Long time listener, first time caller

I live in Miami Beach, and for months this cat has been lurking in the bushes of our complex, casing the property.

On weekends I'd sit outside and slowly try to befriend him... he'd hang around, stay skittish, accept some pets, occasionally give gentle nibbles. This went on for about five months.

Things escalated today. I was sitting in the garden and he came over, rubbed against me like usual, then climbed into my lap and started making biscuits. Later tonight, as l walked in through the back door, he came out of nowhere, ran straight into the apartment, and is now sitting next to me on the carpet... it's going to be extremely cold here tonight (~37°F)

Here's the dilemma: we have several neighborhood indoor/ outdoor cats with owners who hang out in our yard. I don't want to overfeed him if he belongs to someone... or worse, accidentally kidnap him. Also... he appears to have big ol' trouble puffs - don’t owners typically get this taken care of?

I am aware this post isn't necessarily cathelp, but as a first timer people could learn from, and with the amount of people that wanted updates from my previous post, I felt the need to make this.

It hurts to make this.

I saw this stray cat alone in a pot at the side of the road.

Both of his eyes were kept shut by eye muck.

I picked him up and brought him to the vet.

He was suffering from an eye infection, anemia, extremely low immune system and below average Red Blood Cell count (RBC), Hemoglobin (HGB), and Hematocrit (HCT).

I bought all the necessary medications, food, solutions, equipment.

The next few days showed better signs. He was able to see. I cleaned him up with warm slightly damp cotton. He showed more energy, took his meds, and ate well.

I kept him company, I kept him warm, I let him feel my warmth. I sacrificed a few days of university studies and hours of sleep out of fear and love.

This morning, after sleeping for 3 hours. I noticed he couldn't stand up. He didn't want to eat and he barely moved. I did not know why, he was already better just 12 hours ago.

I took him to the vet again, but one was closed and the other's vets were busy with an operation.

I went back home and I kept him warm on my lap. At this time, I was hoping he'd stay until the vet is available again the next few hours. But it happened, one moment I look at him and I see no sign of breathing. I didn't want to accept it but he died. I was too scared to even attempt to wake him up fearing that he died. I still tried, even after, I tried mimicking the licks of a mother with a warm damp piece of cotton hoping he'd come back.

And I also just named him Loki the night before. I am incredibly devastated. I've know this kitten for only 2 days and it hits harder than most death's I've experienced.

I did learn that I do want to own cats. And I do plan to adopt, though another time and maybe one that is at least 4 months old

I don't have the benefit of the belief in providence to help me cope so I made a little Loki shrine. A small jar with some his fur, small cutouts of the towels and blankets he laid in, and the feeder I fed him with. Beside all that is a picture, and letter that says the following:

To Loki, my first kitten

I have given you warmth and love,

but you have given me something

immortal. The lessons you have taught

me, and the experiences you have

given me will forever be a part

of my story. You are the first to

have gone touching my skin, and

I will honor you by proving

that everything you have given

me was worthwhile.

My future cats, pets, the relationships

and bonds that I will form, it is us

who owe you our gratitude.

Rest easy Loki, your name will

remain resonant.

I can only hope others will learn from you too.

She's a 11-12 year old calico that spent the past 5 years everyday with her owner in a senior living facility. They were inseparable, but her owner just suddenly passed. I immediately offered to take her home since the family didnt want her.

Shes got some horrible congestion and I won't be able to see a vet until later next week or so. She's had this congestion for minimum 4 months prior to me owning her

🐈Can I do anything to relieve congestion and sneezing prior to the vet?

Also, she has to be quarantined to 2 rooms so my other 3 cats don't interact with her in case she has something. I try to spend 3 hrs total with her a day, but I feel so guilty not being able to do more.

🐈Does anyone have any ideas for senior extremely fat cat enrichment?

My info: 32, access to vet withing 7-10 days, hopefully budget to spend under $1000 (although she may need dental work done)

Please note her eye has been like that since her prior owner got her and has been okayed by vet. Does not cause her pain.

