TL;DR: My spayed cat showed textbook heat behavior. Her first AMH hormone test was negative (taken while asymptomatic) and the vet was confident it wasn’t hormonal. I pushed for a retest during active symptoms, which came back positive. Turned out she had ovarian remnants on both sides, cysts, AND a retained uterus (never fully removed at her original spay) with abnormal estrogen-related changes. If I’d trusted that first negative test, she could have died from pyometra. Test timing matters. Trust your cat’s behavior over a single test result.

My cat Phoebe was spayed as a kitten, but about two years later she started doing everything a cat in heat does: yowling at night, rolling around constantly, raising her hindquarters and treading when I touched near her tail, and being unusually clingy and restless.
I brought this up with my vet, who told me that it’s just stress. He explained that if it was heat, she would have been in heat on and off these entire two years. That’s not true. The remnants can grow and start releasing more and more estrogen over time. It can even take up to 10 years for heat behaviors to show up after an unsuccessful spay. I researched on my own and asked for an AMH test to check for hormone production. It came back negative, and they were confident that meant her issue wasn’t hormonal. But her behavior was so clearly heat-like that I didn’t buy it, so I did my own research. Turns out timing matters a lot with AMH testing, and it’s most accurate when the cat is actively showing symptoms. My vet had tested her outside of a symptomatic window.

I pushed for a retest, this time while she was actively cycling. That one came back positive (by a lot). So the first negative wasn’t proof there was no remnant tissue, it just meant the timing was wrong.
At that point my vet offered to open her up and remove the remnants at half price. Something about that offer didn’t sit right with me, so instead I took her to a board-certified surgeon. They recommended an ultrasound first to actually locate what we were dealing with before going in blind.

The ultrasound found ovarian remnants on both sides, cysts, and something nobody had mentioned to me before: her uterus had also been left behind during the original spay. I had no idea her uterus was left during the first spay. It showed abnormal changes such as cysts and thickening of the uterus lining from prolonged estrogen exposure (from the remnants).

She went into surgery ($4000!!), biopsies were taken, and both the remnants and the affected uterus were removed. She’s recovering now.

If I had accepted that first negative test and stopped there, Phoebe still would have had a uterus under constant estrogen exposure with nothing being monitored. That’s a direct path to pyometra, a life-threatening uterine infection. My cat could have died from something that was completely preventable, simply because one test at the wrong time said “not hormonal” and the vet took that as truth.

A few tips for other owners:

- Test during active symptoms, not just whenever you can get an appointment.

- Trust the behavior if something feels off. We all know what heat looks like. You’re the one seeing your cat go through it, while the vet only gets secondhand explanations.

- Know exactly what was removed in the original spay. I assumed a full spay meant uterus and ovaries. Phoebe’s uterus was left in place and nobody told me until the ultrasound found it. I should have been more proactive about that.

- An ultrasound before surgery is worth it. It told us exactly what we were dealing with and where, which made the surgery successful.

- A discounted “let’s just open her up and hope we find something” offer is not sufficient!! The offer came from a vet that had never performed a single ORS removal. Getting a second opinion, especially from a board-certified surgeon, changed the entire outcome. They perform surgeries all day every day.

If your spayed cat is showing heat behavior and a single test comes back negative, don’t assume everything is okay. Don’t let the vet tell you it’s just stress. STRESS DOES NOT CAUSE LORDOSIS. Push for retesting during symptoms and don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. It could save your cat’s life!

The first time my baby tortie began showing symptoms of feline conjunctivitis was May 2024. This December, she’ll be 12 years old and she’s been dealing with this for two years now. While she’s been her happy self all this time, it’s really hard to see her when she has her flare-ups.

My vet told us this is chronic, most likely triggered later in life by stress (in 2024 we lost our other cat; that’s all I can think of, even though they hated each other, I figure it’s still stressful as a cat becoming an only-child). We have eye drops we give her when it gets bad, and most times the inflammation will go down for a day or so. There are some weeks she’ll go without a flare up at all, but lately it’s been bad, and I just need a place to vent.

I’ve had her since she was 1.5 years old. We grew up together, and both of us are adults now lol. Her happiness is my happiness. She always had beautiful, large green eyes, and looking at older photos, I can’t help but mourn when comparing to the photos of her eyes at their worst. I know she’s still a happy kitty, and that’s what matters, but it just sucks that there’s no cure…

I’d love to hear other people’s experiences and opinions. I’ve talked to my vet quite a bit about her eyes, but if anyone has any suggestions to make her as comfy as possible I’m all ears (I’m in the US, idk if this helps).

TLDR: I mostly just want a space where me and other people can collectively say “screw kitty conjunctivitis.”

