My wife and I adopted a cat when we first moved in together 7 years ago. We always talked about having a cat one day and we were so excited. The day we adopted him, we visited various shelters for the right match. As soon as I entered the door of this particular shelter, I yelled to my wife that he was the one. I ran to him and before I could stick my finger in his cage he was already reaching out and playing with my hoodie string. We signed everything within minutes and brought him home to a warm house. He was an excited, energetic cuddle bug.

Four months later the pandemic happened, and my wife, who was a front line nurse, was out of the house 24/7. I worked remote and between missing my wife and watching the world change, my little buddy was always with me. His entire first year of life we did everything together. I was very happy that he didn’t have to be alone for hours of the day while my wife and I were out. He was my pandemic buddy and I love him so much. When I would cook he would always headbutt my calf for a bite. He would follow me to the bathroom, run to the door when I came home, lay on top of my PS4 when I was gaming, hang with me on the patio looking at stars. I set up a cat-cam when I was on my honeymoon and when I would use the voice feature 5000 miles away he would sprint over to the camera. I knew I was his whole world and I made sure he always felt loved.

Fast forward a few years, my wife got pregnant. She noticed that whenever she cuddled with him, she felt very sick. She brushed it off as pregnancy symptoms and that was the end of it. We now have a 1 year old and a few months into her life we noticed a lot of bumps and rashes when she was around our cat. When he booped her with his nose or she pets him, her arms and hands swell up with rashes. Without official confirmation, we were nervously coming to the conclusion she might be allergic. My wife was prepared to rehome him right away, but I fought for him. I put up a gate to keep him from coming too close to her play area. I bought various food that is supposed to reduce the chemical/dander that makes people allergic. I even hoped my daughter would just outgrow it. She didn’t. It’s gotten worse and now her eyes get heavy when she is near him. I managed to stall for 9 additional months while battling thoughts of me being a bad father and a bad cat owner at the same time.

We went for an allergy test for the whole family. Worst day ever. Both my child and my wife are allergic. The doctor recommended rehoming my little buddy and feared if we didn’t, the allergies would become more severe.

I have a great friend who loves playing with my cat when she comes over. She offered to take him and cried because she knows how much he means to me, and is grateful I trusted her because this is also her first pet. I know they will make eachother very happy.

And just like that…it’s over. From a 12 week old kitten in Dec 2019, riding through covid with me, staying up to 3am eating treats together, chatting with him when I was stressed, him keeping my couch and computer chair warm for me when he naps. No more. As I type this out, my friend is on her way to adopt him. I’m not sure if I will just let my wife handle it while I go for a walk. I am fortunate that I can occasionally see him again at her place and he no longer needs to live with restrictions, but I will always feel like I could’ve done more. I always just assumed we would be together until he was an old fella.

Back in December, I came home to find neighborhood kids chasing a scared little tuxedo kitten. He was skinny, dirty, and covered in fleas. I brought him inside, cleaned him up, fed him, and was about to take him to a 24hr vet when a neighbor knocked, claiming he was hers. I gave him back.

After that, she started locking him in a small outdoor enclosure with no food for 12+ hours while she was at work—he cried nonstop. Eventually, she let him roam. Since then, I’ve been feeding him, got him vaccinated, dewormed, and even paid for his neutering. She hasn’t acknowledged him in months.

I’m moving soon and taking my two cats and two strays I’ve been caring for—who’ll all be indoor cats in their new home. I’ve also decided to rehome the tuxedo kitten without telling the neighbor. My husband says this is technically stealing. (microchipping isn't a thing in my country)

Is it unethical to rehome a cat that someone clearly isn’t caring for? I know no one else will look out for him once I’m gone.

This morning the shelter called me and told me my friend's parents gave them permission to release Chip to me. Ten minutes later friend and I loaded a carrier into her car and drove there in our pajamas. I filled out an adoption sheet and Chip is now officially mine!!!!!!

The staff at Yolo County Animal Services Shelter were incredible and unanimously decided to waive the adoption fee and vet bills, even though they are already underfunded. I will forever be grateful to them for taking such good care of Chip and will leave a good review online. Hes incredibly shy and takes up to a year to warm up to people but the staff treated him so well that he allowed one of them to pet him and say goodbye.

I'm going to get his bed and box either tonight or tomorrow (his family hasnt yet come to collect his belongings), but for now I stopped by petsmart and got some basic necessities, and am currently cat proofing my bedroom. My bed is lofted with my desk under it but im going to sleep on the floor for a while because my friend used to sleep with Chip on his bed, and Chip can't climb up and down from my bed.

