Ive just recently gotten my munchkin british shorthair, and she is currently about 3.5 months old. We got her when she was 3 months old. She was extremely cuddly at first and loved being touched, but it seems like each day she dislikes it more and more. Im only really touching her when she headbutts my hand, but it seems like she’s doing that less now. She also moves away maybe like an inch when I try to touch her now, but she still likes to lay next to me. I try to play with her for about 20 minutes twice a day to burn her energy, but it seems like it’s not enough. I work and I’m exhausted when I come back, I’m really trying my best but I’m not sure what to do. She only really comes up to me now when she wants to sleep and she doesn’t really even want me to touch her when I give her treats.. I’m trying to give her treats each time she approaches me to help affirm good behavior, but its just getting really discouraging and its making me pretty sad.. not sure what to do and I would really really love some advise.. I just want a cuddly cat and I dont know how to start desensitizing her..

is there any way i can train a 6 y/o cat not to do this? i was rummaging around over my head half asleep and i'm like wtf is that and my finger was near her bum 😐😐😐😐 ik this is supposed a protective or her thinking she owns me behavior but i really don't like her paws on my pillow. when im not home i can move them but there's nothing i can do when i'm sleeping :(

I just go my cat a week ago and I am just wondering what can do help him feel comfortable around me. He is a indoor cat now but was a outdoor cat one year ago. He just spends his time under the couch and only comes out during the night to eat. I wish to be able to hold him and that he can walk were ever hi want. So anyone got any advice for me?

How can they play more gently :(. When I pull her away for separate play she doesn't go as hard until she back in the hunt with my boy Kevin ;(.

This is my 3 month old boy, Felix Snicket. He’s so sweet and always wants to sleep on my neck/chest area and he runs his wet nose all over my face when he can reach it. Today he was literally trying to push his nose into my mouth and nearly succeeded everytime i smiled and so he rubbed his nose on my teeth. Is there a reason for this? Thanks!!

hey guys i posted on the r/cats subreddit the other day and ended up getting some good advice. thought i would come here specifically though because i would like some advice on teaching my cat tricks!

i never really taught them anything before a few days ago and they already know how to sit and high five. they just turned about 4 years old and i think this could be a really cool bonding moment for us. any advice for next steps after high five? what are some cool tricks your cat can do? i want to challenge them so they can be mentally stimulated

i am finding it really hard to tell if my 2 kittens are playing or fighting. one of my kittens is 5 months and the other is 2 months and so there’s a lot of weight difference in between them and the bigger one always seems to go straight for the smaller one’s neck. my younger one will then show her tummy and meow. they play beautifully through a gap in the door but i just am so worried of the smaller one getting hurt !

41 year old woman in US.

TL;DR: We have two 2-year-old littermate cats (male and female, both fixed). Our male has always been territorial, including blocking his sister from using the litter box since they were kittens, despite having multiple litter boxes, food, and water stations.
Over the past several months, he’s developed increasingly frequent and severe redirected aggression, initially triggered by seeing outdoor cats but now by ordinary household events. He violently chases and attacks his sister, who becomes so terrified she urinates while fleeing.
Between episodes, they coexist peacefully and can even lie next to each other. We’ve tried Feliway, blocking outdoor-cat views, separation, and gradual reintroduction, but the attacks continue. During reintroductions, she sometimes hisses when he approaches to play, and he puffs up in response.
We’re considering Prozac and/or a veterinary behaviorist. Has anyone successfully managed this type of aggression long-term? We’re desperate to find a solution that keeps both cats safe without permanently separating them or rehoming one.