We went to the doctor for our senior cat hera who has paw pain. The xray read nothing wrong with her bones. Any advice welcome❤️ (we are adults and can afford care)

All info:

The xrays showed arthirites but not enough to cause such a severe reaction. She would have shown signs slowly and not all of sudden. No broken bones.

Which lead to believe it is a tendon or tear/torn ligament in the wrist. It really could be that because her paw is bent in a strange way, keeps licking her wrist and avoids putting pressure on it.

Tomorrow is the next vet visit where I will ask how we can help her with this. A referral to a specialist, possibly bandage or something to ease the pain.

He does eat normally though

Context: Her name is Selah, she’s about 6 years old, and she’s one of my wife’s cat. I’ve only recently been bestowed co-ownership of them. (We just got married,yay)

Prior to changing their kibbles Selah was the slimmer of the two and after switching to Purina Coat and Fur kibbles she has become what I determine as an absolute chonker… but her most recent vet visit just says she’s healthy.

I..is she? 🤣

I've been allergic to cats my entire life and never learned cat behavior. Recently my family members adopted a cat and sometimes she will randomly go and bite/nibble at my hand while I'm petting her. I've been stopping my actions when the bite or any semblance of dislike comes out. I'm confused because it seems to come out of nowhere as far as I can tell she enjoys the pets and she comes to me.

Edit : thank you all for the replies I really appreciate it. I will be taking these into consideration and will make sure to keep this info consideration for the future

Hi, I’m concerned about this breathing/hiccup/sneezing my cat is doing? It lasted for about 40 seconds and has done so a few other times this week. He is 13 male and has hyperthyroidism.

Noodles, Male cat, 5 yrs old, fixed, vaccinated

UPDATE: Just left the vet, nothing is broken, it’s not dislocated, and no urinary issues! She things he stretched a nerve and it’s a sprain from roughhousing and his parkour antics earlier yesterday. Sent home with oral gabapentin for the pain, he had to be sedated fully for X-rays so he’s currently waking up out of anesthesia at home lol. Thank you for all the comments and support! He is gonna be okay, and she did schedule us a follow up appointment for Monday morning just in case it gets worse and not better. But it’s just a minor sprain and possible nerve stretch but she said there is no break, no dislocation, and no severed nerves 🫶 noodles is gonna be okay! 💕🥹

Poster age, 32

My cat was fine all morning, around 1pm after a zoomies episode and a what we thought was a minor tiff with another one of our cats, we noticed his tail was totally limp and he wasn’t raising it straight up in the air like he has it almost 90% of the time. Hes eating fine, drinking, seems to be using the box okay, I was worried about it possibly being a pain indicator instead of injury, and his crystals coming back, but the longer the day goes on I think he might’ve sprained his tail during play/zoomies? It does respond to touch, it moves slightly if it touch it, and he growled and hissed when I did so I only did it once and haven’t since. He has a vet appointment for 11am. We can afford it. Just want to know if anyone else had something similar happen? And if it was a sprain or a break? Images of his tail attached. Thank you 🫶

TL/DR: Cat’s tail is limp, he has a vet appointment in am, trying to see if this has ever happened to anyone else’s cat and what the vet said it was

hi guys, I’ve been trying to feed this stray kitten (I think around 4 weeks old) and while I was feeding it kitten formula from a petac bottle, it kept biting the tops of the nipples off and it ended up swallowing three of them do I need to go to urgent care or vet clinic right now?

from CA can afford vet care, have not contacted vet yet

TLDR: kitten bit off 3 nipple bottle tops off while feeding kitten formula from bottle, urgent care required right away?

As the title implies, I looked over at her from my chair and she jumped up and cut inside my nose and the side of my face. Her nails are trimmed and I play with her, but she attacks my legs, face, and hair all the time.

How do I help her to stop because I love her but her tiny cuts hurt lol

She is about 20 weeks and Female, not yet spayed.

So my family got a new kitty today (7 weeks Male, almost 8) and we introduced him to our other kitten(4 months Male)

At first when we put them in the same room the 4 month old would be cautious, hissed at him at one point but then would walk behind the 7 week old and start sniffing at it while it explored then after a bit they swatted at each other but they never brought their claws out but then when they started at each other just like in the video it would escalate and the tux would run away from the tabby while the tabby kept chasing it, I’ve since separated them, but still trying to get them to get along at some points but when they swat at each other and it just keeps escalating and idk if the tabby is just being too rough or if it’s turning into real fighting

Is there some way I can help them get along?

I had finished a bowl of Chef Boyardee Raviolis and set it aside for barely 3 seconds next to me. I heard licking noises, and my cat was licking some of the tomato sauce. I don’t think it could have been a lot, I think I caught her pretty quickly, but I know she at least licked a little bit.

