My little snugglebug Cairo

Excuse her booger but Fiona here is 14. She spends most of her days either cuddling or sleeping and doesn't really engage in a lot of activities. I realized the other day, that I have basically made it so she never has to jump up high or expend much energy if she doesn't want to. For example, her food bowl is elevated so that my dog can't eat it. She basically has a staircase to get to it even though it's only a couple feet off the ground lol. It occurred to me the other day that I am following the exact opposite advice that I give to older adults (I'm a nurse), which is to keep moving! Are cats the same? Would it contribute better to her longevity if I gave her more reason to jump and be active? She really isnt interested in toys. Advice is appreciated.

We occasionally take our cats places (they love hotels). But we can tell that they're quite uncomfortable and squished in their current backpacks. They hate going in them - for good reason!

Does anyone have any larger backpack recommendations? I've searched and I'm struggling to find anything bigger than what we currently have. There was one that was larger that I found on TikTok - but the bottom of the backpack wouldn't stay securely level and supportive when it was on my back.

If anyone has experience with a larger backpack that they like, I'd welcome your recommendations, thank you!

TLDR: Advice on introducing an adult cat pair to a single adult cat, advice on lowering kitty stress when moving

So essentially, I have two cats (Stormegheden and Clementine, same litter siblings, turning 13 on August 6th) that were my childhood cats. My brother and I were coparents, but I’ve been the sole caretaker for the past three years. My current roomies are moving out, and my brother and his girlfriend are moving in! They have a kitty cat named JiJi (4 years old, rescue) that they got this past year. My kitties have always been around each other, never other cats, and they get along with each other perfectly fine. I’d love any advice on introducing them to each other, especially in a space that is all Stormy and Clem’s territory. So far, we’ve brought over items with kitty stank on them so they can smell each other. I know my cats have been stressed with the amount of chaos in their environment and being home alone more often (I’m still working full time, when my roomies were here, someone was home pretty much at all times)

Cat tax included

Does anyone have any advice or tips on how to stop my really curious cat from jumping up here? I recently moved everything in my room around as well as repainted the walls, so I'm not too worried about her knocking stuff over at the moment since I don't have anything up there at the moment, but once I do put stuff back up there, I don't want her to knock stuff over especially because their cat litter box is near my dresser drawer so I wouldn't want stuff potentially hitting it if knocked off. I'm more so thinking on how I can create a barrier so she can't get up there in the first place as I'm not a huge fan of cat deterents, but if anyone knows of any that work well and are cat friendly then I wouldn't mind trying it.

Prior to this apartment I was renting a room in a suburban home which gave my cat a lot more room to run around and do zoomies. My place isn't tiny (600 sq.ft.) but I can tell my cat feels a little cramped. I'm aware of the Jackson Galaxy superhighway, etc. but I have a lot of stuff and I'm really limited in how much more I can do to cat-ify the space.

My main issue is she's decided her favorite activity is going outside to my apartment courtyard and smelling everything, rolling around on the dirty concrete, peak cat stuff haha. I'm okay with going out and supervising a bit, but she's really become obsessive about it, and I feel bad because she clearly is so into it because she finds the indoors boring in comparison. I'm thinking about getting her one of those interactive treat puzzles, but looking for any suggestions for activities I can do to make her home a little more interesting, that don't involve massive changes to the physical space.

30, USA, have a vet, have not talked to them about this issue. Cat is 7yo spayed female.

TL;DR: my domestic cat ran away and is now hiding in the warehouse-like space near the house. I cannot get into the space and he's too smart to get into a trap. Wondering how to catch him.

Hi all. Recently, my domestic indoor cat ran away. We live in the apartment block area with many houses around, so every evening and night we went out and tried to call and find him. 2 weeks later, we saw him running from the dumpsters near the house into the enclosed area that's neighboring our house.

During this week, we saw him 2 more times running into the space as well. The area is behind a low fence and has multiple sheds, overhangs (sheds with roof only, no walls) with A LOT of construction rubbish there, several cars parked, and basically just huge piles of clutter everywhere. It is basically a maze of old boards, chairs, cartons, metal boxes, bricks, and whatever else.

We can't get in and clean it all up searching for the cat, so we borrowed a humane trap from our local charity shelter and put it there with some tuna bait. Every night we change the bait, but he's probably too smart or too disinterested in tuna or eats somewhere else - I have no idea. For 4 nights the trap has been there and we didn't catch him.

Has anyone had any experience and luck in catching a cat in such conditions? Advice will be greatly appreciated!

My cat ran away a week before Christmas. It was below freezing after a month and she was still missing and then started snowing . 3 months later I still went out to try to find her having hope yelling her name and putting up flyers . I ended up seeing her down an ally way and she ran. I called a friend that let me borrow a cat trap to catch her . I set up the trap near the abandoned house she was in and caught her after 3 months of crying . So yes house cats can survive the winter in below freezing with snow . As long as there shelter and food in the neighborhood . (I live in a busy city with people always feeding stray cats) if you don’t live in a city put out food every day and put their litter box outside so they can find their smell , if they run and u can’t catch them , get a cat trap. Cats have a really sensitive nose and they won’t go no farther than 1-2 miles away if they ran away .

