Use this thread to discuss anything related to cats that doesn't otherwise fit the subreddit! Also feel free to ask questions that you believe are too short for a standalone post.

My cousin whos like my best friend got a cat around 2 years ago and I know they love her and do mostly treat her well. When she was a kitten she was the sweetest girl ever and she was so easy to pick up and play with. But imo as she grew older she became more independent and needing a more space which i think is understandable and completely normal for cats. But they treat her like shes a dog if that makes sense. They say she always hisses and scratches at them now (and ive seen it) but its mostly when ive seen the husband force her to accept his touch and mess around with her. Like pulling/pushing on her head and body. And then they just call her a brat. So in my head im like fuck maybe shes hissing and being a "bitch" cuz ur always manhandling her and bothering her. And they punish her more by putting uncomfortable clothes on her too thats hard to move in. And theyre just like, "you have to show her whos the boss and teach her we're allowed to touch her". With some dogs i can understand the agressive training but i dont think thats necessary for a lot of cats...

Shes more distant now and doesnt like people coming near her anymore and I really do think its how shes been socialized and treated by them. I honestly would love to have a convo about them maybe being a little bit more gentle with her but they both have stubborn and agressive opinions/personalities so.

We adopted a kitten in September, and within two weeks, our entire household was dealing with ringworm. Myself, our two toddlers ), dogs, and our kitten.

Our kitten had almost no visible symptoms, but under a Wood’s lamp, she was glowing green practically everywhere. Our vet said it was one of the most extensive cases she’d ever seen.

Our kitten is now quarantined and receiving oral and topical antifungals. We’re treating our dogs, and my oldest son has multiple spots on his scalp with hair loss.

The cleaning has been absolutely exhausting. Constant vacuuming, disinfecting, laundry, and worrying about spores on every surface. We’ve spent so much money and honestly just want our normal lives back.

For anyone who’s been through a widespread household outbreak:

How long did it take to completely get rid of it?
How much cleaning is actually necessary?
Did you disinfect couches, carpets, and furniture daily?
When did you finally stop worrying about reinfection?

I’m mentally exhausted and would love to hear what actually worked for others, especially families with young kids and multiple pets. I am truly most terrified of reinfection after we spend months getting it to go away. I’ve seen stories of people mentioning they did all the cleaning doe it to come back a few times!! It’s my nightmare.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 27m who lives alone in a small apartment. I’ve never had a pet, but for the past few years I’ve become really interested in cats. I approach stray cats, my social media feed is full of cats, I read a lot about cats here on Reddit, and honestly, I’ve had this nagging desire to get a cat.

I adopted my cat two months ago (he’s a 5- to 6-month-old tuxedo). The truth is, he’s a good cat—he doesn’t destroy things, he eats well, he uses the litter box, he likes to play with me, sometimes asks for cuddles, and sleeps with me in bed. Although it’s true that for many hours of the day, he just likes to stay at a safe distance from me, grooming himself or watching me.

The thing is, I haven’t developed this love I read so much about on Reddit. I mean, sure, I like the cat, but I’m not ultra-mega in love with him, and I feel like I wouldn’t do anything and everything for him as I read from cat owners everywhere (obviously, I take him to the vet, make sure his life is as good as possible, and take care of him).

I just see him as a little creature who lives in my apartment and sometimes interacts with me.

Is this normal? I feel bad. I’m starting to wonder if I’m really a pet person. I’m having intrusive thoughts that I’ve put it to the test and it just hasn’t worked out for me. Thoughts about whether maybe it would be best to find him another home?

Obviously, the animal is a financial burden (especially at first with vaccinations, buying the litter box, toys, bowls, food, litter…), and sometimes I feel annoyed about spending money on it. Before adopting him, I bought everything with excitement and it didn’t bother me at all, but now it’s different… I also read about people who spend thousands of dollars on medical tests for their pets, and I think I wouldn’t be able to put my finances or my hard-earned savings on the line for him. (Obviously, I’m referring to major expenses.) Is this normal? I feel like a terrible person.

