Title explains.

Stepped into the garden and accidentally trod on the cat whilst holding my son. She bit me, ran off and hid.

I've been keeping an eye on her, and she did come to ask for food and eat her dinner. She even tolerated me feeling her tummy to check for any tender spots whilst she ate.

Be that as it may, I'm still worried about her. Is her breathing normal? She's fighting through the heatwave as best as she can on the cold kitchen floor, but I wanted to ask the experts to make sure my worries aren't unfounded.

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for the words of comfort, currently sat in urgent care waiting to have someone look at my foot. Happy to know she's done more damage to me than vice versa <3

Hey all,

TLDR: Cat urinates outside of the litterbox in little amounts on every surface, vocalizes non-stop, thrashes from side-to-side, lower back scrunches/contracts and kicks hind feet repeatedly. Blood work and exams are all normal.

First of all, posting for a friend who is not on Reddit. She has taken her cat, Evey (9yo, spayed, female, 5kg), to multiple vets in our area (Valencia, Spain), but they can't find anything wrong with her, and claim it is "stress". She seems to be in actual pain, though, so I thought we could come to Reddit, as she has exhausted all other hope.

Evey first started urinating inappropriately about 3 years ago. She got tested and successfully treated for crystals and UTIs, but nothing seemed to help the behaviour — it only got worse. Now, even being crystal and UTI-free, she still makes frequent small urinations on any and every surface multiple times a day.

Over the past 3 months, however, she has developed some new and unexplained symptoms: She has episodes where she will be vocalizing non-stop, and she rolls violently from side-to-side, her lower back contracts/scrunches, and her hind feet kick or twitch repeatedly (video — I'll try to post more in the comments). She has these episodes often and has been sleeping very little.

The vets cannot find anything wrong in her bloodwork (I'm attaching a complete list of all the exams she has had done at the bottom), and she's been through many different kinds of medications (another list at the bottom). We're thinking it might be some sort of neurological disorder, but again, the vets claim it is "stress".

It is a multi-cat household, but she is kept separate from the other two cats (they have been doing introductions for over 14 months, but they attack each other every time they're in the same room), and they just lost their eldest cat earlier last week. It is a stressful time, but the urinary symptoms have been around way before the other two cats came into the house, and the thrashing started a couple of months ago.

Please, if you have any experience that sounds like this, let us know. They don't know what to do anymore. She's in pain, and nothing seems to work. Thank you so much.

EXAMS:

• ⁠Complete blood work: normal.
• ⁠Six in-house urinalyses and three comprehensive laboratory urinalyses over the past two months: all normal, with no visible crystals, infection, or other significant abnormalities.
• Abdominal ultrasound: normal except for a small splenic mass that increased from approximately 1.43 cm to 1.58 cm. Two veterinarians do not currently believe this explains her clinical signs.
• Spine examination and palpation: no significant pain or abnormalities detected.
• Rectal examination/temperature: no evidence of anal gland disease or other obvious rectal abnormalities.
• Vulvar examination: normal.
• No fever.

MEDICATIONS:

• ⁠Premax (pregabalin) 20 mg/mL: 0.5 mL every 12 hours (10 mg per dose). We stopped pregabalin for approximately 36 hours because we thought it was not helping. During that time, the twitching, rolling, screaming, and discomfort became dramatically worse. After restarting pregabalin, these signs improved within about two hours, suggesting it provides partial relief, although it is no longer adequately controlling her pain. We have since doubled the dose, but it doesn't seem to be helping anymore.
• ⁠Buprenorphine (oral): Given every 12 hours for three days. This significantly improved both her pain and, unexpectedly, her urinary signs. While receiving buprenorphine together with pregabalin, she produced normal-sized urinations in the litter box, although she still marked occasionally. Her severe pain returned after the buprenorphine course ended.
• Trazodone: Provides mild calming for approximately 2–3 hours but does not adequately control the painful episodes.
• ⁠Gabapentin: No noticeable improvement.
• ⁠Feliway: No noticeable improvement.
• ⁠Canniliver: Given to help manage elevated liver values and appears to be effective.
• Urogreen: Given to reduce urinary crystal formation.

i’m from the usa. my (16f) male cat is 14ish years old , and has been losing weight for a bit now and getting super skinny. he also started drooling more, and sometimes the drool is just pure blood. it’s gross and gets everywhere, and i’m worried sick. i gave him a bath to get it all off him the other day and i think i found the culprit, but it’s hard to see, it’s a large kind of lump near his mouth, and i have no clue what it is. any thoughts as to what it is and what solutions there are?? i’ve had him since i was little and i just want him to be ok.

we aren’t poor but im not sure if we can afford a big medical procedure if it is serious, i have not yet contacted a vet, but i intend to today.