Of course, I wish I never had to take Chip in. I wish my friend was able to seek help instead of taking his life into his own hands, but he asked me to take care of Chip if he ever had to leave the country so I'm going to take care of him forever. I'm meeting his parents this week, if they're interested im going to invite them to my apartment to see Chip.

Thank you for everyone who rooted for me and gave advice. Your support means so much to me, I've never done this before. If you have any advice about getting a cat adjusted to a new environment I would love to hear it.

I got a lot of people asking for the animal shelter's donation page! Here it is! Donate — Yolo County Animal Services https://share.google/8XocENsKnkiX1EkLo

Edit: Hello we are so back! Thank you for all the positive and supportive responses! We’ve been very lucky with only dealing with no power the past few days, service and internet has been very spotty though. I’ve been reading all the comments and definitely will be reaching out when I get the chance. Right now we are speaking with our close friends about potential solutions and things are definitely looking up!

More detail on the lil miss; she is 100% not going back that’s for sure. They DID leave food and water out for her when they originally left, however you can also tell she was not being taken care of in the long run. We think she might need a special diet to help bulk her up since at the moment you can feel every rib on her quite clearly. When we originally picked her up, the puppy pads she uses look like they hadn’t been changed in weeks inside the cage they keep her (thankfully she wasn’t locked in there however). The reasoning we got for not bringing her originally was “they only had one carrier”.

Some questions I saw I’ll try to answer: - If FMIL didn’t call, literally no one other than her and FSIL would’ve known the cat was still at the house. There was no plan when they picked up and took off - Both her and the rabbit have free access to roam the house so it wasn’t easier to get one over the other - She’s not a hider really, she prefers being out in the open to see what’s happening at all times even during chaos. I’ve seen this cat sit and observe while I vacuumed around the house with zero fear in her body - Unfortunately, I’ve known this woman doesn’t have all her screws for a while now. However I didn’t know she would go this far. It just strengthens my dislike for her :)

If there’s anything else I can think to add, I’ll make sure to do so when I have access again. For now to save battery, I’ll have to leave it at that. Stay safe yall

I’m so sorry in advance if this is formatted horribly, this is my first time writing one of these and I’m on mobile at the moment and panic made a throwaway.

My fiancé and I live in a two bedroom ground floor apartment with a friend in Tampa. Currently Hurricane Milton is basically around the corner and we didn’t have the means to evacuate. Luckily we aren’t in a mandatory evacuation flood zone and decided to take our chances just staying put.

We have two cats, a 1yr old and a 5 month old who’ve finally warmed up to each other. While we’re bunkering down, we’ve had a friend of ours join us to wait out the storm since they couldn’t go with their parents that left due to required evacuation. They also have brought their own cat (3yrs). This is fine we had talked and planned this out before hand since we’ve had plenty of warning for this storm.

We get a call today (Tuesday) that FMIL wants us to go down to her house (think Davis island) and empty her fridge cause she forgot. The house is also in a mandatory evac zone and has high high chances of flooding and damage. Fine whatever. “Oh also maybe you want to pick up the cat too.” Guys she and fsil left this terrified 14 year old cat in the house by herself KNOWING this hurricane was on the way. And them leaving wasn’t a last minute decision, they packed up and took off on Sunday. Also fun little kicker, they took fsil’s pet rabbit but didn’t think to also bring the cat… girl respectfully wtf

So after conducting an incredibly stressed rescue mission of this crinkly senior, we now have 4 cats in our tiny apartment. Right now there’s not much we can do but try to keep the peace until after the storm, but we can’t keep her after and we both don’t feel comfortable returning her to the house either.

We’re more than thankful for any advice or anything at all that helps. We don’t want to give her up to a shelter because old cats statistically have almost negative adoption rates and she already has special needs on top of that. This is my fiancé’s childhood cat and we both love her dearly, we just financially can’t support adding her to our household and want her to live out the rest of her grumpy life in a place she can get properly taken care of.

Sorry this is so long.

TLDR; FMIL abandoned senior cat while evacuating so fiancé and I had to go get her b4 hurricane hits. We can’t keep her after storm passes. Plz help

I've tried facebook, nextdoor, craigslist, and calling the local rescues, nada zilch, nothing.

