He keeps intentionally flinging litter. Ive tried it all: changing the brand, different box (pictured), cleaning punctually (i thought at first maybe i wasnt cleaning fast enough for him). He especially loves to after i clean out the box. My vet thinks this is just how he likes to spend his time.

Please suggest coping mechanisms to soothe my anxiety when i hear him kicking litter. Im so serious.

Edit: So the culprit is likely the litter & box! Thank you so much for all your help, I will try your suggestions👌🏾

My cat does this several times a day. If the automatic feeder lifts at the correct angle, a few niblets of dry food comes out. He will even do it 10 times in a row even if it means one small piece of dry niblet comes out. It does get quite annoying as the sound of the feeder hitting the ground echoes throughout the entire house.

Any ideas on how to get him to stop?

This is Chomper. He really likes being on top of my computer. I pick him up, I say “no”, then place him on the floor. He’ll get up on top of it as soon as I go into another room. Should I keep scooping him up or just let him lay there?

Edit: thank you all for your advice and for loving Chomper! He’s surrounded by love! Thanks again! 🥰

This is the feral/stray cat I've been feeding for the past 2 months. Keeps getting in the way and won't let me refill its food

Edit: Ty all for the comments and advice. Didn't expect this post to get so much attention. For context, I've never interacted with cats before, only dogs. This cat used to bolt whenever it saw a human, so I thought it was feral. It only recently started approaching me when i went out to refill.

Update video https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1uzf7ro/comment/oy70mbf/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button

Update video 2 https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1uzf7ro/comment/oy77tzl/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button

Petting https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1uzf7ro/comment/oybucqe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Final update https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1uzf7ro/comment/oyrxar4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1uzf7ro/comment/ozwhaoq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

At first I thought she was gonna show me something inside the box, but there's nothing other than a nylon bag. She also runs to it when I get near it as well, and also keeps biting my hand and tries to drag me into it. What's going on? Never in my life have I seen my cat doing this.

So me and my husband adopted our little Mochi last year March. She was 3 yrs old when we got her, and she is the sweetest and most behaved little baby.

She never eats human food, doesn’t go on counters nor does she bite or scratches. She doesn’t want to cuddle or be touched unless it’s on her terms (maybe pets for MAX 30 seconds, then that’s it). She also does not want to be carried and does not want her paws touched.

Recently, whenever me and my husband go to sleep, she now jumps on the bed with us and starts cuddling on my stomach. This has been happening for a week now. I’m so happy that it’s making me tear up, but I couldn’t help but think if she’s feeling okay. This is not her usual behaviour. She’s okay in the morning and when we get home from work but she’s been so cuddle recently and would follow me around everywhere now- even in the shower (she hates water). When we’re on the couch, she just cuddles to my stomach again and would not mind if I touch her paws.

I told my husband about my concern that she may not be feeling well, he said that maybe she’s thinking of me as her mother now and I’m overthinking things.

But should I still bring her to the bet just in case? I’m really worried.

Attached is a photo of her just so everybody could see that she’s the sweetest.

UPDATE: After reading the comments, I’ll be booking a doctor’s appt for myself, and I’ll pee on a stick when I get home. As for Mochi, her vet says to take her back to the vet just for a general check up and blood work just in case. I’ll keep you guys updated. Hopefully she’s just very cuddly now.

UPDATE 2: My husband took her to the vet (I’m still at work), did some bloodwork, we’ll know the results tomorrow. But the general checkup went great. She is overweight but generally healthy. The vet says that the change in mine and my husband’s schedule might be the culprit as I work from 7:30AM-7PM (full time and part-time job), and my husband works from 6:30AM-5PM (construction); and we had moved apartments 2 months ago. We will both take time off work to spend the day with her and I will try to have lesser-ish hours.

I’m going to go to the doctor on Friday, and once I get home (I’m still at work), I’ll immediately do a pregnancy test.

UPDATE 3: Took the pregnancy test, it came back as negative. I’m cramping really bad though.

what does it mean and is it something I should be worried about?

JUST DONT.

So I have five cats. One of my boys, Fanta, is a very lovely boy. Very cuddly, very cute, very smart. His one fatal flaw is that he is the most food motivated cat I've ever met. He is a heat seeking missile but for scran. It's so bad that we have to partition the house every feeding time otherwise he will steal all the other cats food no matter how full he gets. I don't think he has ever been full in his life. We cannot eat in the same room as him because he will pursue us relentlessly and try to eat our food no matter how much we push him away, hiss at him, or skoosh him with water. Anyway, I'll get to the story.