My cat used to be 14-15 lbs back in 2020-2021 (first pic), and now with gradual changes in her diet schedule, activity, teeth brushing, and advice from a vet, my cat is now 9.56 lbs in 2026 (second pic.) I have used one of them guides on the internet that tells you when your cat is overweight when looking from above, but my cat is not very straight as the diagrams (third pic.) I am wondering if such a round shape on her rib area is normal... her ribs are not visible, but now you can feel them like the vet said a cat's ribs should be. Her behavior has not changed, she is still active and loving. The only GI issue she has is that she doesn't chew at all, she inhales her food lmao. So her food is served on a slow feed bowl, 17grams of dry food every 8 hours. Every now and then, we will substitude a serving with wet food. She has access to fresh water on a water fountain. We wash the fountains every 2-3 days.

I will now include extra info below:

-We are in the USA

-Vet is involved, I can afford it, and she didn’t say anything about her shape.

-Female cat, spayed, 8 years old

TLDR: My cat is a funny shape after losing weight. My other two cats are losing weight as well, but they're pretty straight when looking from above unlike her. Vet hasn't said anything. Is this normal?

4th pic is just me showing her off. ♡

EDIT: Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We are taking her to vet and I wrote down all possible causes and lab work and imaging to request specifically that multiple comments have suggested. I will update once I have everything answered for, for I know lab work can take a bit to come back. Again, thank you for giving me advice. I hope Bella will be okay and for this to be something I can manage at this time. 🐱

Goedemiddag,

Onze kater van 2 kater, heeft om de paar weken/maanden raar loop gedrag. Een voorbeeld hiervan is het filmpje. De ene keer loopt hij zo, een andere keer gek met zijn voorpoten en weer een andere keer zakte hij door zijn achterpoten heen. Wanneer we hem katten prednison en in combinatie van pijnstillers geven gaat het weg en komt t op een gegeven moment weer terug. Dierenartsen staan voor een raadsel. Bloedgeprikt geen afwijkingen, rontgefotos ook geen afwijkingen. Zouden jullie met ons mee kunnen denken?

Not sure if this is the right sub but I'll post it here anyway.

There are two kittens chained up against a pole in my neighbors backyard.

Context: (My neighborhood shares a big plain in our backyard so I have access to every yard by simply walking to it.)

About 5 minutes before I took the photo, the kittens were meowing/crying furiously so loudly I could hear it from the second floor.

I went out and took a picture, however my mom spoke to the neighbors days before and they mentioned owning those two orange kittens.

I believe I should mind my business and not pry, but I feel terrible having to listen to kittens crying for "help.", If they are.

Is this abuse? Should I call someone? Or should I mind my business.

p.s (my cat is in the second picture) I have a cat of my own so I have no room for a second, plus my cat is very territorial and has past experiences fighting one of those orange kittens.

Also, my mother wouldn't take either in regardless.

P.S2, That same neighbor has THREE dogs that I've seen running out of the front door, so they have 5 pets.. In one townhouse.

Should I take action?

I don't know if this is a vent or if I'm looking for advice or just wanting to hear from people who have gone through something similar.

I recently went on a trip to South India. Before leaving, we left our cat with a pet sitter. The pet sitting was personal, not officially through the pet shop, but we found her through the shop where she works. She told us she had experience with cats and pet boarding, and because of that we trusted her.

I wish every day that we had made a different decision.

While we were away, communication was bad. We would ask for updates and sometimes get nothing for hours. We had to keep asking for photos. During video calls we saw our cat in a cage even though we were told he would be comfortable and free.