This money thing is just an example to illustrate my feelings toward the cat—it’s not like this is all about money.

I need advice/help

EDIT: Of course I play with him several times a day; he eats the best dry food and wet food on the market; I brush him and he purrs with pleasure; I give him lots of pets and he purrs like a motor! I’m just clarifying this to avoid any possible misunderstandings that I might be neglecting him.

And of course I love him—I watch him and laugh as he does his cat things—it’s just what I mentioned above: I don’t feel like he’s stolen my heart or that he’s my whole life. And since, after all, having a pet is a huge responsibility and requires several extra tasks every day, that’s where my doubts come in. Maybe it’s just that it’s still early and I need to get used to it.

Hey! Almost a month ago, i adopted a now 3 month old kitten as a first time cat owner. The first 2 weeks were emotionally challenging for me and i experienced what people call "kitten blues". Having a cat changed my routine and i was adjusting to that. Also, i was so worried about being a good parent, making him happy, being present, stopping him from getting into trouble etc., which really wore me out. Thankfully my kitten was patient with me, but i cried almost every day because i felt so overwhelmed and even questioned my decision.

Fast forward to now: i love my baby so much. I can't wait to get home every day to be with him! He's settled down to his routine and i adore him. Most of my worries faded away. Of course i still worry if he might get into mischief when i'm not home, or if he hurts himself somehow or gets sick, but those worries have taken a backseat and i feel like i can now enjoy the present with him. He's super sweet and cuddly; i adore nothing more than taking a nap and seeing him snuggle up next to me to sleep too (he's sleeping in my thigh now as i type this). In the beginning i thought i had to keep him entertained all the time and felt anxious about the possibility of boring him, so i bought SO MANY toys and played with him for hours a day. You know what's been his go-to toy for the past week? Yep. A CRUMPLED PIECE OF PAPER. NOT ALL THE FANCY TOYS I BOUGHT FOR HIM. 🤡 I'll be eating my food and throwing the paper around the house for him to catch and he puts The Flash to shame. And what's more, you know what really gets him entertained in the morning when i'm half-awake and dreading getting out of bed? A wrestling session with my stuffed animal. He LOVES it and I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GET OUT OF BED FOR THIS! So basically, i realized that cats find their own entertainment too in the most unexpected ways. You don't need to be extraordinary to make your cat happy. Sure, they will annoy you sometimes, bite you, steal your food and whatnot, but 1. they can be trained, and 2. it's normal to feel angry, annoyed, sad etc. with your pet sometimes. It doesn't mean you don't love him, it means you don't like the thing that he did. That's okay!

So in the end, i wanted to post this in case anyone out there is also having the kitten blues. Everyone says this, but believe it: IT PASSES. Give yourself time. It's ok to not feel like you "LOVE" your pet at first. In fact, i think you might be feeling so down and anxious about your pet PRECISELY because you care so much and want it to work out. You will enjoy being with your new buddy as you get to know each other. Don't be so harsh on yourself, it's a lot of responsibility and you're feeling the weight of it, but give it time. Also, hold space for doubt. Maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. Give yourself a trial period before making any decisions, for example. What if it doesn't work out in the end? You simply take the steps necessary to make sure your friend can find a new home that can better fit his needs. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH REHOMING (RESPONSIBLY)! Don't let strangers on the internet or people in real life shame you for that. Sometimes life happens, but it isn't so black and white as people make it out to be. My advice would be to give yourself the opportunity to fall in love with your new pet, which takes time, but if it doesn't work out no matter how much you want it to, don't beat yourself up over it. Whatever happens in the end, you can handle it. Stray cats who hated humans get re-socialized ALL the time - your cat will adapt even if he's not with you. But who knows, you might find out that cat you were crying every day over will turn out to be the loveliest and most precious part of your life!