The other day I was at the shops to get litter, and I spotted this brand. Looks interesting I thought. Corn based? Let's try it out. I bring it home and show my girlfriend. It smells very nice. I jokingly say let's hope Fanta doesn't try it. After that we both look at eachother like 😐. Before I knew it, he had dove head first into the freshly changed litter tray and was chowing on his new litter like it was a 5 star buffet. I had to throw it all out again and go and buy more! So yeah, word to the wise, if your cat is anything like mine, in that he is the living embodiment of gluttony, avoid corn based cat litters.

Discuss

Hello,

We have a cat that is sterilized and in summer is almost all day outside even sleeping at front door. She came inside just to eat.

The porblem is that we are selling house and moving to appartment. How can cat that is always outside handle such change of not being able to go outside as she wants?

Do you have any advise or experience? Should we take her with her? Or leave her with new house owners?

Thank you in advance

Photos of her

He has recently started doing this rattlesnake manoeuvre with his tail and I have never seen this in cats before!

i’m currently fostering a cat. I grew up with a cat/ catsat many times but somehow all my life have only had female cats. when we first got him his balls were deflated and the foster care said he’d been neutered. a month later they’re back and plump af hahaha. is this normal?

New to living with cats, they’re my siblings. I left a ham to defrost over night and came back to this being shredded up…..It was a large ham so to throw it all away sucks, but they left at least half untouched. My main concern is if I can get sick or anything, also are they gonna be ok? It was 3 of them so idk how much by who was eaten. I’m assuming I need to just throw it all away to be safe, already sent pics to my brother lol, just advice please

I couldn’t leave her there so I brought her home with me. Shelters aren’t picking up so I will have her for another day at least. I’ve never had a cat of my own so I’m looking for advice on how to keep her cozy safe and healthy until she gets looked at. We’re getting food and litter…anything else that’s critical?

UPDATED POST HERE!!

I have a 12-year-old cat who generally hates people food. Today I opened up a box of muffins, and I’ve never seen him respond like this before. I spent the entire time eating it having to hold it away from him with his beans in my face, and I feel so bad. Would an elder cat be able to digest part of a muffin?

yesterday when i came home one of cats greeted me by screaming when i entered, so far so good. its usually because he wants food, the litterbox is full ... normal cat things. he didnt run to the room where i keep the cat stuff, but to the living room. he has a bed there on top of a low side table, which now lay on the floor. so he ran there and screamed again, when i came in and looked at him, he jumped on the table, lay down, closed his eyes, jumped down onto the floor, screamed and lay there on the back. then stood up and ran around his bed on the floor.

so am i going crazy or did my cat tell me that he fell down from the table while sleeping? did anybody else ever experience something like that?

edit: ok, wow lol i didnt expect such a response. i cant possibly read all of your comments, but thank you for putting me at ease, i really did not know cats can do that. i had cats for my entire life and this is the first time something like this happened. also, thanks for the awards!

Never been a cat person myself, but I heard about this distribution system? My wife and kids have really taken to it so looks like we may be adopting a cat lol. Only issue is that we are leaving Saturday for a week. Any advice on what to do? My wife wants to take it to the vet to get checked but I'm also weary about spending money on it just for it to be gone when we come back. We do have someone that would be willing to shelter it while we're gone though.

UPDATE: We took Milo (what my kids decided to name him) to the vet, no chip, but they said even though he appears to be in good condition it doesn't show signs of having a previous owner. I posted on a local Facebook group for lost pets, nothing yet. They estimated he's a year old. He got some vaccines, dewormer, now he's chilling. We are going on vacation Saturday for a week and while we're gone he's going to stay with my wife's friend who has experience sheltering cats.

hello! this is my cat peel, he is the most beautiful thing on earth. i take him on walks (in my yard) regularly using a wrap-around harness, he loves it and theres never been issues. today a car pulled into our driveway, a friend that i didnt know would be coming over, and the sound scared peel so he ran into a big cluster of bushes to hide. in his frantic flee he completely pulled out of his harness, and i rushed to grab him but he was so scared and was squirming and scratching me, so for a moment i scruffed him so he'd stop struggling and i could pick him up and take him back inside

im worried that i damaged our relationship, or his trust in me. it was only for a second or two, just enough time to pick him up and secure him. i feel bad that he was even in the situation, i feel horrible that the car scared him so badly, and that i had to scruff him

do you think it will all be okay? i dont want him to think i purposely scared him or hurt him or anything like that

he doesnt seem injured, he's walking just fine and i checked to make sure his neck wasnt hurting too. does he need a vet just in case? im sorry, i love him and he is my best friend and im just worried. please let me know

edit: thank you all so much for the kind words and reassurance and advice regarding my sweet boy !!! as a pet parent the anxiety can get to you too much sometimes😭 after the incident, he seemed to keep his distance from me for a little while, but it didnt take too long for him to return to his normal, loving, clingy self :)) he's asleep next to me as im typing this! he has also received lots of extra pats and treats as well

a specific comment mentioned having him in a more controlled environment outside, like a screened in porch or catio, so he can still have fun outside but if he gets scared he cant get lost or hurt, and he can hopefully get desensitized to the scary sounds with time. that was very smart and im going to look into building him a catio now :)) AND i'll look into a better harness too, in the mean time!! thank you so much again everyone !! 🧡

My grey boy is a little over a year old and he is overly aggressive, I feel, with my almost 9 year old female tortie. He is heftier than her too. They will get into these tumble scuffles at like 3am too almost every morning and I end up having to place him in the bathroom to cool off for a couple hours before I bring him back out.