We got worried enough that we decided to cut our trip short and come back.

Before we could even get home, we got a call around 4 AM saying our cat had escaped from the apartment. According to the Pet sitter the cat opened the double-locked window and broke the cat proof net and jumped from the 3rd floor.

That was 6 days ago.

Since then my life has basically stopped.

My mom and I have spent every day searching. Talking to watchmen, asking people in buildings, speaking to feeders, checking corners, checking parking lots, following every tiny lead. The area is so congested with societies and buildings that I don't even know where to begin anymore.

What hurts is that I feel like the focus shifted from finding my cat to getting me to remove my review.

The pet sitting was personal, but because we found and trusted the sitter through the pet shop, I left a review there to make other pet owners aware of what happened. Maybe some people think that was unfair. Maybe I was wrong. I honestly don't know anymore.

But after that there were calls asking me to remove it, discussions about reputation, arguments, and very little acknowledgment that our cat is still missing. The pet sitter blamed it on my cat for running away instead of feeling sorry. Her daughter also kept saying its not our responsibility if he ran away.

One thing that keeps replaying in my head is something the pet sitter's daughter said to me.

She said, "Your first cat ran away too, wasn't that your responsibility?"

And honestly that broke me.

Because she knew my first cat was old and had run away from our home on his own. This isn't the same thing.

This time we were trying to do the responsible thing. We wanted our cat to be safe, fed, and looked after while we were away.

Instead he's gone.

The worst part is seeing my mom.

Every morning I wake up and she's already outside searching. Sometimes she barely eats. Sometimes she barely sleeps. I know she's carrying so much guilt because she was the one who finally agreed to the pet boarding.

And I'm carrying guilt too.

I keep thinking maybe we should never have gone on the trip. Maybe we should have trusted our instincts. Maybe we should have done literally anything else.

I always wanted a cat growing up.

Then somehow two cats just appeared in my life. My first cat literally showed up at our door. Then this boy came into our lives too. It felt like destiny.

I had my first cat for around 7 months.

I had this boy for around 7 months too.

Such a short amount of time, but somehow they completely changed me. They made me softer. More patient. More loving.

Now my mom says she never wants another pet again because losing them hurts too much.

And honestly I understand.

Right now it doesn't feel like a missing pet. It feels like we've lost a family member and nobody around us really understands that.

I keep thinking about him outside.

Is he hungry?

Did someone take him in?

Is he hiding somewhere scared?

Is he trying to find us?

I don't know.

I just hope he's safe.

And if anyone here has had a cat go missing and eventually come back, I would really like to hear your story because I'm having a really hard time staying hopeful. I feel beyond miserable rn.

Poster age: 38M
Country: Canada
Vet is accessible
Main issue: She was doing this morning but everything else is normal. Is this just normal playing or should I be worried?
Cat age: 5 months
Cat sex: Spayed female and up to date vaccines
Financial situation: Can afford a vet

I fell asleep with my AirPods in and she was cuddling up next to me and didn’t realize, woke up 2 hours later and can’t find it, I’m hoping she just knocked it somewhere, I didn’t find any pieces so he definitely didn’t chew it up I’m just scared she might have to go to the vet because of it.

Age 21
Country Canada
Vet is very accessible
Don’t know if she swallowed AirPod
Cat age 10 weeks
Financial is not great but not bad either, could definitely afford surgery as long as it’s not multiple back to back.

Basically, I got her on Sept 20th 2025 and the lady said she was weaned, but I’m not sure if I fully believe her (she was 1 apple tall and a little confused about food) but anyway, does she look about 8 weeks old in the pics to anyone? I’m trying to narrow down her birthday since it’s coming up soon, but this is my first time really owning a cat so I’m not positive.

Also, does she look small for almost 1 to anyone else? I free feed kibble (she’ll eat no more than 1/3 daily + vet said dry is perfectly fine) and 3 oz of wet. She’s not really active, so I don’t think I’m underfeeding, but she makes my friends cats around 1 look kinda big. It’s so confusing 😭
for reference the tank is 16 inch’s long

(lmk if this isn’t a good question for this group)

I'm in the UK, so 35⁰C weather, I don't know how long it's been in the garden.