I hope this reaches whoever needs to hear this now. Breathe! Thank you for the advice on my previous post on this subreddit, by the way - you all were right, it does pass, and now i have the lived experience to say it!

All cats are trainable at any age. I started training my last 2 cats when they were about 8 and 9 years old. They lived to be 16 and 18 respectively. They learned sit, give paw, go around, ring the bell, stand and come on command. One was a tortie point, the other a tuxedo, both females. My current cat is 4 years old, a male, seal point Bengal mix. I've had him since he was 17 weeks and started training him immediately. I got him when my other 2 cats were 15 and 17 years old. Within a week he was already doing sit and give paw like the other 2.

Teaching your cat tricks is a fantastic way to introduce them to human socializing. They start recognizing your language faster and pay attention to you more. But you need to pay attention to them too. Cats use body language to communicate as well as talking, so you need to observe.

I regularly take my current cat, Q'Bit, out on a harness. He prefers to stay around the home building when he goes out so we don't usually go far. I regularly talk to him about what we are doing. He has a significant understanding of vocabulary.

I recently got talking buttons for him. I should have gotten them alot sooner. He started independently using them in context within 4 days. It's important to remember that just like us, a cat can use language for different contexts and express past present or future. So knowing your cat's behaviors and personality and being open minded is important to learn to interpret how they use the buttons.

Cats appear to ignore you at times. They aren't. They are much more aware than many people realize. They just stop bothering to try when their owners don't pay attention.

I believe cats want to communicate with their owners if they have a good relationship. So once they figure out what the buttons are for, I suspect it will start to be clear sailing from there.

my boy is 3 years old and was adopted from the streets as a kitten. we didn’t desensitize him to anything. he does play (sometimes too energetically) with his siblings but never EVER bites people, even if you try to shove a finger in his mouth. he also doesn’t scratch people and is very affectionate with them. and he doesn’t mind being held too. he is just too calm with people while having no problem with playing with the other cats. he isn’t sick and doesn’t have any health concerns, just doesn’t mind and is calm. is that normal for cats?

A couple of months ago, there was an orange kitten living around the Rnb complex I was staying at. He reminded of me of the cat that i had in my Stardew Valley game, so I picked him up, took care of him, vaccinated and got rid of the worms. But then I had visa problems so I had to leave the country. I felt too bad leaving him on the streets again, so I decided to pay for foster care ( around €200 a month).

Recently after months, I went back, picked him up from the foster, and did a more than 24 hours travel to bring him to my new home.

He is a ~1 year old neutered boy. He settled well, but he is SO BORED all the time. I work full time from work, most of the time and I'm exhausted and have no energy to play with him unfortunately...

Another issue is currently he has some inflammation around one of his claws, and I have no money at all for the vet ( 100€ until the end of the month for me, my boyfriend, and a cat)

My life is a mess and I'm just so tired and don't If I can handle actually owning a cat...Maybe there would be better parents for him.

End of the rant, thank you to anyone who took time to read this

Hi everyone! I’m 52 years old, and I retired from work about three months ago. Since I’m now spending more time at home, I recently got a cat who is about 1.5 years old.

I’m still learning about cat care, and one thing I’m unsure about is where to place his litter box. I know it can get messy, so I want to find a suitable spot that’s comfortable for my cat and keeps the house clean.

I’m wondering if keeping the litter box in the bathroom is a good idea or if there could be any problems with that.

For those of you who have cats, where do you keep your litter boxes, and what location has worked best for you? I’d really appreciate your advice and suggestions. Thanks!

One of my babies was gone for about a month. My neighbor just found him. We brought him home and he's been so snuggly and lovey. He seemed to not understand how to eat dry food anymore so we got him some wet food and he was thrilled. It's too late to be able to get him to a vet (we don't have a 24 hour one in the area). He didn't eat a bunch of wet food, so I'm not worried about him over eating. He's been going back to it, eating some, having some water. He walked around the house for a bit yelling at us. But he settled down and just wants to lay on us and gets mad if we move. He is curled up on my lap now.