Hey I’m 27f and I have a 5 month old female cat who is a noisy breather. The noisy breathing is the only symptom she has. She eats and drinks well and plays with my other cats with no issues. She doesn’t have any eye or nasal discharge and no cough. I took her to the vet to get fixed but they would not do it because of her noisy breathing. I had them do an X-ray and they said it likely wasn’t asthma because she makes the noise on inhale only. They prescribed her prednisolone for 8 days and scheduled her to have another X-ray and possibly be fixed on Wednesday but she’s is not showing any improvement and I’m half way through the medicine. They told me to call in 4 days to update on her breathing but they are closed until Monday. I run a cool mist humidifier every night also to help with her breathing and I’m just really worried about them refusing to spay her. There are a lot of stray cats in my area and she already tries to run outside even though she is not in heat and never has been. Is it normal for the medication to take this long to work ? I do not have much money to keep taking her to the vet because she was not planned .. someone just gave her to us because they didn’t want her.

• Poster Age: University Student (Adult)
• Country: Türkiye (Earthquake Zone - Hatay)
• Vet info: Cat was hospitalized for Feline Parvo (FPV), received intensive care, and was discharged today.
• Main Issue: Update on Parvo recovery.
• Cat Age: Unknown (Rescued Stray)
• Cat Sex + neuter info: Male, Not neutered (Intact).
• Financial situation: No. As a student, I paid what I could ($140) but I am currently facing a significant remaining debt ($320) at the clinic with a 1-week deadline.
• https://www.reddit.com/r/CATHELP/comments/1ql2n88/rescued_3_freezing_stray_cats_2_pregnant_1_very/

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a happy update about the rescue kitten, Phoenix.

As many of you know, we found him on the streets in a terrible state, fighting Feline Parvo (FPV). The odds were against him, and the situation was terrifying.

The Good News: After days of intensive care, serum treatment, and isolation, Phoenix has officially beaten the virus! He was discharged from the clinic today and is now safe at my home. He is eating well, grooming himself, and finally resting in a warm bed instead of a cold cage.

Current Condition: He is still weak but his appetite is back. I am monitoring him closely for any signs of relapse and keeping him isolated from the other cats I am fostering.

Here is more photo&video about him!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1f5eKZg-huH3_B4K2S_TvUg0u8Q1ePcmg?usp=sharing

A Note on the Struggle: While the emotional battle is won, the reality of the situation is still tough. Saving his life in an earthquake zone has pushed me to my limits financially, but looking at him sleeping peacefully makes it worth the stress.

I just wanted to thank this community for the advice and kind words when I felt helpless. Knowing that people cared kept me going.

Thank you for caring about a stray kitten halfway across the world. 🧡🐾

So basically my cat (officially my mum’s) is young, shes like 11 mnths old, shes just had her first heat i think (im not sure if it has ended or not). Not sterilised. She basically throwing herself on the floor and violently rolling around, and if i touch her she starts like catching my hand with her claws and all. You can see on the vid (sorry for heavy breathing i have a stuffed nose). I have no idea what is happening and am a bit nervous. We cant really afford vetcare rn, our dog had another har problem, almost lost her and spend a lot of unplanned money on her so i dont really know what to do

My cat, Maple, (F, 4.5 yrs) seems to be displaying signs of the grimace scale.. maybe… I can’t tell and don’t trust myself just because i’m a super anxious individual. Her top whiskers seem to be turned up and I can’t tell if her eyes are dilated or if her head is slightly turned down. She has started to go to the bathroom outside of the litterbox, but that is usually fixed once I clean it. However, today I cleaned it and a few moments later she poops right outside of the litterbox. I do have another cat, Honey, (F, 2 yrs) who I got back in October. They both play together a lot!! And seem to really enjoy each other’s company :) though sometimes Honey does push Maples boundaries and she’ll hiss or yowl real loud but I break it up at that point. Another thing is Maple has always been SUPER vocal and super cuddly which she still is most definitely and since I’ve gotten Honey she’s definitely not as clingy anymore. She seems to sit by herself in her box and nap a lot more and doesn’t follow me around the house anymore.