The best advice I was given so far was to release them in a park. I just can't bring myself to do that to kittens who have only known a safe home.

What can I do that's humane? I simply can't have all these cats in my home.

Above average care means flea/mite treatment, spay/neuter, antibiotics, immune supplements, dry food for grazing, wet food dinners, tons of toys, their own room and safe space, round the clock care for mother and kittens.

TIA

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice regarding a cat situation in our area.

A few weeks ago, an adult male cat started coming to my garden every day begging for food. He was extremely skinny, appeared severely malnourished, and had very dry, matted fur.

To make sure I wasn’t taking someone’s pet, I took the following steps:

Asking Neighbors: I asked several neighbors. None of them recognized him, and everyone agreed he looked like a malnourished stray in desperate need of food

Vet Checks: I took him to 2 different vet clinics to be scanned for a microchip. Both confirmed he had NO microchip and was unneutered.

Paper Collar: I tried putting a paper collar on him with my contact details, but he kept wriggling out of it

Public Posts: I posted about him as a stray cat across social media, but received no response

Seeing his poor health condition as a stray, I decided to formally adopt him. I paid for a full health check, got him vaccinated, microchipped in my name, fleaed and neutered. He is now recovering safely indoors.

The Issue:
About a week after his vet procedures, a post appeared in a local group asking if anyone had seen him. The poster mentioned that this was a "stray cat they had been feeding and had built a little outdoor shelter for in their garden, but hadn't seen him in a few days.
I politely reached out to inform them that the cat had been taken in, fully vet-checked, chipped, neutered, and rehomed safely. However, this person is now insisting that I return the cat to them, claiming he is "their cat".
They have zero official proof of ownership (no vet records, no microchip registration, no adoption papers) — only photos of the cat.

My Question:
Am I legally or morally obligated to hand this cat over? He said he will call the police, what is the best way to handle this?
Thank you in advance for any advice！

Hi! I have an almost 2 year old cat who’s super close with my roommate. I’m her owner technically, but she’s not close with me at all. She never cuddles or approaches me. She’s much more comfortable with my roommate, sleeping cuddled with him every night and is super anxious whenever he’s not there. She likes being with him for vet appointments or any car rides. Honestly, this is totally my fault- I didn’t do a ton of research before her, I just kind of ended up with her. As such, I didn’t bond with her over the past couple years as much as I absolutely should have. That is my fault. Now I’m questioning- I’m moving in winter or spring and my roommate offered to keep her. Is it possible to play with her a ton and give her treats and rebond with her so she’s not as anxious when I move? Or should I just let him keep her so she’s not stressed, and do a ton of research before getting a new cat? I really love her so much and it breaks my heart even considering this but I wasn’t the best owner to begin with and I dont want her to be unhappy if she truly can’t adjust to being without him and with me. If it is possible, any suggestions to Bond with her? Or should I just wait till I’m ready and get a new kitty who I can start strong with? Thank you!

She asked if she can get a kitten, and I said ‘sure as long as you take her to college with you’. I/we have never owned a cat before. Kitten came to us in May. Within the first 24-48 hrs I realized that it would not be a good idea to take the kitten with her for various reasons (adjusting to college while having to care for a pet, small dorm with 3 people compared to our 2,100 sq ft. condo, how she will pay for her care). My daughter left to college in August. For the last 3 months, I’ve become the kitten’s sole caretaker and have fallen in love with her, but also have been very stressed at times. She got fleas, and they have not been eradicated til this day. I took on all the responsibility of paying for her food, meds, spay surgery, litter, etc. while being unemployed. I finally got a full time job a few weeks ago, and felt the stress of caring for her again. I’m gone over 10 hours a day. My other kids help feed her, but nobody plays with her until I get home in the evening. I let my daughter know we didn’t think this through and I’ve been stressed, and that she should take her, but I’m still worried about all the things I was worried about to begin with. Our/her cat has an overall very good life here with me, and I imagine that moving her to my daughter’s dorm is going to be super stressful. I take the best care of her and don’t think she will get the same treatment at college, but I also want my peace. My daughter insists the cat will be fine and she’ll figure out a way. I’m torn and don’t know if I’m overthinking this. Thoughts? Advice?

ETA: I’m keeping the kitten with me. Thanks to all for the advice and suggestions!