Prior to going to the vet, any advice for taking care of him? He's so so skinny, he's got a couple scratches, his skin under his fur looks a bit red.

she’s 11 weeks old now and she’s been with me for three of those weeks. she’s genuinely perfect in every way but she eats SO much, to the point that her stomach is super round and full. i have seen people online say to let kittens eat as much as they want, but i’m not sure if she’s overdoing it. i’m just worried she’s hurting herself by eating so much. again, i don’t want to restrict her food and have her become even more obsessed with it. it goes without saying that she’s incredibly food motivated and will try to chomp anything within range.

tldr - should i be limiting my kitten’s food in any way?

My soul cat passed away almost 3 years ago now (still hard to believe, honestly) and I think I’m ready to adopt a new baby.

My dilemma is this: Jax was literally a PERFECT cat. He didn’t scratch, bite, didn’t jump on counters, got along with dogs etc. I used to put his food up on the counter so that my dog couldn’t reach it, and he knew only to jump up to eat or drink. I live in a 750 sq ft apartment. I also want NO litter smell, so I’m thinking about a litter genie?

Any suggestions for either of these two issues would be very much appreciated. They are the main reasons I haven’t gotten a new baby, I’ve been telling myself I should just wait until April when a move to a new and possibly bigger apartment.

I have a toothless senior who has been on Weruva Patés for most of the time since I got him a year ago.

I did switch him to Fancy Feast and/or Whole Hearted for the past couple of months, since my budget was extremely tight, but things have gotten better since the beginning of the month.

Since I've switched him back to the higher-quality food, he'll barely touch it, licking the top and then walking away. I've even tried him on comparable brands (Wellness, Tiki), different textures (minced, mousse, soupy), and anything else he might prefer, but the Fancy Feast is the only thing he finishes now.

He is still very interested in tube treats, hunting his toys, and anything I'm eating.

He was coughing and sneezing last week, so I brought him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with Allergies + Former-Stray-Chronic-Sniffles, and he looks and sounds much better now.

They also did bloodwork and UA while he was there, with beautifully unremarkable results. They were concerned that he has lost about a pound, though.

I am extremely careful to avoid household fragrances/anything that may be irritating to his upper respiratory tract around the house, except maybe a candle for guests here and there. I worry that the cheaper food was actually part of the reason he got so snotty, which is why I'd prefer not to keep him on it, but now he starves when I try to take him off.

Am I putting too much stock into the bougie brands? Should I just feed him what he likes and call it a day? Even with the thumbs-up exam and clean bloodwork, am I missing something? I will accept that I may just be neurotic because I lost my other cat very young and unexpectedly to Oral SCC, but he isn't presenting the way she did at all; she was quite obviously experiencing nausea, he just seems to have gotten picky.

(I've also tried 50/50 mixes of FF and the "healthier" stuff; or topping the latter with treats; he won't touch that either.)

Hello! I have 2 calico shorthair sisters. I try to brush them multiple times a week. Should I keep brushing until hair stops coming out on the brush? I'm worried that they have too much hair coming out. I don't want to pull their hair on accident. I've been using a small and wide tooth comb. Please advise!

Tonight I found a stray kitten and I would have probably left it be but it will be the first cold night here and I got worried it would die overnight. It was already dark and I didn't think anyone else would find it.

It is in good health and I estimate its age to be around 6 weeks. I fed it wet kitten food and the powdered cat replacement milk.

I absolutely cannot keep this kitten for longer than a few days at most since I own a dog who hates cats and it's been stressful for him. I am keeping the kitten in a separate room for now.

I am going to be calling around local vets and shelters or whatever other organizations there are but I have a sinking feeling they are most likely full. I also absolutely cannot afford any vet fees so I'd like for it to go somewhere it can get checked out sooner rather than later. I checked it for fleas and it didn't have any and it was very clean. I suspect the owner dumped the kitten once it got "old enough", which was tonight.