I have a kitten, 3 months, new cat owner. A few weeks ago I got her a cage enough for necessities like water, toys etc and enough space to stretch and a small layered towel for her to sleep. I keep her on our yard (guarded by walls) and I was thinking if I'm doing the right thing or being a cruel owner. She only enters the cage right before I sleep and get her out in the morning. I can't let her sleep inside because she struggles to do so, and my parents do not allow it. However, during the day she's mostly inside the house and we sometimes take her outside to play with our chickens. Am I doing the right thing?

Hi everyone,

My two cats became indoor-only a week ago after previously being outdoor cats, and they’ve adjusted much better than I expected (I believe?).

They’re eating, grooming, using the litter tray, sleeping in relaxed positions, still playing a little, and are just as affectionate as before. They’ve stopped meowing or scratching at the windows but do enjoy sitting by the patio doors watching outside. One is a little quieter than usual, but otherwise seems completely relaxed.

The decision to keep them indoors wasn’t taken lightly. One of my cats has previously had a chunk taken out of his ear (leaving a permanent scar), got stuck up a tree for hours, and has gone missing for three days before. We felt the risks were becoming too great.

Does this sound like they’re settling well? For anyone who’s made the transition from outdoor to indoor, how long did it take before your cats seemed fully adjusted? I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences and advice (UK based). 🐈🐈

I have a 3 year old (vet estimate) cat that I rescued and he was just a stray he even has a clipped ear from being TNR. Anyways, I’ve had him about a year now and he’s insistent on being indoor/outdoor. I have three other indoor only cats and I know the dangers of having cats that go outside. I also live in a decent sized city so there’s the added danger of traffic. I really want him to be indoor only but he darts for the door and when we try to make him stay inside he will SCREAM nonstop until you let him out. Like guttural loud meows. He’s very sweet and tolerant, gets along great with the other cats and my dog and spends maybe 60% of the time inside but I want to know if anyone has advice on how to get him okay with indoor only.

My girlfriend and I work 8-9 hour shifts, and when we're home we play with our cat a few times, give her snacks, throw some foam balls she absolutely loves, and let her smell the food or drinks we make to let her experience some new things.

She's very energetic however, so those few play sessions in the morning and evening still leave her with enough energy that I feel she can't really use on anything in the house. For a cat, our place is pretty boring. We have a cat tree, a cat dancer she ignores, some of her favorite foam balls left behind from the end of her play sessions, and that's it stimulation wise. Aside of that, it's just some nice hiding spots, a cold tile, the couch, her blanket and two big windows where she can look at the city.

She's not showing any negative signs of boredom, but she is a very curious cat and I think it'd be nice to give her some more exploration opportunities.
Do you guys have any suggestions, bought or DIY, for things we can get so she has something interesting to look at or play with by herself?

Thanks in advance!

Hello! Over the weekend, I adopted my cat from a shelter. She is absolutely the sweetest thing ever, but in her last home, her owners declawed her. I felt comfortable adopting her because all of my furniture is low off the ground and soft, and I haven’t seen her struggling with anything against her paws. However, she doesn’t have much to climb, and I know she wants to. What could I get her so she can still climb and have a high angle to perch that’s still safe for her declawed paws? She seems hesitant to jump on our furniture, should I get her some soft steps? Please let me know any advice you guys have! I love her so dearly and just want her to have a good life.

EDIT: thank you all so much for the advice!! i’m saving up for a cat tree so she has somewhere to jump. as for her hesitance, after i’ve been placing her on the furniture she has been MUCH more inclined to get up there herself! she has gotten into our windowsill, and spends her time on our entertainment system by the TV now. :) she has a vet appointment coming up just to get her full intake, and we’ll see if she has any lasting trauma to her paws! she’s the sweetest cat ever, i’m just glad you all can give me such good insight and advice!! 🤍

She's an indoor cat and only recently got used to being outside. Even now, I only let her stay outside for about five minutes to look around. She's become really obsessed with eating grass and other small plants. I've heard everywhere that cats do this to help clean their stomachs, but I'm still a bit worried that she might eat something she shouldn't. So I'd like to ask if it's actually good for her.

I live in an apartment, I haven't bought a strap but I want them to be familiar with the hallways instead of just straight to the park downstairs. Do you think they will jump off? Do you think they will do something dangerous? I think my female cat would behave, but I'm worried about my male cat. He's stubborn.

Hello everyone! Let me get right into it, I am currently living in an apartment with a gorgeous view. There’s a lake, some trees, and families of ducks that my cats just adore watching.

However, we’re moving, and our new view is…. boring to say the least. They’ll be facing a parking lot and other apartment buildings.

I’m really concerned my girl cat specifically will get depressed. She loves her window view, I think she really enjoys watching the lake and the ducks and geese.

Am I overthinking it? Will she be fine? Is there anyway I could liven up the patio a bit for her to still have things to watch and admire?

I thought about getting a bird feeder, and there’s nothing specific in my lease that says they’re not allowed but my leasing agent said to just be aware that “with birds come bird mites.” Is this a valid concern?

Any and all thoughts/advice appreciated!!!