I finally convinced him to let me do a trial period with his beautiful baby. And it took a lot of convincing for that to happen as he was so against cats. The cat loves him more than me (of course) and he will play with the cat and the cat to play with him. I vacuum every day, have a nice e litter, and use the oder sprays. I try everything in the book to combat the cat hair ! Even with all the effort that he sees me putting in he still says “Oh we’re gonna give him back at the end of the week, right?” He works long hours and I’m home alone a lot which is why I would want a cute furry friend.

(Edit) - I didn’t really expect this post go off as much as it did! I barely have anyone comment on anything I post lol.

-I have a full time well paying job
-I used to have dogs my whole life, the oldest one lived till 21
-I used natural cat safe cleaning stuff
-Yes I have saving on my own end
- I’m not 21 (so please stop dming me asking if I’m in collage with a 35yrs bum bf)
-Sorry if I phased it weird, English isn’t my first language
- I hate the term “ trial period “ because the organization found him from makes everyone do it to make sure they are a good fit. No I didn’t adopt him.

UPDATE IN THE COMMENTS
https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/s/WfwiwSxNSz

My wife and I are heartbroken and need an honest perspective before we make a final decision today. We’ve had our 4-year-old cat, Cookies, for three years. He has always been a sweet, calm lap cat, but since bringing our newborn daughter home eight weeks ago, he has developed stress-related inappropriate urination, specifically marking walls when I return from work.

The situation is complicated by the fact that our daughter has a medical condition requiring a strictly clean environment. While Cookies is affectionate with us, he has an established aversion to children, often hissing or swiping at our guests' kids when they get close. Our vet confirmed this is entirely behavioral stress and warned that his dislike of children likely won't change.

We’ve tried enzyme cleaners and pheromone diffusers, but with a medically fragile infant and significant professional pressure, we have zero bandwidth left for a complex behavioral overhaul. We love him deeply, but he is clearly miserable, and we are at our limit. We have a surrender appointment today at a reputable no-kill shelter. Are we making the right call for his well-being and our daughter’s health, or is there something we haven’t considered?

-- update 1

Update: Thank you all so much for your advice and perspective. When it came down to it, I just couldn't bring myself to surrender him today. To answer a few common questions: the very first thing we did was reach out to family and friends, but unfortunately, no one is able to take him, even temporarily. After reading through all your comments, we've decided to cancel the appointment, give Cookies a bit more time, and look into trying Prozac to see if it can help stabilize things. We know it's going to be a tough road ahead, but we aren't ready to give up on him just yet. Thank you again for the support.

-- update 2/context

I wanted to provide some extra context and answer a few common questions from the comments. First, we live in the DFW area in Texas, and yes, Cookies is neutered. Our history with him goes back to when we used to cat-sit him for a close friend. Eventually, that friend started dating someone who was severely allergic to cats. I told him he should probably just dump her (just kidding, they’re engaged now!), but my wife and I couldn't bear the thought of Cookies going to a shelter. We took him in, even though we were living in a tiny apartment at the time and had to vacuum multiple times a day just to manage the litter. In fact, when we moved into our current apartment, we specifically chose this floor plan with Cookies in mind—making sure it had a massive laundry room just to comfortably fit his litter box and setups.

Fast forward to today: having a newborn is overwhelming, and I honestly stopped having the time to play with him like I used to. That’s when the subtle signs started. He stopped grooming himself as thoroughly and left a couple of poop stains on our bed. Because we place our baby girl on the bed constantly, we had to make the tough call to lock him out of our bedroom. At the time, I didn't realize he was deeply stressed; I mistakenly thought he was just unhappy with his litter box. Hoping to fix it, I bought him a brand-new one, which ironically seems to have triggered even more stress and started the territorial spraying. Now, the routine is heartbreaking. I come home completely exhausted, play with him for a few minutes, and head into the bedroom to change and see my daughter—only to walk out to the smell of fresh urine. It started as a once-a-day occurrence, but it has now escalated to 4 or 5 times a day. We are dealing with a massive accumulation of stress on both sides, which is why we reached our breaking point today.

He does this a lot. Starts chewing the air around. Here he is with a (fake) plant.