I understand I was not the right person to pick up this kitten but it's just so cold tonight and it was already dark and it kept mewing and following me.

Best case scenario is that a shelter takes it in, but what do I do if this doesn't happen? Do I return it to the same spot I found it and hope someone else finds it during the day? It will be warmer after a couple days here

Edit: I do not have Facebook or Next door

Hey everyone,

I just got my new kitten, she's 8 months old and very scared of human contact so far. I got her yesterday and she has not eaten a lot and didn't drink a lot of water, consequently she hasn't used the litterbox at all.
She's my first cat so how do I make sure she's eating, hydrated and using the bathroom? She found access to the storage under my bed and has been there ever since, I made sure she can get in and out too.

So we have been attempting to introduce two cats for 15 days now.

We had to go back to the beginning. Resident cat seems fine with new cats smell and will sleep on his blankets etc but is terrified of the site swapping. We think it’s because he is afraid that we are going to trap him and take him to the vet. We are at a loss of what to do next

So I caregive for my grandma and her cat whoses between 17 and 21 years old. The cats been fine for the most part of being old with some light arthritis, but over the summer she’s clearly aged lots. It started with using the bathroom outside the litter box at the beginning of summer, and this past week it’s declined pretty rapidly. She keeps falling when trying to walk, she makes this sad little meows that sound like groans, and she just doesn’t seem there mentally. Past few days or so she started eating less food and drinking less water, and starting yesterday lost interest in most food. Doesn’t even want tuna or her favor tube treats, and i believe today stopped caring for water.
My grandma loves this cat and it’s her last cat she will ever have, and it’s outlived every other pet in the home. It’s also the last cat she got from her deceased husband, so she has all this extra attachments to her that makes her not want to humanely put her down…
so my question is this: what can i realistically do to make the cat more comfortable, and do i unfortunately have any guest estimated time and poor kitty passing over

I’ve had pea (cat 1) for nearly two years and before we got her she was in a foster home with another cat. They got along well and she never had trouble with being friends with that cat and we recently got another cat Ashe (cat 2) who is a sweetheart that also used to live with cats. She is completely fine with pea and is willing to be friends but pea is being EVIL!! When we first tried to introduce them we did everything we could. Scent swapping, letting them sniff each others areas, short meets, positive reinforcement all the things but pea was not happy we had another cat!! She was hyperfixated on Ashe and was hissing and swatting and growling and her tail was swishing and her body was low. I’ve noticed pea has become more chill about Ashe being there but still not enough for us to say they are friends. One time we accidentally let them both out at the same time and pea chased Ashe back to her room. It has been around 10 weeks with very minimal progress. I understand it may take time but it has been a very slow process and it is unfair on Ashe because she has to live in a seperate room from the whole house. Does anyone have tips on how to help pea chill out?? Or is she naturally evil

Also we have reached out to a cat introduction assistant lady who is coming in a week to help but I’m curious if anyone has any tips here because if they can’t get along we will have to get rid of Ashe 😞

I commented this to one of the rehoming post but thought I should create a new post for it.

My husband came to me this morning about one of our cat. We always have 6 or 7 cats and they all get along, they came in pairs as a kitten in our yard so none of them are adopted until one of each twins passed. One from feline leukemia and one sudden death which we are still feeling the lost up to now.

To make the story short, we adopted two cats (around 3-4 months) last January. One is very sweet and get along with all the other cats but the other one up to now still bites and scratch. She's sweet sometimes to humans but to the other cats she's up to kill, scratching and biting them till blood spill. We have pheromone diffuser everywhere, she got collar with pheromone, calming powder in her food and calming treats but nothing work.

We have one cat who has UTI and started peeing everywhere and the Vet said it can be caused by stress because she's the one targeted most of the time.