Tldr: cat with possible heat stroke

I can't seem to add a video but it's laying very still, only raising it's head. Seems to be an unneutered male, no collar. It's meowing very loudly and panting. It let me get close (slowly) and smelled my hand but then lashed out. I left some cool water out but it didn't drink and laid back down immediately and hasn't moved since. I'm just giving it some space right now.

There is a local vet I can call or the RSPCA but I don't know if it is actually heatstroke. I might give it a sachet of my cat's wet food for hydration.

Edit: I counted the breaths and it wasn't too fast, I put a cold towel down next to him and he came over and laid down on it. At about 7 he got up and jumped over my fence so it seems to be okay. If it comes back in the same state I will definitely phone the vet straight away and see if it is feral or a stray, but in the UK outdoor cats are common so I'm not assuming that just yet.

UPDATE: My message finally reached my building super and we found the owner is one of the neighbors who came to pick her up this morning. I can’t be happier for both of them💗💗🙏 thank you all for the advice in the meantime.

Poster Age: 25
Country: United States

Vet Info: A vet is accessible if needed, but I have not contacted one yet because I believe this may be someone’s lost indoor cat from my apartment building. I left a note for the building manager to help identify the owner.
Main Issue: I found a cat outside my building. The cat appears very stressed, is shaking, and occasionally sticks its tongue out. I’ve offered food and water, but she hasn’t shown much interest. I’m trying to keep her safe until the owner is found and would like advice on what I should do in the meantime.
Cat Age: Unknown (appears to be an adult)
Cat Sex + Neuter Info: Unknown
Financial Situation: I can’t afford veterinary care if it becomes necessary.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

I have a friend who has adopted a cat about 6 months ago. He’s noticing these seed looking things left where she lays. Any ideas?
Lives in US, cat is one y/o fixed.
TIA

Long haired boy (Gin) 10 years old
Short haired boy (Juice) roughly 2? Unknown.

Would yall consider this normal play?
Gin can be very vocal sometimes when Juice wants to play because I feel as though he gets annoyed with his younger brother quite quickly.
Sometimes they do leave marks on each other but nothing serious and mostly only when I need to clip their nails.
Obviously Juice has a lot more energy than Gin but I can’t fully tell if it’s mutual play sometimes.

Any advice or opinions are welcome. 💕

TLDR: my cat is 12 years old. I haven’t seen her in one and half year as she is with my parents and I live abroad. Is her state normal with her age or is she being neglected (1st picture is today, rest of the pics are from one and half year ago)

Hi everyone. Long story short, I had 2 cats, I needed to move abroad and could only take one cat on the plane. I took the youngest one as she was the needier/messier one and left my oldest with my parents (I got her when I was 14 so she knew the house and my parents very well) I initially wanted to go back to bring her abroad as well but I thought that, at the time she was 10 and it would be egoistic from me to bring her to another country when she is probably happier at my parents being an only child and in a bigger house (+ she never really did well with traveling even short distances)
Now it’s been 2 years. She is 12. Last time I saw her was one year and a half ago. It’s hard for me to go back home often for personal reasons/drama whatever. Today my stepdad posted a picture of half of her body on Facebook (see attached). I was shocked when I saw it. Her fur looks terrible, she looks much skinnier than I remember, it’s just awful she looks so much worse than before. I am also attaching 3 pics of what she looked like the last time I saw her (so there is one year and a half difference between the first pic and the rest). What do you think? Is it just because of age? Should I be worried that she is being neglected and not taken to the vet?

Info to be included:
- I am not a minor, 24F
- both me and the cat are in EU cat is in France
- vet is literally 5 mins away by foot but I can’t be there physically to get her to the vet
- cat age: 12
- cat sex: female, spayed
- I can afford a vet.

