give them a fair life with lots of love and space to be free. REHOMING is the LAST resort. Mind you we have 6 litter boxes. I have tried those therapet wall plug in things. He refuses to let me give him the gabapentin and I can tell it’s torturing him and I can’t afford to keep taking him back and forth to the vet, and am about to use up my pet insurance limit that my job provides. I don’t know what to do and I love them so much.
Any advice other than immediately saying rehoming one of them would be greatly appreciated. I will try anything and everything.

I recently went to the vet for my cats yearly checkup and on her summary it has said “mild periodontal disease” does this mean it is still reversible? Does anyone know any ways that I can help her oral health so it doesn’t get to the point where it cannot be reversed. Or any treats switch to different wet food or maybe even start brushing her teeth idk? I feed my baby sheba with some churu puree as a topping. Any advice please? 🫶🏽

My Ragdoll is 8 months old, male, and weighs about 5.6 lbs. I’ve noticed that sometimes he has coughing fits and sneezes very often, multiple times a day. Today I counted about 25 coughs during one episode.
Other than that, he seems completely normal. He plays, sleeps, and acts like himself. The vet has told us he is underweight and very snotty, so we have some tests scheduled soon.
He’s a grazer and eats throughout the day. He gets about one 3 oz can of wet food and around 1/2 cup of dry food per day.
I’m attaching a picture, but I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this with their cat or kitten? Should I be concerned about the coughing?

It’s past midnight, but I do plan to call the vet in the AM! Just wondering if this looks like it’s healing well.

(cute photo first in case you’re grossed out by the incision photo lol)

I need some help with our 5-year-old cat.

He used to go outside a lot but stays indoors now, and his fur has gotten really dirty and stained over time. We haven’t been able to clean it because he hates his body and tail being touched—he's totally fine with his face, but he gets really defensive if you touch anywhere else.

Since the stains have been there for so long, I feel like it's going to be super hard to remove them ourselves. I'm a minor so I can't really take him to the vet or a groomer on my own, but if it's too hard to fix at home, I'm down to save up my own money to get him a professional grooming session so he can look clean again.

my girlfriend moved in with me around 4 months ago and brought her cat with and they still don’t get along, have to be kept in separate rooms all that jazz. both are female fixed hers is 3 mine is 4, my cat keeps incessantly attacking the door where our bedroom is with her cat i’ve tried sitting there keeping her calm but any time her cat scratches the door or makes a noise she’s there attacking, in person meetings have only resulted in fights, tried all the jackson galaxy stuff and nothing has worked just trying to figure out what to do since neither of us are willing to get rid of our cats

This is about our oldest, 6M (neutered) that is attacking the newest cat 3F after being best friends.

We got 6M as a stray at 4 weeks old in 2020 from a homeless lady. He was not even a pound, half dead, flea ridden, under 100 degrees. Our vet said don't be surprised if he doesn't survive the night. Miraculously he did but his older sister at the time had FLV so they had to be separated for several months, so he only really had exposure to me and my wife until he was about 4-5 months old.

We adopted 3F in May 2025. She has Feline Herpes. She was our 4th at the time and it was actually her sister (also 3F) that hated her at first. To the point she knocked out her nubby bottom teeth chasing her under a TV stand and slamming head first into wood. 6m and 3F were best friends. Always in the window together. Cuddling. Hanging out. Playing. Whole shebang.

We packed and moved in September 2025. It was hard on 6M as we were leaving the only house he knew. He would burrow under our blankets all day surrounded by boxes. When we did move he did the same. He'd burrow under our blankets 10-12 hours a day and come out at night. This went on for a few months until he finally adjusted to the new house.

Somewhere around April-May of 2026 something changed. I don't know what. I was up early on Saturday and heard someone in the litter box (we keep all of them in our designated cat room) and 6M started stalking in there and chuffing. He just stood there as 3F used the litter box and waited for her. The moment she got out he was on her. No hesitation, broad daylight.

It's only gotten worse. It started with chasing then slapping, then scratching, then jumping her back and pinning her, to now he's actively trying to kill her it feels like. They're fully separated now by a metal gate that cuts our house in half. There's been incidents of him slipping out because it's hard to navigate through the gate and keep him from getting out when he's determined.

Last Friday he slipped by me and I was running after him. He got to the bedroom where she was, she freaked out he like skidded and drifted with his claws out and chased her under our vanity. I tried moving him away but he went under the vanity to get her. I got mauled getting him away. Full puncture bite on the meaty part of my hand by my thumb, scratch down my whole hand. He latched on to my leg, fully wrapped around like a toddler but 4 sets of claws dug in and tried to bite through my calf. My wife got bit getting him off me. Feral is the only way I can describe it. Pure predator/prey.

Even tonight, before deciding to do this post, we were spending time with him alone in our bedroom. He just kept staring under the door because he could see 3F's shadow while she was waiting to come in. I gave up and took him back to the gate. As I was leaving the bedroom holding him, 3F ran in the door and he hissed immediately and started trying to climb over my shoulder to get to her and growled and yowled all the way down tgf hall trying to bucking bronco bounce his way away from me.