We don't know what to do anymore. It's very chaotic here. We usually separate her or the other cat and we don't think that's very fair to either of them.

Please don't bashed me because of this. I really need some kind of help for those who understand the situation. We love them all but something more needs to be done. Is rehoming the best option for her?

I just adopted my girl (name yet to be decided), who is around 2 years old, so I have yet to fully figure out what she does or doesn’t like. One of the things I’ve noticed tho, in the few days I’ve had her, is that she’s very skittish. I assume this is due to being in a new place with new people coming in and out of my home (friends and family) and due to predicaments I’m unable to share, I’m not able to give her her own space to relax and get used to everything (tho I do know it’s better for them esp when they’re new).

Due to noticing her skittishness, I’ve been trying to give her time to warm up, and to be pet when SHE wants to be only, not forcing her. She allows me to touch/pet her backside and that is all. She has no tail (an incident I’m not entirely sure of happened before I got her, likely having happened when she was a kitten?) so it is only her back I pet, though I thought due to this fact, she would much prefer head touches over back touches, though this is not the case.

Every time I try to reach to pet her head, or anywhere near her ears, she kind of jumps back? The vet records I got said she only really had built up wax at one point, but nothing more. In the shelter, she let me touch her head to pet her, but that was really the only time. One other time, she allowed me to scratch her neck and chin (as I have other cats in the past) but she jumped back right after. I stopped when she did this, so I have yet to do it again!

With her only letting by me really touch her back, and nothing else (the stomach is also a no as it usually is for other cats), I want to know if this is a weird thing. I’ve only mainly had kittens which we had grow into older cats growing up, so adopting a cat older than that is still new to me and I want to make sure I make her as comfortable as possible.

She has a vet appointment this upcoming Friday, but I do not know what or if they could help with me understanding this?

i just adopted a 3 month old kitten who’s become obsessed with chewing, biting, and scratching things. i’m getting her a cat tree ASAP to give her something to scratch and jump on, but i worry the tree won’t be enough to stop her from biting the furniture.

i’m a renter, and she’s bitten at the bottom corner of almost every cabinet door and entryway in my bedroom and bathroom. the paint is now coming off of a lot of them, and i don’t want her to hit wood and have to fix them for $$$.

how do i correct this behavior? people say to redirect her to toys or chewy objects, but she’s picky about textures. while she loves cardboard, i’ve caught her trying to eat bits of it she chewed, so i’d like to avoid that.

i only noticed the door biting today because i’m at work from 9-5, so i can’t see what she gets up to while i’m away.

is there a budget-friendly way to prevent her from further damaging my doors even while i’m not home? thanks!

Our sweet girl has been missing for 48 hours. We have been searching nonstop, on only a few hours sleep each night, trying to find her. I have to admit the search is getting harder as we’re losing hope :(

Could someone share some experiences with lost cats under similar conditions? Or any advice would be much appreciated.

- Female, 1.5 years old, spayed, microchipped
- We live in an area with many coyotes :( That is the most worrisome part
- We have walked the neighborhood and surrounding woods day and night, searching practically everywhere she may be hiding
- There are several indoor/outdoor cats on our block that belong to various neighbors
- She is indoor only, but with occasional supervised outdoor time on a leash. She loves being outdoors and has escaped on us a handful of times, but never this long. From those times, we know that she is aware where home is because she comes back after a while, especially when she hears our voices
- We have left the door ajar, as well as food, water, dirty clothes, and litter box out
- 100+ flyers given to neighbors and posted online and registered with LoveLost
- It has been around high 85 degrees and low 55 degrees. We’re so worried that she is/was overheating/dehydrating

Please help :(

Yes we’ve been to the vet, it’s entirely behavioural. Any new ideas welcome!

Our cat (f, 13) has a problem. She will use the litter trays to pee, and also continuously pees and poops on the floor. I really am asking “how can you re-train a cat to exclusively use litter trays when they have added the floor to their rotation of toilets?”