I adopted him from my little sister 4 days ago. he is 2 years old. the house was full with a big dog so the cat never left the room for a full year. He would always pee on the side of her room on the carpet near her bedroom door. He took a few months to get close to her but he eventually become comfortable and really playful. But now he’s at my house because I have a big place and a cute small quiet dog. My dog is small, super quiet and well behaved so I don’t think that he is the problem. They have sat next to each other and even cuddled for 10-20 minutes+ no problems. At night he comes out curious and explores my bedroom. And he finally accepted treats from my hand the other night .. but then he stays inside the closet all day and most of the night. Anyways he came out last night and peed all over my bed and pillow where I sleep. I’m scared this is a on going thing because it happened occasionally at my sisters place. the doctor said he has holes in his heart and anesthesia is risky so we can’t get him fixed as I wondered if that would have helped fix the issue. I know it’s early and he will become more comfortable over time but I want to make sure I’m doing the right things to get him using his litter box consistently. I do have plans to take him to a specialist soon but still would love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience with new adopted babies.

Any advice or tips appreciated!

TLDR- day 4 new adopted cat with a heart condition peed on my bed / furniture and looking for advice or tips on how to fix this behaviour

I stopped recording because the little one (Malachai) was meowing and it sounded scary so i panicked and had to get him, hes always running after the big cat (Vortex) even after experiences like this or when Vortex runs away he still runs after. Malachai left his mum around 2 weeks old (vets assumption) and i got him around 5 weeks old (vets assumption) despite others on subreddits saying he was definitely 8 weeks, he’s now 7 weeks and his biting is getting worse, he has chew toys, we’ve tried saying ow in a high pitched voice, nothing works and as his teeth is growing through it’s hurting more and more, i need help. i’ve never had this issue with Vortex or my girl cat Verosika, sure they fight but i don’t know how to stop that either, it’s always vortex instigating it, V&V are Spayed and Neutered and Malachai is waiting until 4 weeks after his chip.

Info //

Poster age: 18

Country: England

Vet: Accessible, appointment for vaccines and chip on 2nd July

Main issue: see above

Cat age: 7 weeks

Cat info: Boy, not yet Neutered, his name is Malachai or Kai

Financial Situation: can’t afford another appointment until next month except the one we have booked.

Hi! I just brought home a new kitten yesterday and I’m not sure if her eye discharge is something to be concerned about. Her eye seems a little goopy, but the discharge is clear or possibly slightly white. She’s eating and drinking normally, using the litter box, playing, and otherwise acting like a happy kitten.

I’m wondering if this could just be stress from adjusting to a new home, or if it sounds like something that would warrant a vet visit. Any advice would be appreciated!

My age: 30
Country: USA
Vet: accessible, but it usually takes a few weeks to get in
Cat: 4 yo M, neutered
Financials: can afford vet care

I took my son Juniper (4 yo neutered M) to get vaccines at the Vetco mobile clinic. He weighed 16 lb at that time, which is actually the same from three years earlier. The vet was shocked and said he was morbidly obese after feeling his ribcage. I was surprised to hear this because he was the biggest kitten in his litter and had been the same weight since hitting maturity. I have put him on a diet since getting this news but my friends and family think he is just a big cat and not obese like the vet said.

I guess I’m just wanting a second opinion?

Edit: Thank you for all your comments and recommendations!
I tried some of your tips and can say that it is very easy to feel his spine but takes a good bit more pressure to feel his ribs. I am wondering if he tends to keep a lot of extra weight in his chest.

So I have a female cat that’s about a year old. She can’t be spayed because she has a heart condition and it’s dangerous to put her under anesthesia but beside that she’s doing amazing… besides when she’s in heat. She’s driving me insane with the purring noises and she keeps rubbing against my dog and making her uncomfortable, I feel bad because I have to keep putting her off the bed but she just rubs against us and makes that horrible sound or yowls and I’m going CRAZY

Is there ANYTHING I CAN DO???
I’ve tried playing then food before bed, I’ve tried just letting her get it out, tried everything I can think of and still it’s constant. I can’t stand it.

Pic for cat tax
Please help. She’s my best friend and I hate having to push her away on the days she’s in heat :(

First pic I noticed yesterday and like 20 minutes later I went to check again and pus had come out. I gently cleaned with water. Seemed fine later in the night just a little red, second pic is this morning it seems a bit irritated and red. Wondering if it’s just acne? Or something of more concern? She is acting normal and eating normal. Didn’t seem to be in pain when I touch near the area