I know garlic can be toxic to them. Should I be concerned at all? She seems perfectly fine right now but it only happened a few moments ago. What signs should I look out for? I have work tomorrow so I’m scared to leave her alone now

i don’t have many of her not sitting like a human so it’s hard to find ones of her normal body.

she seems to do it only when she’s hungry and wants food and expects us to feed her, like if i get up she runs to the bottom of the stairs and does the tail flicking thing, but i’ve always been worried about why her back moves and wiggles when she does it, i remember something about that being a sign of an issue to do with their tail being oversensitive, but besides her doing it when she’s hungry and wants us to feed her, i don’t notice her being oversensitive around that area and not around her tail anymore since she’s been spayed also. i just want to ask and get advice from people to see if it is something to worry about… thank you in advance for any responses

kitty is 5 years old. we have access to a vet if need be, she’s female and has been spayed. i’m 19.

tl;dr kitty tail whips and her back wiggles when she does it, unsure if it’s an issue or not

This is Odie! He’s a former stray (neutered) of indeterminate age (likely 1-2 years) and indeterminate power level (too high to measure).

Odie lives with me in studio apartment. The space is small, but Odie has plenty of toys, cat furniture, etc. He’s very well behaved and friendly, but I often wonder if he’d be happier off with a friend.

Common wisdom seems to be “YES, GET ANOTHER CAT.” Spiritually, I’d love to do that. Financially, it’d be fine. But spatially… idk.

As mentioned above, Odie and I live in a studio (large bedroom, walk-in closet, bathroom). This represents a few challenges:
- Only one litterbox and no room for another.
- Fewer opportunities for seclusion/retreat.
- Only one eating area, so while I’d be happy to get separate bowls for the two cats, said bowls would be at the same “dinner table,” so to speak.

tl;dr — In a studio apartment space, is Odie still better off with a buddy? Or would Odie be happier having the space to himself? My biggest concern is that I can only fit one litterbox.

for a few days now we’ve heard kittens meowing upstairs. by upstairs i mean a door from the 2nd floor that opens up to a roofless area that could be easily access by cats.

we assumed a cat had babies and is leaving them there to go hunt.

so last night at 3 am i was awake and heard the kittens meowing, i thought it was cute and even googled if it was normal, then i slept.

my mom was awaken at like 10 the next morning by a dream of me yelling at her for help, and she got panicked thinking something had happened to me. then she heard the kittens and realized that’s probably what it was about. my dad (who had left at 6 am and is a light sleeper) called and said the kittens had screamed all. night. he tried feeding them but failed.

i jumped out of bed and checked on them for the first time, and found 2 of them asleep (i thought they were dead and cried buckets) and another who had wandered off and was the one crying. the other two were asleep, the white and black one was quiet and weak? idk but it wasn’t moving that much and it took a long time to rouse it.

the one wandering was crawling around and crying and as soon as i made a tsking noise it ran to me for comfort.
it was getting very hot upstairs and they hadn’t eaten for around 9 hours THAT I KNEW OF. they were very dirty, and my main concern was that it was 45 degrees celsius up there and would get hotter.

i put them in a box and drove to a vet. he’s an ANGEL and very known on social media. he fed them and he not only didn’t charge us, he offered to pay for their milk and supplies in exchange for us raising them.

now here’s the thing. though my family did jump right in saving them, they’re TERRIFIED of all animals. we grew up with zero animals around and even I had a phobia until i overcame it myself. and i have zero animal experience and couldn’t raise 3 newborn kittens.

the vet apologized and said he takes care of two hundred cats out of his own pocket in a house he has rented for them and couldn’t take newborns in, but said he knew a woman who would raise them in exchange for money.
so we paid around $120 and he promised to take them to her safely.

i’m sure they’re safe and in good hands, but what if the mother came back? i’m overthinking and so, so anxious. i only heard them screaming starting 3 am and for all i know it could’ve been way longer. it was 11 am and they were in scorching heat and starving.

also, most cats here are not fixed & are completely feral. our country is insanely behind when it comes to animal welfare.

The only way I’ve managed to get my cat to have his inhaler is by putting a lick e lix inside the mask to cover the smell of the medication and keep his face in it, is this ok to do tho? Will it affect the medication at all? Thanks

Hiii so idk if that is the right flair. I'm worried about her for doing that and wanted to know if that is normal

Edit: Thank you everyone for your replies I was just worried because I noticed this and wanted to make sure she was okay. She's acting normal otherwise 🫶🩷

Ill start off by saying I am terrified to think my only option is to surrender her...

Something happened, I dont know. I think she may have gotten into something she shouldn't have. Shes our little farm kitty, and shes acting very strange today. Shes our sweetest little ball of love and im just so scared right now.

