A lot of the articles I’ve published on this blog over the years are articles based on problems I’ve had at home with my own felines.
Some problems were quick to fix, others which took ages to solve or still haven’t been completely resolved yet.
A few examples of articles like these include:
- My cat keeps begging to be fed all the time, how can I get him/her to stop?
- My cat meows and cries at night, how can I fix this?
- I need my cat to be able to play by him/herself when I’m away at work, what can I do?
- I have a house cat and he/she’s bored all the time, what can I do?
- Making cats like carriers so trips to the vet are less stressful.
- Making cats more okay being in cars so trips to the vet are less stressful.
- How can I keep my cats off counters?
- How to keep cats from scratching leather furniture.
- I’d like my cat to be more cuddly, can I train my cat to snuggle more?
Whether or not I have the perfect solution to the problem, I find it’s a good idea to share what I’ve learned with others who may need some ideas on directions to take with their own furry friends at home.
At times, I will also write about solutions and fixes I can think up to help others who stumble across my blog and have a different problem than I’ve come across in my time spent as a cat mommy.
Usually, these come from the comments section on posts, where pet parents will share a different spin on a problem they’ve had that’s roughly on the same topic as I’ve discussed.
They also come from emails I sometimes get from pet parents, asking for help with a really particular problem, or even actually more general problems that I’ve seen a considerable number of pet parents need help with, even if they’re not the most serious problems to have (like with cutting cat nails).
Here are a few examples of articles like these:
- My cat hates getting his nails cut. How can I make the process more smooth?
- I’m a first time cat owner and my new cat hates me.
- My cat was ill and got better, but now his personality and behaviour have changed. What can I do to help?
- After adopting a second cat, my first cat’s personality changed. How can I fix this?
- After adopting a second cat, my first cat pees everywhere, including on me. How can I fix this?
Essentially, problems and fixing problems, to the best of my ability, have been the largest part of what makes this blog enjoyable to me.
I like helping people with their cat problems, if I can, and to be honest, when I haven’t been able to, a lot of times other pet parents who stumble across the articles I write help out pet parents who have left comments before them with their own words of advice.
I’d therefore love to open this article’s comments section up to ask for any problems you’re currently facing as a pet parent to a cat: what are your most frustrating cat-related problems right now?
If you have a number, take the time to list them. If you have one, and can think of relevant information that might be able to help with solving it, do take the time to list your thoughts as well.
I’ll try my best to answer as many of the questions you have, but I also would love it if you took the time to read through a couple of other comments, if you can, and reply to any pet parents who are having problems that you have ideas with regards to fixing.
Fixed that problem yourself before? Even better! But even if you’ve never had that issue yourself, ideas can really help a pet parent out, as sometimes there’s something we just didn’t come up with to try that could be the perfect fix.
Thank you in advance for sharing with all of us – whether it’s a problem to be hopefully fixed or some guidance or thoughts, or even stories, that could help another pet parent who’s going through a difficult time with a cat based on a specific problem their having.
And all the best to you and your amazing fur-babies! xo
My cat always bites my cardboard, how can I stop it? She is ruining all of my storage, but I just can’t figure out why! Elise, please help!
I’ve seen this cat walking around for about a year. It seemed to be a stray. My neighbor and I have been feeding her for 6 months. So I trapped the cat and took it to the Vet. It is a female. I had the cat spayed and checked for other problems. She passed with flying colors. She’s been in my condo for a month now and everything is going just fine. I’m 73 years old and never owned a cat before. She seems to be adapting nicely to my condo. So far, so good.
Mike
Elise, I adopted Eddie from my daughter. She had gotten him from a sort of homeless man she had been befriending at a nearby convenience store. Eddie was just a kitten then, and she got him in a mistaken effort to provide a new companion to her five year old spayed female, Miri. My daughter had adopted Yuki and Miri as kittens in S. Korea; after five years returned to the states, cats in tow. Unfortunately, Yuki died a few months after returning to the states. They were sisters from the same litter and VERY attached to each other. So my daughter thought Miri would need a new companion.
Sorry this is so long-winded, but I thought the whole story might be important. Anyway as you have already guessed Miri not only would not accept Eddie, but she frequently attacked him, so much that he developed biting habits and stopped using the litter box. My daughter feared his bad habits would make him unadoptable, so after trying a few weeks asked my wife and I to take him. I did not need any convincing.