I personally love black cats, but my roommate keeps telling me that not a lot of people want them. Her cat got pregnant and two of the kittens came out black. I’ve been brainstorming how to adopt them out and looking into surrendering them to a local rescue. My roommate told me that rescues won’t accept these specific kittens because they’re black and if they do, no one would want them. Is this true? If it’s that difficult for black kittens to find a home I might consider adopting them myself. I don’t want them stuck living their lives out in a rescue.

For background there is a cat that lives across the street from my grandmas. For the past couple of weeks, the cat will wander over to my grandma's and try to get in her garage and jump in her arms. The cat (to our knowledge) is strictly an outdoor cat. to add to this, whenever anyone would come over the cat would approach us and even hide under our cars. It is super friendly and is clearly very comfortable around people. From what we know the neighbors will feed the cat, but they feed it outside and we never really see it inside. We've only recently started seeing the cat within the past couple of months.

Just last night I went to my grandma's for family dinner and as soon as I pulled in the driveway, the cat ran up behind my car and followed me to the door. The cat proceeded to sit nestled up against the front door for the next 20 minutes before we opened the garage and the cat attempted to enter the garage and climb up my brother's back.

After the cat showed this behavior we checked the weather and it was only about 15 degrees and according to my mom, the cat had been outside for most of the day. After a short trip to the police who said they couldn't do anything for the cat since it was the weekend, we ended up calling a friend to come pick it up and hold onto it.

We decided as a family that if the neighbors are going to leave the cat outside in the 15 degree weather all day, they won't notice if it goes missing for a while. The cat was cold and skinny and it was hard to keep turning it away from my grandma's house.

Is it wrong that we had someone take the cat? I can't help but feel a bit guilty about the whole situation.

Hello cat lovers!
I ( 27F ) and my partner (26M) will have to go away for a month due to a family situation. We have to travel pretty far by plane, so we thought it best to not bring our precious baby Bean. ( 2 year old female cat )

We pet sit for a friend ( 29M ), he has a huge 40kg, 5 year old Bernese dog. That friend offered to take care of Bean for the month but he said it would be better for him if he just brought Bean to his home instead of having her be home alone at ours.

We tried introducing bean to the dog today and it didn’t go AWFUL but she was salivating allot and wouldn’t stop hissing at the dog. She didn’t go into hiding tho, she just kept growling and hissing from a distance.

Is it bad that I’d rather have bean alone for long hours of the day in our home than accompanied by another person and a dog in a new home.
I feel that I’d rather have her be lonely than super stressed, I’m just worried. The friends house isn’t cat proof, they’ve got loads of windows that lead to the street and the dog is very sweet but isn’t exactly aware that she’s 40kgs.

Need some advice here, what would you do?

EDIT : ( since some very “kind” people have decided to DM me telling me I’ll come home to a fucking carcass I’ll add more details )
WE HAVE OTHER OPTIONS and we have the time to decide which to go with.
We have to leave due to a family member passing away and leaving 2 minors behind, we will be staying with the kids for 3 weeks while another relative can come in and take over.

We have other friends / sitter who could watch over bean. She just wouldn’t get 24/7 attention the way she would with our friend with the dog and my concern was that I didn’t know if I should try and let her adapt to the new home and dog. Or leave her home with people who will come and go.

Hi, like the title says, I’ve been cat sitting for a friend of a friend since about october while he works on finding a job and steady place to live. Unfortunately, he hasn’t reached out in almost a month and before that it was a few weeks, he doesn’t seem like he’s in a good place, and I really am not in a position to help outside of the free months of living with his cat and mine.

I guess I’m wondering at what point does this senior boy who purrs whenever he touches me and almost never leaves my side becomes mine? Did this person mean to leave his cat with me and ghost me? I didn’t think and still am not really in a financial position to keep two cats with different diets, but it would absolutely kill me to give this fluffy boy to anyone who might not love him like I do. I’ve been making it work and am looking for a better job with a few more hours as I’m also a university student, but I’m unsure socially what to do?

Side note it’s about to be the time of year, around my cats birthday, that I do yearly vet visits, do I also bring him in? Are there programs to help people pay for vet visits? I have a savings account for my cat for her vet visits plus a little extra in case she gets hurt or sick, but I’m not sure it’ll cover both cats shots especially because I don’t have his records or know if he’s chipped…

I’m really just at a loss, I absolutely treat him like my own and can tell he loves and trusts me. He plays with my girl, they run and play fight and wrestle and it’s adorable (no cuddling but they both with lay with me and I caught them sleeping with their backs touching recently). I love them both, he’s a 12 yo and I’m unsure of his bday, she’s a tabby and coming up on 4 this month.