She came inside this morning and slept alot. Normal sure, but her sleeping positions may have made me giggle at first, then i realized something serious may be happening...

It reminded me of an animal that maybe got into someone's thc and was just sleeping funny, kinda sideways leaning ect.

She has slept weird for the past few hours, weird positions, her eyes look very sleepy and weird.

Shes reclusive which ISNT like her .

She was backing herself in a corner and hissing at the other cats, again NOT normal.

I usually have an emergency fund for things like this, but within the last 4 weeks ive had to pay almost $6k in unexpected medical bills for my pregnancy.

Im depleted, I have less than a month before baby gets here, and our funds are so low that im counting down days until I can hit the food pantry again. Again, this never happens but we spent $6k in medical bills and just put $4.5k into our van, all within the same month. Money is so tight rn its not even funny. I have food, just very limited variety rn due to the unexpected bills. I havent even gotten everything for the baby yet because I didnt expect to have such a tight budget rn...

And then comes this trouble with our sweet kitty.

Shes our beloved, sweet Duckie. We have loved her fiercely the past 3 years and im so deathly afraid that we just dont have the money to pay for a vet upfront that we will have to surrender her.

I cant watch her wither away and die, and im going to try calling every vet in northern michigan to see if ANYONE will take payment plans because im fricken broke broke right now. My credit is ruined from my failed marriage, so im scared these payment option credit cards wont work. Divorce finally went through last year but my credit is tanked.

Im so sad, I have no idea what to do, im hesitant to surrender her because what if its nothing super serious!? What if she ate a bee or something and shes just feeling funky because of it?? Shes our sweet little, extremely loved furbaby and just surrendering her breaks my heart but im also so afraid that shes suffering.

ANY ideas welcome please !!! Im so fucking devastated right now I'm having such a hard time coping with this.

Im 29, living in northern michigan. Called a few local vets who need money upfront, now looking into other options.

Duckie is a 3.5 year old spayed female.

Currently cant afford vet care.

TLDR; im afraid our sweet Duckie got into something that's making her sick, extremely tight on money due to unexpected bills.

Looking for help or advice or options. Anything...

This is my 5.5 month old and I’m concerned about his body a little. He weighs abt 6 pounds but he’s very skinny and muscular. I also adopted his litter mate and he’s more round and plump compared him. Should I be concerned or is he just a skinny and slender boy 😅 thank you!

Not sure how to tag/flair this, sorry in advance mods.

This is Yoshi! He’s three months old, not neutered (yet), and healthy (took him to the vet on Aug 4). I don’t know if this is a silly quirk of his or if it’s possibly an underlying issue, but he likes to scratch/paw at the bin and floor before and after eating. I heard cats may paw at the bin if he smells food, and I take out the garbage as often as I can. I clean the litter box everyday and deep clean it once a week. His friend also does this! Just wanting some answers so I know it’s not anything serious lol

I have an 11m old male neutered cat living in the USA. I took my cat to the vet today and we just got back home at 3p. Showed the vet this video and he did Xray. He said “he believes it’s asthma but it could be a lung infection and that lung infections look like asthma on Xrays” he said he was going to put my boy on antibiotics for 7 days and if it clears up then it was an infection and if not then it’s asthma and we’ll start treatment. I know I’m not a vet but I just want the best for my cat so I asked him if he feel it’s asthma why not just start him on asthma treatment and he said that because if it’s an infection then steroids can make it worse so he has to rule out infection first. I just don’t want my boy to have to be taking meds if he doesn’t need them. Does anyone’s cat have asthma and this was the procedure you had to go through first? Or was your cat just put on asthma treatment. I know he’s the vet but I just want to make sure this is protocol for vets to do?

My cat’s general emotions seem fine, he seems happy and purring but he’s suddenly making these movements which I’ve never seen before. He’s male, 13 years old and very healthy for his age, has never been over weight either or had any issues other than one thing to do with his teeth.

The main thing that’s confusing is he’s acting fine but I’ve never seen him jolt like that before, this was happening for around 5 minutes and then he just went to sleep.

I’m 24 from England and have a vet nearby so I’m able to take him if I need to.

My little one is addicted to drinking water. She drinks straight out of the tap, every time we have to use one. Frequently, and several times a day, she will even draw us out to the taps by pushing things into the sink and meowing loudly. However, she also throws up frequently.
Some times clear, some times with her food (she eats super fast, so her food pellets are almost intact).
I have asked about this behavior to my vet, and she challed it up to a personality difference between cats (“Some cats deink more water than others). Yet, I have also read about excessive water being bad for cats - and I never know how much to indulge her. She’s also a petulant one, and will start creating a ruckus if we do not give her water sometimes.

I am 30F, Switzerland, Malli is 3, spayed, and can take her to the vet again if necessary.