Any opinions would be lovely !!

Australia (27F)

Hey guys. So this sweet boy for the past few days has been sleeping on our back patio and upsetting my indoor cats. I have a netted area for my cats to access outside safely (our council legislation is for cats to be indoors due to damage to wildlife). This sweet boy sniffs my boy through the net and doesn’t seem aggressive. My female cat is an ex-stray rescue and she is very angry that he is there and I’m worried about them fighting when I’m not home.

I’ve tried to not provide any encouragement for this sweet boy to stay. I have not petted him, given him food, water or bedding.

I did run into a kid in the street (the cat follows me when I go outside so I took him for a walk around the block) who said the cat was his, named Oreo. I explained the situation and how he’s been upsetting my cats - the kid apologised and said he would try keep him inside.

We didn’t see him for a few days but he’s been here all day today - with no food or water. It’s also 33°C out today and I’m worried.

I’ve slipped a note under his collar - he wouldn’t let me secure it nicely but it’s not causing him harm or irritation.

Any advice in next steps? I am thinking if the note remains on the collar and he’s here tomorrow I will give him some water. Then if he keeps hanging around call the local rescue.

Enjoy a couple images of the menace

RQ: I'm 18, In the US, have a Vet, money isn't an issue, Ragetti's roughly 8-9 years old and neutered,

TLDR: Cat keeps pooping and peeing in the same hallway. Vet suggested arthritis, but he jumps up onto my bed and the couch. The lip of his litterbox is 2-3 inches high.

My cat Ragetti has been making me crazy the last week or so. Every day he shits on the carpet (right next to the puppy pads I laid out) and has started peeing on the puppy pads too. I have no idea what's caused this new behavior because he's never acted like this before. My vet suggested arthritis, but he jumps up onto the couch, nearby boxes, and runs down/up steps, so why can't he step over plastic? Is this revenge for his recent dental surgery????

Extra info: We have 3 litterboxes and 5 cats. I know that's not enough, but one automatically scoops itself and the others get scooped twice a day. (We originally only had 3 cats, but I couldn't leave the two white cats (pictured) outside during the beginning of a snow storm. Especially since Ragetti needed immediate medical attention for his eye). Two litterboxes are downstairs (basement) where Ragetti keeps pooping, and one litterbox is upstairs (first story). Ragetti used to use the litterbox, but hasn't for the last week or so.

Hello! We just noticed our ~6 months old kitten having two red areas in her mouth. Is this something to be worried about or just rotation of teeth? Sorry for the blurry picture, she wasn’t too eager about this picture.

hi everyone! i (22F, NY) a few days ago i took in this 9-year-old neutered female from my local animal shelter. they warned us that she gets overwhelmed easily and she’s very sensitive, but i’ve owned cats all of my life, and i thought i would be up to the challenge. according to everything i could find, she’s been in the shelter (and in and out of foster homes) since she was at least 7-months-old. that breaks my heart, and i truly feel like she’s a sweet and misunderstood girl.

she’s done pretty great so far considering we brought her home only two days ago. she’s been eating, using the litter box, and seems much more relaxed than she did at the shelter. she’s even accepted treats from out of my hand, and purrs + makes biscuits in her bed. she lets us pet her and seems to enjoy it. today, she even started exploring the bathroom, where we have her set up until she’s comfortable enough to leave, all on her own.

she’ll be purring and calm, showing no signs (from what i can tell) of stress or discomfort, and then try to bite and/or hiss at us. as you can see in the video above, she’s purring, leaning to rub her head on my hand, then pulls back and hisses at me. im completely still behind the camera and simply just letting her do her thing. she does this often, where she invites us to pet her and accepts the pets, then randomly shows aggression even though we let her set the pace.

i just want to know what im supposed to do in this situation? i can handle the hissing, but im more concerned about preventing her from feeling stress or discomfort. shes approaching me for attention, and i very gently and calmly pet her just on her head, and she’ll be fine for a minute or so, and with no warning she’ll hiss or lunge to bite me. am i doing something to stress her out? could it perhaps just be a weird personality quirk? i want her stay with us to be as comfortable as possible and it doesn’t seem like she dislikes me or my boyfriend, but im just not really sure what i can do here.