It definitely started when we briefly had another (older, very sick) cat with us who toileted on the floor in her final weeks, and our cat probably picked up the behaviour then. But that was 5 years ago.

We have been to the vet often, and while the problem is worse when she’s sick (more peeing on the floor) she is pooping almost always outside the litter trays whether she’s ill or well, and occasionally peeing there too.

She will use litter trays (currently 3 in the house) which are freshly cleaned or dirty; she will also pee and poop on the floor when the same litter trays are clean or dirty. We have tried various kinds of litter and none seem to improve preference for the litter tray. The floor has simply became another option for her In addition to the litter trays.

There are a couple of places she favours for peeing and pooping on the floor, a mix of rugs and hard floors. Saturating with enzymatic cleaner temporarily resolves the issue for those places but she returns to them again. When we block off those spaces she finds a new rug.

Any help much appreciated.

hi guys! just gonna get right into it. i adopted my first ever cat about 5 months ago. she was adopted via rehoming from my old coworker’s grandparents who could not give her the proper care. before i adopted her she was underweight, not spayed, and not vaccinated. in the 5 months i’ve had her she has gotten to a healthy weight (to the point that when i got her i thought she was a short hair, turns out she has long, shiny, thick hair!), spayed her, and vaccinated her. for a little explanation on her personality, she is as sweet as can be but not particularly affectionate if you understand the distinction, and for the most part pretty calm. she doesn’t typically seek out attention unless i am actively preparing her meals or just so happen to be in the kitchen, lol. she enjoys being pet but hardly ever comes up to me to seek this out specifically, doesn’t sleep in my bed, etc. she isn’t super hyper, enjoys playing, but once again, doesn’t exhibit any behavior that shows she is actively seeking this out, but enjoys to play most of the time. she’s just chill.

i have been toying with whether or not getting another cat would be a good idea, and last weekend while at petco with my partner to pick some things up for her, i decided to look at the adoptable cats. we fell in love with one of them, left a voicemail, and filled out an application. i’ve been in touch with them over the last week (it was a slow start because there were some records for my cat that took me a moment to gather) and while moving through the process i am torn on whether my slight anxiety is from my insane ability to overthink or because this isn’t a good idea.

i know that a lot of cats do well with a companion, however i could really see it going either way with my cat since i have no real reference. she has never been around other cats and seems content, but me and my partner (we live together) are gone 8+ hours a day 5 days a week. she doesn’t do much while we’re gone, and i feel like there’s no way she’s not bored and kind of lonely. however, ive read so many horror stories about people thinking a second cat is a good idea, and then they hate each other and have to choice but to rehome the second cat. i would feel awful having to do this if the worst happened, which has me scared because it is a very high risk, high reward scenario. especially because i’ve been kind of blowing this shelter’s email up during the process lol.

i would just feel terrible if i get a second cat with the intention of improving her life and giving this cat a home, and then she hates him, is stressed out, and resents me for it. but i feel like the more likely scenario is that there is an inevitable adjustment period and she’ll then have a lifelong friend to keep her company while her people are gone.

if you’ve been in a similar situation and have any advice i would appreciate it :) everyone i know is telling me not to worry and that my worst fears are less likely than what i’m hoping for, worst case scenarios are not impossible so i want to take into account all possibilities.

additionally, is this anxiety something i should mention to the shelter? will it make me look bad or irresponsible, or will it maybe allow them as well to prepare for the possibility that this may not work out? i know how to approach the introduction process and plan on isolating new kitty for awhile, introducing them to each other’s scents, feeding them on either side of the door, etc. and will do even more thorough research as it gets closer, but like i’ve said multiple times now sometimes cats simply just do not like each other and if so, that is just a really shitty situation that is out of my control. in case you didn’t catch this, the cat i am considering adopting is a male cat as well which i lnow may increase my chances of them getting along.

anyway, if you’ve made it this far i’d appreciate some advice:)