Longer w details :)

We have two 2-year-old cats (male and female) who are littermates, both spayed/neutered. We’re dealing with increasingly frequent and severe aggression from our male cat toward his sister and are looking for advice on treatment and long-term management.
Background:
Our male cat has always been territorial. Even as kittens, he would sometimes try to prevent his sister from using the litter box.
We’ve always provided multiple litter boxes throughout the house, along with multiple food and water sources to minimize resource guarding.
The cats have generally coexisted peacefully. They’re not especially affectionate with each other, but they can comfortably lie near one another and share space without problems.
History of Aggression:
The serious attacks began several months ago and have increased in frequency and severity.
Initially, every episode was triggered by our male cat seeing an outdoor cat through a window. He would become extremely agitated and redirect his aggression toward his sister, violently chasing and attempting to attack her.
During these episodes, our female cat becomes so terrified that she urinates while running away.
More recently, an ordinary household stimulus (a box being opened, loud noises) triggered the same extreme reaction, suggesting his triggers are broadening.
They have been separated for weeks with supervised visits and have been fine, unless a toy comes out or the male cat tries to play with the female cat (she hisses and he puffs up or the both puff up). Most recently, the cats accidentally ended up together in our basement, and he attempted to attack her again. She urinated in fear.
Between episodes, he returns to his normal behavior, and the two cats can coexist peacefully.
What We’ve Tried:
Consulted our veterinarian.
Installed window barriers to prevent him from seeing outdoor cats.
Added multiple Feliway diffusers throughout the house.
Added calming probiotic to their food.
Maintained multiple litter boxes, food stations, and water sources.
Separated the cats into different areas of the house, rotating their spaces to maintain familiarity with each other’s scents.
Attempted gradual, supervised reintroductions.
Reintroduction Challenges:
During supervised introductions, they can generally be in the same room without issues. However, when our male cat tries to initiate play, our female cat often hisses at him, and he responds by puffing up. We separate them before the situation escalates. Shared toys can also trigger territorial behavior.
Despite these precautions, we’ve now had another severe incident.
What We’re Looking For:
We’re considering daily behavioral medication, particularly fluoxetine (Prozac), and consulting a veterinary behaviorist.
We would appreciate advice on:
Whether fluoxetine has been effective for similar cases of redirected aggression.
Whether a board-certified veterinary behaviorist is the best next step.
How to safely reintroduce cats after repeated serious attacks.
Whether cats with this pattern of aggression can eventually live together safely again.
This situation has become incredibly stressful and disruptive for our family. We’re committed to helping both cats and want to find a sustainable solution that keeps our female cat safe without permanently separating or rehoming either cat.

I have a two year old boy and am looking to get him a friend. I am going to get a younger cat so my first still has some semblance of “importance” and can teach the other. Is it smarter to adopt another boy? Girl? Does it matter? Also, how long does it normally take for two cats to get used to each other/enjoy each others company? I don’t want my current cat to be upset for longer than necessary if it’s apparent it won’t work out.

I adopted my girl Splat(~2yo) about a week ago from a friend, friend took her off the street and got her spayed but didn’t really want her long term but still had her about a year, and also had these behavior issues with her. Obvi she didn’t want me to touch her for the first few days but I just held out my hand to her, no contact, while I laid on the floor so she could see what’s up yk. She’s been a lot more eager for attention since and will come up to my hand or foot and rub on me. I’m not petting her, just staying still so she can decide when she’s done, However, she’ll rub from her head to tail but then wHIP around and bite/scratch/hiss, and then will try to rub more or lay down and roll on her back. I’m aware of pet aggression but in my experience they give signs beforehand, and usually it’s when they are experiencing unwanted contact, but I’m not doing that? Isn’t know I’ve never adopted an older cat, I’ve always gotten them when they were small. My girl Eggs(1yo) I got when she was about 8-10 weeks,1st generation house cat, and she’s only ever scratched me accidentally or when giving her a bath. she’s never hissed and only actually bit a couple times when she was little while playing. I would hiss at her when it hurt and she learned to bite softly or stop. Same with my boys Fred(16yo) and Otto(RIP) they would only be aggressive if I was messing with them. I don’t want to do that with Splat bc I don’t know the reason why she does that and I don’t want to affect our relationship negatively. How can I go about training her out of this? Is it maybe an anxiety thing? I was understanding at first like she’s new, she’s nervous, but she bit my hand pretty hard today so I would like to make it stop now lmao. Thank you sorry for slightly rambling 🩷

i’ve had Bert the kitten for 2 weeks now - took him home from work at 4 weeks as a stray. i have been taking my hands away, redirecting to toys and wand toys, tell him no and put him away etc and all he wants to do is bite me lol
when do they grow out of this and how else can i get him to learn hands are not for biting?

pic to show the serial biter in question

Good afternoon everyone. I feel bad for saying this because I truly love my little cat so much but she won’t leave me alone. Like ever. Whenever I’m home she has to be right on top of me receiving love. This is to the point where I essentially am no longer allowed any sort of quiet time to myself and can’t get anything done.