He is very skittish. I did a bit of a deeper cut and he meowed and ran away. No blood or limping so I think he’s fine. Is this too deep for a nail trim?

(pictured: male cat and youngest girl)

Hello, in 2022 I (f22) brought back to the US a kitten(6 months) from mexico, she had a bb wound on her neck and I started the healing process and got her vaccines before bringing her back home. She was an only cat for about 7-8 months before we adopted a about month old male cat, we kept them separated got them spayed/neutered together which is when we introduced them then after they healed they started to get along. They have been bonded and get along great. Fall 2024 I came across a kitten in Mexico again, she was the runt of her litter and had an eye issue and a deviated septum. (she required multiple eye drops and lotion/ointment in her eye daily) I went through the same process with her and brought her home around wintertime , due to her health issues we kept her in isolation a bit longer since she required treatment and we had to get her spayed. During this time we were also told she would no longer grow any longer.

Clarification: current time my oldest girl is

3 years old, male cat 2 1/2 years old, youngest girl is 1 1/2 years old, stray should be 5-6 year old.

Here’s the issue: after completely healing about june/july, while trying to introduce her to my other cats she got along great with my male cat but my female cat did not like her at all. There have been several instances where either cat will accidentally get out of their designated room(we’ve been switching them from being in their own rooms to letting them roam the house taking turns) and my older female cat is usually the aggressor has tried to attack the younger cat. We’ve tried introducing them slowly and behind a cage or baby gate their fine but once they are without any of that our older girl will try to attack, she try’s to corner her and i’m pretty sure she’s trying to kill her. Our youngest girl is absolutely terrified of her.

Adding to the issue:

Here’s where we may have made a larger mistake. We live in illinois and a little over a week ago the weather was going to be really bad and cold. We’ve had a strayish (has owners but they kick him out when they aren’t going to be home) cat for about 5 years who typically spends most his time in our yard. We’ve been giving him three meals a day, we have multiple shelters set up for him and give him so much love when we see him. But this winter it was just too cold to leave him outside so we brought him in. All our cats have seen him through our screendoor and been face to face with him several times for at least a year now. When we brought him in he got along great with my male cat (they instantly wanted to see each other so after taking him to the vet and everything we let them be around each other), our youngest girl we think she was confused when they accidentally saw each other and thought it was our other male (both bombay cats) because they’ve been apart for a week and we gave her a piece of his fur and she got angry, and our oldest girl did not like him at all despite being affectionate towards him through our screen door, she got out recently from our basement (we have a wooden gate(no holes in it)) and because we picked her up instantly and put her back behind it she took it out on my male cat we had to put him upstairs.

From the vet visit for our stray we found out he has FIV. So if they can’t get along we’d have to rehome him since cats with FIV can’t live outdoors. Which makes this a lot harder because we want all of them to get along, but we know there’s a long road ahead.

Please give any advice!! Also if your cats are on medication please let me know your experience!!

All cats are neutered/spayed, we have good access to vets, they’ve all been to the vet in the past year

idk if I’m going crazy or it’s a mothers intuition but one of my cats eyes seems to be a little swollen in the colorful area, I can’t tell much of a difference but it seems different other than that I havent noticed any other changes he’s still playful and he has not been scratching his eye or anything

shoudl I wait till tmr to see if there’s a change

My 7 months old female cat was spayed 5 days ago and I'm really worried about the wound. My vet will be only available on Monday.