We’ve had Eddie is a little over a year now, and he is a very handsome, bright cat, gets along famously with our three small dogs, and is a much-loved pet. But he has developed a self-mutilation habit: he reaches back and tears out his own fur right in the middle of his back, and no where else. I have had him to our vet about this, who finds nothing physical to cause this behavior. Vet says anxiety, and suggested medication (Amitriptyline). After nearly two months I saw no improvement, so stopped giving it to him.
My idea is that this is a residue of Miri abusing him him. Will he just grow out of it? I wish I could help him somehow. I would like your thoughts.
I should have added more facts – Eddie was neutered shortly after we got him. He has perfect litterbox manners since he came to us. Still has some biting behavior, though.
We have no other cats, but our son & wife left their two cats with us last summer while they traveled. And, yes, our daughter does come for a week-long visit occasionally and does bring Miri, but we keep them separated.
He has loads of personality, answers you when you call out to him, and comes when you call. A generally very fine cat except for the self-mutilation I described..
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of cat mutilation issues are food allergies.
I’ve had cats who scratched themselves to pieces – like full on bloody – when they ate things they were allergic to. It made them incredibly itchy.
Usually, once I identified the allergy (in this cat’s case: salmon & all cereals were eliminated from her diet, if your cat has an allergy it might be different), I still had to make sure the cat didn’t re-open the wound, as it felt like the scab would sometimes get itchy to the point where she’d itch until it was torn open again. I had to cone for a few weeks once to be sure she couldn’t reach the wound, then when it’d sealed and on the new diet, she was fine.
Try having a look at diet. If you can get cereal free, try that. If you’re feeding chicken, try switching to another protein source. If you’re feeding fish, try another fish or try chicken.
Again, you might have to cone him (if that prevents him from reaching that spot on his back) until his scabs heal, as in my experience with this one cat, it seems scabs can itch to the point where kitties might want to tear them off.
I don’t personally think this is stress related or anything to do with the old cat if you think he’s incredibly anxiety free now that he’s an only kitty and using the litter box perfectly now.
As a heads up, this cat that that had the food allergies also has biting behaviours when it comes to cleaning because she’s *so* aggressive when she cleans, but she’s a white cat and looks stunning, clean like no other cat, so maybe there’s something like OCD in cats and she had it? Not sure if this strikes a chord with you about your Eddie. Maybe it’s obsessive grooming and not necessarily biting for the sake of biting. As this cat does it even when she’s not stressed.
Thank you, Elise.
Eddie does not scratch the place – he only bites and pulls on the fur. And there are no lesions or anything like that on his skin in that area (or anywhere else). The vet checked that out carefully.
That’s even better (that he has no lesions or scratches & it’s just fur pulled out).
I’ve seen a few cats who will overgroom by licking and biting fur to the point where they have bald patches. I definitely still believe it might be to do with some kind of food intolerance or allergy. But I’m so happy to hear it’s not so severe as I thought.
Let me know if you do end up trying some kind of elimination diet, and if that helps this behaviour in any way.
I have a 15 year old Cat and she has itched and dug and scratched all her life. The vet doesn’t even know what the problem is. The only time she’s not digging is when she sleeping. Not sure what else to do. I’m so frustrated.
Hi Crystal! Have you ever tried switching cat food?
One of my cats is allergic to salmon, and if he has it, it gives him the runs. I’ve heard a lot of cats have allergies that make them itch and dig, so maybe something in the food is the problem.
Worth a shot!
Yes sort of even tried grain free food, switched from plastic to metal bowls. My cat is so finnicky and persnickety she’ll only eat certain food.
If the vet doesn’t know the problem what am I to do?
I have,3 10 year old cats. Our original cat is a dream, however the other two we only adopted a few years ago from our neighbor. Both were Feral and have peed all over the house. I have the Feliway, and it has helped, but the two just can’t help but pee on everything including me.
One has an Autoimmune problem and has had most of his teeth pulled. He is the worst! Other one wants to be the #1, with all of the attention. Help!!!!
Hello Kay! This is a tough position to be in, good on you for sticking it out through frustrating times!
Are they both neutered/spayed? I don’t think anything can help as much as getting your cats fixed.
If they are already, do your best (and I know it’s hard) to play with your cats once a day. If they refuse to play together (which is the better of the two options because it will make them like each other better), then 10 minutes a day individually works, you can just trap yourself in a room for playtime with one of them.
The best thing you can use in my experience is a feather wand, or one of these other high-energy toys. The more active they are at playtime, the less anxiety they should have, and hopefully the less anxiety (as the Feliway also helps with), the less peeing everywhere, less problematic behaviour overall.
Let me know if you decide to try this – 10 minutes a day of energetic play for each cat – whether it helps at all!
All the best xoxo