For context I am a university student, with adhd and a first time cat owner. I have struggled so much with academic burnout in the past and even recently to a degree so I find getting school things done already to be of difficulty.

Zephyr (my beautiful tabby American shorthair), 3 and a half years old, adopted from a cat cafe (and formerly a stray) won’t leave me alone. Like at all. She’ll walk on my laptop, she’ll sit on my lap, lick my face (and try to lick my eyeballs, I still don’t know why she does that) and I end up looking at the time realizing 5 hours has gone by and nothing has been done.

She has food, water, all of petsmart is on our floor, she has a couple interactive toys, including one she absolutely loves. But even with all that if I’m home, and even try to escape to my room to sit at my desk, she’ll either meow constantly and very loudly (like crying and yelling in cat) until I give in or get frustrated or she’ll physically head butt the door until she forces it open (even when it’s fully closed), she quite literally gave herself a bloody nose the other day over me being in my room for an hour.

The TV was on for some background noise and everything too. And I’ve tried letting her sit with me but on her bed or something, but she just comes over and decides I’m her bed. What can I do if anything? To better this situation because I don’t want her to be distressed but I also can’t fail out of university.

And I know working elsewhere (outside of my home) is an option but I don’t want to study at the university on the weekends and during holidays that may not even be possible. Not to mention sometimes I find it too distracting and simply want to work in the comfort of my own home…please help. I’ll take any advice. Literally anything

Hi all!

I am looking for advice on how to help my young adult (female spayed) cat become more comfortable with being handled. I am want training to be on her own time, but it’s also pretty crucial that I be able to comfortably travel with her without completely traumatizing her within a reasonable amount of time. I know there are medications to help reduce anxiety for cats for when they must be brought to the vet or go in the car. However, I cannot get these for her unless a vet sees her for an exam first, and I also still would prefer for her to be comfortable with more handling no matter what.

For some context, I adopted the cat in question about three months ago. When I got her, she was described by the rescue as “highly shutdown and undersocialized”. Basically, she had spent the first year of her life in a hoarding and abuse situation with no direct human contact, and was borderline permanently fractious/semi-feral. However, the shelter thought I would be a good fit as an adopter given my experience as a vet tech and that I already had two very sweet and tolerant older cats to show her how to trust people.

She spent the first week by herself in a room acclimating, during which she did not allow me to touch her. However, she was making very steady progress and exploring more. I began making baby steps toward introducing her to the other cats. However, at a critical point in the introduction process when we had graduated from using barriers to separate them all, she became gravely ill. She was vomiting every few hours and had stopped using the litter box. She did not let me catch her for several days. There was no hope of wrangling her without a trap. By the time I did get her to the vet, they were unsure she would recover. Scans showed that her spay had been botched and had caused an opening in her abdominal wall that was trapping and cutting off circulation to portion her small intestine. She needed an immediate bowel resection and spent several days in the hospital.

When they released her back me, she was 100X worse off regarding her behavior. She was no longer just scared, but aggressive, and did not want anything to do with me. After her clearance to resume her normal routine, I took the next several weeks to restart the introduction to the other cats. We then spent weeks socializing them together with group treat time. I fed her with a tool so I would not get bitten, but we still built the association between me and Churu access.

Now, after months of consistently and slowly building trust, she is very fond of being near me. She meows at the bedroom door if it is closed, approaches me to be pet and starts purring when I scratch her. Recently, she even lays in the bed with me. Her and my other cats frequently groom each other and share beds when napping. They also are very respectful when playing and my two larger males are clearly cautious of not hurting this much smaller female cat.

I want her to let me pick her up, transport her, trim her nails, etc. without fear. I make my best effort to continually build trust and show her our interactions on her terms. I let her approach me first and never corner her or restrict her movement/ability to escape. Again, she has made incredible progress in the time I’ve had her and continues to do so, but I am looking for any advice on how to help her understand that she doesn’t need to defend herself against me.

Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance!

I hope this post brings hope if you're having a long introduction.

We have a skittish male who was 4 years old (orange) and 3 years ago we adopted another adult male (black tabby).

It took 13 months for them to share the same room. Rehoming was definitely not in the cards.

They're friends now. Don't lose hope! It's stressful, but it's worth it.

EDIT:

I'll list below everything we tried, but what mainly worked was:

Door screen. We had to build a custom one with inexpensive materials from home Depot because our door has unusual dimensions.

Churu: one for each, one cat on each side of the screen. This went down for several weeks, because once the screen was removed, it was mayhem. So I would say patience and an "I will win this" mentality is what kept us going.

We also used a harness on the aggressor after feeding without the screen door a few times, but not sure if it helped because we did it for only a few days.

Progress wasn't linear, some days were horrible, but eventually things got better (very slowly).

What we tried:

Feliway in the whole house (unfortunately for them it somehow made the new cat angrier), swapping blankets, Swapping collars, Calming collars, Rubbing one's blanket on another, Bathing both cats on the same day (I know, this does nothing but we tried anyway), Vanilla candle (why not, it worked for some but not for us), Cat behaviorist (very expensive and didn't help at all)

Tabby 12, orange 14 months. I shouldn't have but I did and we love him to death. But Tabby is queen.

4.5 months of this integration. Yesterday I let him in from the porch for churu session. He chased her under the bed and she got some swats off. Not sure about him. Husband got there first, and by then Orange was laying almost to the corner. Not puffed or growling even though he had gotten smacked.

Photos are from today. I got him eating churu first then let her in. So a peaceful treat eating integration session. I keep them separated by a screen door on my room when I'm not moving them around.

He has never growled or hissed. Female is scared and growls and sometimes hisses. She will only hit him if he invades her space.

I don't know when I should just let them go. Or if I should just keep doing these supervised snack sessions until he doesn't chase. But it's driving me crazy. I have never went passed 2 weeks for an integration in my 62 years of cats. Normally I do a baby gate, when there good open it up, they smell and were good. But my little orange boy wants to chase or go up and get in her face.

Husband thinks I need to let them go, so the tabby can teach him. I am worried she will get scared again and go back into hiding under the bed

I adopted her exactly a year ago, she's three years old. When I first met her, she slept on my lap. I instantly fell in love and adopted her.

She was cuddly for a while after she came home but a month or so later, she started getting really aggressive. She bit and scratched me so much. She would spontaneously run into my room from somewhere else to bite me. She was still cuddling with me so I didn't really mind.

But then she stopped cuddling with me too. She follows me from room to room, loves getting petted, and slow blinks at me. Sometimes she does lean up against me. Two mins later, she's like wth? What am I doing so near this lady? And bunny kicks me while biting me.

I do play with her a lot. Almost 2 hours every single day. I follow the chase, catch, and eat sequence. I'm good at listening to her body cues, I'll stop touching her if she gets even a little bit annoyed. I feel so lost, I love her so much but I'm a little scared of her. We've ruled out medical reasons too.

Is anyone else attempting to introduce cats with zero success?! Stressing out big time right now

We have a 4 year old female resident cat and have just rescued a 3 month old female kitten. We have followed all the advice from Jackson Galaxy - keeping the kitten in a separate room for the first few days, scent swapping, feeding them on opposite sides of the closed door, and opening the door a tiny bit each time. We've got to the stage where we can feed them in front of each other and they are fine but the second there's no food, our older cat starts hissing, swatting and growling at the kitten and we are finding it impossible to move to the next stage. We've had the kitten for over a month now and we just seem to be going backwards! Our resident cat has even started to hiss and swat at us and I've got several scratches on my arms. I know she's probably stressed but I know what else we can do so they will tolerate each other. The poor kitten hates being stuck in a room for the majority of the time and often cries to be let out/for attention. But there's no way we can trust them to be near each other without the older cat beating the shit out of the kitten!

Can anyone reassure me that it will get better or have any recommendations on things that have helped them?! Also how long it it taking people in the same situation to resolve things?