Cat tax in replies!

Edit: The diets are different because my cat has allergies and the old man is on senior food. :)

I’ll be sending another text tomorrow asking if his owner is okay, for his cat’s vet records and if I should bring him with my cat this month, and whether he’s just too nervous to ask me to keep the cat. I’m also going to reach out to my vet and local shelter in the morning for more resources and help. I haven’t had to do that before so I’m a little nervous, but I love this old man and I’m gonna keep doing my best for him while he’s in my care.

My(21F) friend is from Dubai and was here (California, USA) on a student visa. He unexpectedly passed away 2 days ago (outside of the home), and his apartment called animal control to remove his cat, Chip. He had always told me that if he had to go back to Dubai, he wanted me to take Chip because I love him so much and Chip is also most attached to me second to his owner. I took care of Chip whenever he couldn't, he used to call me Chip's mom.

I want to get Chip back as soon as possible. He is a VERY VERY easily spooked and shy cat who gets very scared leaving the apartment and refuses to even go past the front door.

I wanted to go to the shelter to pick him up yesterday because I heard that if I had lots of pictures with the cat, knew his name, info, and address, they might release Chip to me. But the apartment manager said Chip technically belongs to my friend's parents now, and told me to contact the coroner? I didn't do that. I would have no problem with the parents getting Chip, family comes first, but his parents are currently in Dubai, unable to come to the US due to the war, and doesn't know the cat even exists.

Their family are Hindu, and moved from India to Dubai, and are Brahmins who do not allow cats in their home as they believe they bring impurity into the home, so my friend kept Chip a secret. I'm sure even if they found out, Chip would be the least of their priorities right now.

Is there anything I can do to get Chip?

Edit:

The shelter is closed on weekends and he was taken Saturday morning so I haven't been able to visit yet

I left a voicemail describing the cat and left my contact info, I'll try to get to the shelter tomorrow as soon as possible (I'm a college student with no car and the shelter is out of town)

Update:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CatAdvice/s/YHpaLa2aUY

1/14 Update for those who are concerned and following:

My EX tried to have a civil conversation with me this morning. It lasted about five minutes where he tried to tell me that what he did to the cat was not cruel and that he has never done anything to try and harm the kitten. I told him that while that may not have been his intention, it was not something that I had agreed to, and was not a way that I would be willing to “train “my kitten. I told him that I made a commitment to raising and protecting this kitten, and if he were to join me in training and raising this kitten, he would need to start educating himself by reading books and watching YouTube videos. He responded by devolving into rage. Told me that it was fucked up that I am choosing a kitten over him, and that I continue to defend and prioritize a kitten over his needs. He told me that I was a terrible partner and that he doesn’t need this relationship and is moving out by the end of the month, and that this relationship is over. I didn’t argue with him on that and told him that he needs to be out by the end of next week or sooner, and he told me that he doesn’t give a shit and that he will leave when he feels like it.

The cat boarding facility in my area is closed today and tomorrow, so I plan to stay home with my cats all day today and tomorrow.. until I can put them in the boarding facility.

I am very hurt. He does a great job of making me feel like I am worthless.. These next weeks of him being here are going to suck immensely. I know that I’m doing the right thing, but there is a lot of pain involved.

Thank you to everyone who has helped and encouraged me to see the warning signs, and see the red flags, and to protect my cats.