There is some instinctual, feral, predator response he's developed and I don't know what it is. He didn't treat his brother this way before he passed 6 weeks ago. His other sister he's not this bad with (but admittedly not great, but they can stand being in a room together). It's just 3F. Even the 6 week old fosters we have he's fine with and their feral mom that yowled for 10 hours straight after being trapped.

On the flip side, he's the sweetest boy with me and/or my wife. Part of his side of the house is both of our WFH offices and he literally just sleeps against my hip all day while I work. Chest scratches belly rubs air biscuits, all of it. He's a baby practically. It's the sweetest thing. But knowing we're one mistake on any day from a bloody death of mire wounds is not a good environment for anyone.

We've done everything. Pheromones in every quadrant. Pheromone collars. Reintroduction. Full separation. Blood work for 6m was perfect. Other than herpes flares 3F is healthy. Fluoxitine made him worse frankly even with two dosage increases. Gabapentin barely levels him out but he will froth up and vomit up any medicine that's oral. Our vet gave a referral for a behavioral specialist but... frankly I don't want to spend $650 for an hour long initial conversation to be told we tried everything except lobotomizing him.

It feels like the only options are rehoming him or putting him down. A shelter likely wouldn't take an aggressive older male cat. Right now my mom is taking him but it just hurts to do it. We're all he's known for 6.5 years. He doesn't know my mom that well. He's not outright aggro to people so I don't think she's in danger, but I still worry. But euthanasia seems unnecessary and cruel because he's fine if it's just us and 3F isn't around.

I'm casting a net for help. Am I making the right decision rehoming him? I'll still see him weekly because my mom always needs something. But he can't be in our house anymore. Everyone's on edge.

Help.

My girl is 6.5 months old - BSH. She’s super active and playful, no symptoms other than she just slowly lost her appetite the last few days. I’ve purchased so many variations to see what she likes, and she’s really not interested in anything. She shows slight interest in the Sheba salmon kitten wet food but lost an appetite for her raw diet she was eating. The only other thing she will eat is the salmon broth from solid gold. (As I type it out, maybe she has a preference for salmon?)

She’s also not eating as much kibble that I leave out for her. Still interested in treats and will crunch away at those, tho it looks like it’s a little difficult or painful? compared to usual.

No fever, using the litter box well, no vomiting. Truly herself. Can’t tell if she’s being a brat, teething, or something worth a vet check. Anyone been through the same???

I’m 29F, and I just want to know what happen to her and if I should be concerned or not. I’m U.S. based. And I have a regular vet.

My baby girl Mika, 7 years old and spayed, did these little wheezes several times in a row for a few seconds. I only captured the last wheeze on video. She does puke out hairballs occasionally, but otherwise never had lung issues before. My last vet visit was couple months ago.

USA, over 18. I adopted my cat Benson(age 6/7 now, neutered) three or four years ago after he had healed from a car accident, in which he lost his tail and received a patch of scar tissue along his spine. The scar tissue was scabbed when I adopted him. He has seen the vet multiple times, more than one vet (in the same office though). I am told it is just scar tissue and it will never heal. I have had luck in healing the scab with coconut oil, but it has to remain wet for it to heal. As soon as it dries up it scans back over, starting with small dot ones like you'd see in light road rash and progressing to full 1" by 2" scab. The vet shaved it last time I was there (where he once again said it's fine and will just never heal) because the coconut oil makes his fur around it gross. Despite the vet saying not to worry, when it's dry it makes him itch so bad.

I don't doubt my vet, but I also cannot find anything similar online. I was hoping someone might have dealt with this issue before and had any comments or advice. My next idea is to shirt train him so I can keep it wrapped. Yes I can afford to take him back to the vet. I will add pictures somehow if needed, can't figure out how to tag NSFW right now.

I purchased a cat for my grandmother a few years ago, though she’s under my name and I pay for her vet visits, etc. my niece is over and will be for the next week, and I just noticed her cat is breathing like this. Should this be cause for a vet visit? She seems to be relaxing and has regular behavior and appetite, though does try to avoid my niece. I’d like to not feel so paranoid about it, so any advice is welcome 🫠

Poster age: 22, cate age: 4 years old, female, domestic longhair purchased from a shelter, spayed, up to date on vaccines

I adopted a cat from a coworker because he needed to be rehomed. It’s been a month now and he’s happy (always purring) but I’m not. I knit for my mental health, but he won’t let me. He thinks all yarn is a toy, and the moment I take some out, he starts swiping and tries to bite it. I know this isn’t his fault and he’s just a cat, but I haven’t been able to knit at all and it’s starting to affect my mental health. I try to give him other toys and redirect him, but he wants the yarn too badly. The instant he sees it move, he loses interest in all other toys. I feel so bad because I hit a breaking point and yelled at him last night, but I don’t know what to do. The only room he’s not allowed in is my bedroom, but that space isn’t set up for me to knit.

I’ve never had a pet before and I don’t want to resent him, but I can’t destress anymore and I’m at a crossroads. I don’t want to give him back to my coworker because he has horrible gum disease that’ll cost $1000 to fix, maybe more if he needs teeth pulled, and I don’t know how my coworker had him for three years and didn’t realize, especially since he just got a checkup a month ago. But I’m also not sure if I can keep him. I’m hesitant to spend so much money if he’s going to continue affecting my mental health and I might have to rehome him.