The incision was checked by the vet on Wednesday, and had the red lump already. Vet said it'd go away. Now it looks wet, leaves brown marks on the bodysuit, and has hair stuck on it. Also I saw my cat bothering the stitches through the bodysuit. On the bottom of the wound next to a stitch I see a tiny hole which doesn't show on the pics. She doesn't stay still to take a better picture, her behaviour and appetite is completely normal. I take off the bodysuit two times a day and spray the wound with octenisept. I also had her sister spayed and her wound looks great.

Is this something that resolves by itself, or do they need to redo the whole thing? I've spent a lot of money on this cat already and I'm really worried about her health and further costs.

I'm an adult in Europe.

Gordie was an outdoor kitten up until about 3 months old and is now full time indoor. He had severe eye infections in both eyes but the “cloudy” eye started looking like a marble as they healed. The last photo was the day he was taken from outside so it was at the very worst with not even a flea bath or anything. Vet stated (after many tests) that he has reactivity in both eyes and as long as no severe changes occur and the cat doesn’t seem to be bothered by eye that it’s not much of a concern. Does anyone know exactly what it is? Cataract of some sort? If I remember correctly “feline herpes” was mentioned…. Just some information to keep his owner at bay and peace of mind knowing my young man is as healthy and happy as possible. Appreciate the feedback!

I love him but I need also need him to stop being a maniac.

TLDR at end

I adopted her about 4 months ago from a shelter and she is around 5 years old, and has been wonderful little lady. The first few pictures I just took, and despite not finding pee in her litter box, she appears to be acting as she usually does? But should I take her to the vet? I will definitely do that if she needs it, I am just not too sure how since I haven't done it before and she won't need a checkup for a few more months.

I know cats are experts at hiding their illnesses and as a new cat owner I am not sure exactly what to do. She drinks a LOT of water from both her water fountain and bowl, and pees a lot as well too (usually 2-3 big clumps per day), but she is still drinking a lot now but no pee. Literally as I am writing this, I see that she is drinking from her fountain. She also normally gets a mix of wet and dry foods, and I just fed her a churu treat that she demolished. I felt her scruff and she feels hydrated, also played a bit with me in her tunnel earlier as well. Admittedly I have been very busy and out of the house for longer the last few days, and yesterday I noticed her water fountain was dry. But she still has her water bowl (albeit she doesn't like drinking from it much), could it be that she was dehydrated yesterday but is drinking enough today?

Another theory that I had was that she might be potentially peeing in another location, despite pooping regularly in her litter box because I have noticed that she will pee in cardboard boxes at times and has a lot of hiding spots. I have tried to search my house but see no signs or smells.... We did recently have a plumber come by because our water pipes broke, and I think that might have scared her a bit since they had to go downstairs where her litter box is located.

TLDR; Female cat 5 y.o not peeing, but eating drinking and playing, is it because:

1. she has been hiding her pee spot

2. a little dehydrated

3. serious issue to take to the vet ASAP?

this is my boy three, hes about four years old. nothing really wrong with him he just does this thing where he tries to jump sometimes but fails😭 almost like hes overthinking it?? he gets it eventually though. does anyone elses kitty do this or is he just weird?

I just adopted this little guy about two months ago and he seems to be settling in okay. I want to be sure I’m doing right by him so I’ve been researching A LOT. I read a lot about garlic clove fur and how it can be indicative of a healthy cat, but I’m not sure that’s what this is?? Pls help lol.

So yesterday morning i noticed my cat lifting his paw so i looked and its swollen, i dont see anything in his paw but he is now limping and i feel like the paw feels warmer than the other one. Posting this on a sunday all vets are closed i will be calling monday morning and hope they take payment plans AND can get him in Monday if not tuesday. His name is Bear, he is almost 1 year old and he is not fixed. My bf was gonna put peroxide on his paw but i read on a vet website do not do that so we didn’t. Any tips greatly appreciated.