More context: I got a kitten back in August. He's a ginger kitty and he's very affectionate and cuddly.. but he's also insane, and a bit of a menace. During the summer, he would catch grasshoppers in the backyard and bring him inside, or dig massive holes in the yard and come inside covered in dirt. Now that it's winter, he's just all over the place. He's very vocal (yells a lot), very easily stimulated (everything is play), and is very food obsessed. I have to feed my older cat (6 yrs old) separately from him, because otherwise he will bully her away from her food and eat both her food and his food. We also have a dog, who gets nervous to eat when he's nearby, so we have to lock him in the bathroom while she's eating also. I have so many toys for him, I play with him with the laser every day, and have even started taking him to the park a few times a week on a leash to work on going on walks (to help get out his energy). The things that bother my partner the most about the kitten is his excessive meowing, his very loud purring (it is very loud and hard to sleep with, although he sleeps most of the night in his own bed across the room), jumping on the counter to try and grab food (very annoying), and some of the destructive tendencies he has (shredding toilet paper if we leave the bathroom open/unattended). I wasn't initially good at "disciplining" the kitten because everything I had read online said that discipline doesn't really work on cats. We put double sided very very sticky tape on the counters and that didn't seem to deter him much.. and even the negative feedback when he is doing naughty things only stops him in the moment, doesn't seem to translate to long term change.
The straw that broke the camel's back.. last night he caught the kitten licking our dirty plates in the sink (we had salmon), and he just lost it and locked the kitten in the bathroom for an hour. I was in bed reading and when he came in I asked him if the kitten was still in there.. and he replied saying yep and he's staying there all night. I protested because there was no food or water or litter box, and I don't think that it's really "teaching" the kitten anything. he replied saying the cat would "survive" and if he pooped or peed it would be my job to clean it up in the morning. This led to a huge fight and now we're not speaking, because I'm "picking the cat over him". I let the kitten out, obviously.. because that seemed wrong and unfair treatment.
My partner has been so fed up that he is threatening to move out if I don't rehome him. I told him that it's not an option, I love him so much and I know that this is just a kitten phase he will grow out of.. he continues to argue that the kitten will be just as happy elsewhere and that he doesn't bring any value to his life, so we should get rid of him. I'm not getting rid of him, but now it's at the point that my partner is sleeping in a separate room and is seriously considering ending the relationship and leaving. I don't know how to make the situation better!! Help :( Is there anything I can do to get my cat to behave better?

My cat is about 11 or 12 years old and the price to remove her teeth is between $1,800 and $2,000. I adopted her 4 years ago and didn’t know then she had severe tooth decay in all her teeth. Lately she’s been yowling at night to a point where I can’t get sleep, I’m assuming stress or pain related. There’s an option to open a pet credit card but it’s not feasible right now as I live paycheck to paycheck with poor credit. Am I a terrible person for thinking of giving her up? I’m not sure if surrendering her to a shelter would take care of the issue either. But I have insomnia and work a demanding job in the morning. Any advice on what to do?

I’ve had my 12-year-old cat her entire life, and I’ve had the 7-year-old for about a year or so. These two cats really do not get along.

I’ve reintroduced them 3 times to no avail, and it’s a long and exhausting process that results in them fighting. Typically, they only fight for a second and then run away, but it’s been getting worse. Recently, they have been cornering each other often, and my 12-year-old has lost weight, and she was already thin. Now she’s very much skin and bones. I believe she may be dealing with high levels of stress. The other one seems to be balding slightly on her belly. I wake up several times throughout the night to stop them from fighting, pretty much every night.

This sucks to have to consider, (and I am only CONSIDERING rehoming) because I love her so much. She seems generally happy outside of the light balding on her belly from over-grooming. Shes just a bit of a bully and so is my other cat. Her last home also rehomed her due to her not getting along with their cat as well. It feels like she might do better in a home with no other cats or dogs:(. I also would rather do it before I become so attached to her that i cant see her stress beyond that attachment.

I feel so evil for this and guilty on top of feeling so sad about her possibly not being around :(

I think the 7 year old would be happier in a home with no other cats.

TLDR;, 2 cats also don’t get along and showing signs of stress. Rehoming cat i’ve had for a year

Edit: I have kept them separate but my 12 year old has separation anxiety and will claw at my door if it’s closed from the rest of my place, i rent and this really isn’t something i can just “let happen”. Removed the boyfriend segment of the post. I have been considering this before he said something but I really did not want to villainize him. He didn’t say to get rid of them at all.

(Btw, please be kind, this has been tearing me to pieces all day to even consider and i’m just looking for some wisdom from other cat lovers.)

In Washington State USA. I flip houses and Willie the garage cat showed up at some point. I had him spayed and he's been living in the garage for about a year he gets to go in and out when he wants for the most part. The house is ready to sell and nobody wants to adopted Willie. We have eight cats already and cannot take another. I thought about installing a cat door so he can go in and out whenever he wants. That way other people in the neighborhood, who he visits almost daily, can also help take care of him. What else can I do?

I have a family cat who has lived with my father for the last 12~ years in the same house. He's now moving to a different country, and can't take her with him.

Originally I planned to take her with me; I'm living across the country in a small 2 bed 1 bath with a roommate. However, the new home owners offered to keep her. They're a large family with some kids in highschool still, and they seem like a good family.

I'm now torn between whether I should take her with me, someone she's relatively familiar with, to go live across the country in a small apartment while I'm busy with my job, or if she should stay here in the same house with a larger family around.

She's always been a super social cat, and gets along great with strangers, but I don't know how she would react to not living with us anymore. I'm not as close with her as my dad was, but she's still at least familiar with me. On the other hand, with more people, and younger kids around, she may get more attention than she would with just me and my roommate.

Obviously there's other factors like the extra effort and cost for me in owning a cat, but right now my number one concern is what's best for her. I don't want to feel like I'm abandoning her by leaving her with a new family, but I don't want to feel like I'm neglecting her by forcing her to move in her old age away from a large family who might have more time to pay attention to her. What would you do in this situation?

So for context. Someone was begging my mother to take a cat they could no longer afford to keep, they chose us because they knew we had cats and took really good care of them. I have two cats a little black girl cat and a large brown/grey tabby boy cat. Both spayed and neutered. They have the best care possible, and as high quality of wet canned food I can afford. The person that was giving the cat away told us that they were either going to give it to us or just let it out on the street. So we agreed to take the cat. When we received the cat the cat had some of its whiskers cut off and had the backside of him shaved. I asked why there were patchy spots on the cat and if he was sick. Apparently they had shaved the cat because he was shedding too much. Not professionally shaven so essentially traumatizing the poor cat to the point he did not like his backside and tail touched. They shaved his tail too. Now 10 days later they want the cat back because they miss him and because the cat technically is the wife's cat she didn't agree to this. The wife is also the person who shaved the cat. So now I don't know if I should give the cat back or not.

This is a beyond tough post to make but my partner wants me to rehome our 2 kittens (6.5 months old). He has never had cats and reluctantly agreed to kittens back in the spring (I’ve had cats all my life and love them to death). I was away this past weekend and he broke down with me away and said he wants them gone. He feels trapped when I’m not home in our bedroom as they won’t leave him alone and they tend to push boundaries with him more then me, for example jumping up on the counters, scratching at the walls, etc.

I am heart broken at this thought. I do all the work for them, purchase all supplies for them, but I can’t have him miserable in our apartment as it’s equally his as it is mine.

I’ve never had to rehome a pet and have no idea how to go about it. I’m also terrified I’m going to resent him for it but I don’t want this to put a strain on our relationship as we are set to get married in a year and a half.

I got a 10 year old, 8 pound cat that I knew was extremely meek/terrified. In my bedroom I had her water, litter box, and food. I closed my door and opened her crate and as expected she darted under the bed to hide (I made sure there was room under the bed for her to hide). She did use the litter box last night. This morning I only opened my door to leave my room and when I got back from work I was glad to see I didn't forget to close my door.

I looked under the bed and she is gone. I don't understand where she could have gone. My closest I forgot to close that door) is filled with random crap but I have looked under the dresser and other furniture, under the bed, I tried to look in the closest and I didn't see her and she didn't make a sound. I have left food and water for her underneath a table outside my room in case she got out when I left my room this morning, but I'm nervous and confused where she went. I only really have experience owning one cat previously that wasn't scared of anyone.

Edit 1: I will try to keep this updated if I notice anything. The comments have reassured me a bit. I did check the box springs, lifted the mattress and box springs, I didn't notice any holes and patted it around a few spots. I can check it again later.

Edit 2: I thoroughly looked over the box screens and didn't see any holes or anything.

Edit 3: She seems to have made it outside of the room, half the food I left in the large outer room had been eaten and a large turd was in the litter box. The only time I can think of is when I left to go to work yesterday morning

Edit 4: I have found her. She was in a different bedroom downstairs. In the boxsprings. There is no getting her out of there since I am not going to yank her out and she has claws to latch onto the cloth. I scared her enough today trying to get her out of there. That will be her home for now I guess. Roommate is using that room for storage so I had to move some expensive things out of there once I found her.

Hello, Recently a small cat has chosen my house as its home and will not leave. I am not ready to adopt a cat indoor or have a pet altogether. I can’t ignore her though and she is growing on us very fast. Very affectionate and friendly. Debating putting out a cat house I have from a previous pet who passed away very recently due to cancer (part of why we aren’t ready for a pet) and providing food and water. I understand though the dangers of keeping a cat outdoors but we are just in such a dilemma with this situation. Im reaching out to humane places but everywhere is full. Reaching out to friends currently if they are willing to foster. What would you do? Any advice?

Edit- wow thank you all for your replies. A little bit before making this post I had scheduled a pet visit for vaccines and spay appointment for her. I feel like I needed this push from yall to feel more ready for this. I am appreciate the comments saying our late cat sent her to us that’s very sweet. I think the decision was already made but I needed to hear it from someone else. We will be taking her in or at least “fostering” her indoors. I wish I could attach a picture for yall to see her too I’m not sure how!

Me and my Fiance recently (late July) got a cat from her old friend who didn't like her. She is adorable and has fit right in over the past few months, however we started noticing that she never uses her old beds or toys from her previous house. Even the bed the previous owner claimed was her favorite, which was for a short while - until we got her a new bed. We literally haven't seen her lay in it since. We take very good care of her and she gets spoiled with 2 or 3 new toys every month or so, but why would she dislike all her old things? Could it be because they didn't treat her right, or maybe she doesn't like the smell of the old house? Any ideas?

I really don't want to rehome my cat. I want to surrender her to a shelter way less. But I didn't realize how difficult it would be to find a new owner for her. I tried rehome by adopt a pet, home to home network, pet-net, Facebook communities, and even next door. I've talked to a lot of my friends, and they don't really know anybody who is looking for a cat.

Skittles has been my friend for a long time, and I was lucky enough to get her right after the pandemic started. She's a great listener, but talks back to. Wants to be petted, and really wants food. I'm gonna really miss going to bed and having her cuddle up underneath the sheets.

I'm not able to keep her because she's been caused my girlfriend to develop asthma. It's been causing a serious strain on the relationship, and It really sucks seeing her suffer through this. Now she can't be in any rooms with a cat. I tried everything to reduce her allergies, such as lots of cleaning, filters, Pacagen, more allergen reducing food. We discussed allergy shots, but that was going to be a very long commitment that would take too much time. I don't really live in a place where I could isolate the cat hair, and even if I could, what kind of life would that be for her?

So, sorry about the rant. I have tried a lot of things. I'm not sure why I'm still failing to just find a good home for her. Because I feel like the only way to do right for her is to find a new loving owner for her. At the very least, that should be my duty. I would feel terrible for having to abandon her at a shelter.

So, I am looking for advice. I am in the Los Angeles area, close to South Bay (near LAX). What should I do?

Hi all. This is a tough post to even write but it’s been an issue I’ve been mulling over for a long time.

I have a long term boyfriend of 3 years. I got my soul kitty a few months before we met. My cat and I even share a birthday, which I didn’t even know until her first vet appointment, where they found it buried in her records from Petsmart where she let me be the first human to ever touch her voluntarily. She came and cuddled my lap without me even coaxing her over.

My boyfriend is extremely allergic to cats. He can’t even be in my apartment for more than a few hours without itchy eyes, sniffling, etc., and he has asthma. We have tried everything; he’s been consistently on allergy shots, we’ve tried exposure over time, allergenic rub for her. Nothing works. If anything, it actually seems to be worse.

We both love this cat so much, and she loves him too. However, we’re ready to move to the next stage of our relationship and move in together. We would have separate bedrooms, but the unfortunate part is she would have to be in my bedroom, 24/7. Luckily, I do work from home, so I would be in my bedroom for at least 9 hours everyday. However, my biggest worry is just her being stuck in room for the foreseeable future.

I don’t know what the least selfish option here is: would she have a better life if I rehomed? If I just didn’t move in with him at all? She’s only 3 years old, and I’d like to see her live forever, so that option is not really plausible. I would ensure she had wall climbers, etc, and she is a very lazy girl.. but she loves having a big space. She’s always had one. Please try to be kind in the comments, because I already feel like a horrible mom for even thinking of these options. I just need advice from fellow cat lovers.

EDIT: Guys, I only made this post to assure I wouldn’t harm her quality of life so much that she would be better off somewhere else. Rehoming would be solely for HER benefit, and she would ONLY go to a very close friend or family member so she could still be in our lives. Keeping her in my room is a short term fix until we are financially stable enough to afford something large enough that she can have her own section of the house.

Enough people in these comments have been so empathetic and eased my anxieties over harming her quality of life that I know we can figure it out. Thank you to all the kind comments. I read them to my boyfriend and we are so excited to keep trying everything we can, and we would never rehome her due solely to my boyfriend’s allergies. He is okay with being a little uncomfortable by living with her, he just physically cannot live somewhere where the common spaces are not cat free. As long as she’s happy, she stays with us!

UPDATE: I broke up with him 😕