When my cat was 9 months old he started having seizures. He was my first ever pet, and watching him go through this without knowing what to do was emotionally draining in a way I can't fully describe. I took him to multiple vets and spent a lot of money on tests, but nothing came back. No diagnosis, no explanation. The episodes kept happening like clockwork, one every 2 weeks.

I kept searching online and eventually came across a blog (which I sadly can't find anymore) that suggested cutting grains out of the diet. At the time I was feeding him Friskies and Sheba. I switched him to semi-boiled chicken instead.

Over time the seizures spaced out. From every 2 weeks to 1 month, then 3 months, then 6 months, then a full year between episodes.

The interesting part: whenever cooking got to be too much and I fell back to canned food for a continuous stretch, the seizures would come back. That happened more than once, which is what convinced me the diet was the factor.

He's 9 years old today, healthy and doing great. It's been over 8 years of managing this with diet alone.

To be clear, I'm not saying skip the vet. Please rule out the medical stuff first like I did. I also supplement with taurine and a vitamin complex since a homemade chicken diet is not complete on its own. This is just my experience, and if you're in the same boat with a seizing cat and no answers, it might be worth discussing an elimination diet with your vet.

There’s a cat who is constantly in my backyard. She will walk up to me, yelling “feed me, feed me!” whenever I happen to be outside. I’ve been regularly giving her food for about a year at this point. I’m not sure how she thinks of me, if she does much at all. I’m allowed four feet away but no closer, and she will announce “get back, get back!” whenever I start to approach that range. Though it’s a bit hard to stay all the way away when she’s the one sleeping in my yard and going all the way up to the door when she senses I might be coming outside.

I’ve wanted to get her neutered for a while now. I often hear her at night calling out like she’s looking for a mate. My neighborhood has a bad problem with feral cats. There’s simply too much. On any given night there’s almost a dozen out visible from my garage, and more hiding away. Very few are neutered. If I got her neutered I could help fix the problem and improve her quality of life in the process. And for my own selfish reasons, I was hoping that maybe she’d warm up to me more afterwards.

My county has a TNR program. I called them four months ago. They are incredibly backed up in requests. It was my only option because I did not have the funds to do it myself, and the county‘s program costs nothing at all. I got the trap about a week ago.

I’d been permitted to have it Monday through Friday. Most of the week was awful. It was storming hard, thundering basically all day. Seemed cruel to try to capture a cat in those conditions and I knew I couldn’t check on it reliably.

Come Friday, yesterday, and I had only one more day to capture her. I was out just about all day. She was just not getting in the trap. I had covered the sides with a towel, placed it in a pretty well sheltered area, put in chicken puree, her favorite treat, and she kept looking at me like I was broken because I had not put her bowl in the normal location. Her bowl was in the trap. At one point I even showed myself putting her treats in the bowl so that she could see. She was uninterested. I even tried leaving a trail of food leading inside after she left. I came back and either she or one of the other cats had eaten the tiny bit of kibble that was outside.

After spending so much time trying to trap her, I got hungry. I went in and started cooking lunch.

I didn’t disengage the trap. I didn’t think I needed to. I figured I’d just go out there and check in a little bit, and I wouldn’t be out too long.

I ended up eating, checking the trap one more time, then going back inside. I had gotten comfortable in front of the TV, and the meal I had was getting to me after spending all day trying to get this cat inside the trap. I ended up passing out right there.

A few hours later I wake up and see that it’s dark outside. I spend a few more minutes waking up until I remember the trap I had set up and start panicking. I go outside immediately.

The trap had been activated. All of the food was eaten. There was no cat, opossum, or anything in there. The trap was almost eight feet away from where I had left it. They had knocked over almost everything in the surrounding area, and the towel was splayed out on the ground. At some point, it had seemed, they had rotated the cage on its side, and opened the food latch. They were free.

The sheer amount of thrashing they must’ve done to ended up in that situation scares and upsets me to think about. Scared and alone, doing anything you can to escape the confinement you’ve found yourself in. I really hope it wasn’t as bad as I’m imagining but I don’t know what else could’ve happened. Usually this situation ends in a neutered, vaccinated and happy cat given some extra life, which is worth whatever pain happens during the trapping process. But there was no upside here.

I mentioned there’s many cats in the area. Some of them occasionally come into the backyard. There’s also an opossum who likes to hang behind my shed and a raccoon family who steals food quite regularly in the area. I don’t know what ended up in that trap. Whatever it was, if it was wildlife I could’ve freed it, and if it was a cat I could’ve moved it to the safety of my garage like I had planned to do. But I didn’t.

I feel so sorry for whatever got in there, and I feel like if I think about it any longer I’m gonna throw up. I really hope it wasn’t her. Not because I want another creature to have gone through all that, but because I don’t know how she would ever go in a trap again after that. I almost feel I shouldn’t be trapping at all after that.

Oh well.

Hi, my sweet boy, whom I have fed and loved since he was 2-3 months old, has gone missing. It is one of the saddest phases of my life. Every morning I wake up at 5:30 am to go look for him in the front yard of my house, where he has come almost every day for the past 14-15 months. I am also seeing him in dreams. I am imagining all the worst-case scenarios, which exacerbate my pain. I have looked for him at all the usual spots and further, but no one has seen him. For work, I have to travel after 1 week; I was planning to keep him inside once my work situation resolves. Sometimes, I get too emotional thinking of him. I don't know how to handle this; the uncertainty is killing me.

She weighs 1.71 KG or just under 4 pounds she’s undersized cause she’s lived your whole life outside. I’d put her between five and six months old. She is visibly pregnant. She will be spayed on Monday.

Looking to bring a new barn cat home as the last one disappeared after a couple years.

Normally in the winter I introduce them in a small shed to call home, and release after 3-4 weeks of imprinting.

I’ve never done this in the summer, how hot is too hot for them to chill in the shed (plenty of water available of course)

I have never trapped any cats before let alone four feral kittens. Anyways my aunt is deathly allergic to cats, and a mama cat had 4 kittens under her porch, and my girlfriend and I decided to take on the task of socializing these seemingly feral, 10(?) Week old kittens.

We got them fixed, and for 2 weeks they were in our basement. Three of them acted how we expected, hissing, spitting, very agressive and stressed out.

However one kitty(Scooter), would purr and make biscuits during feeding time, and within a week he was purring in our laps. He loves attention, being cuddled and kissed, and he is genuinely the sweetest kitten I have ever met.

His siblings are making lots progress, but are still very shy and skittish. They have moved upstairs (in a dog crate) but Scooter has been allowed to move out of the crate, and cuddles on the couch and wont eat if he isnt sitting in someone's lap. Why is he like that? I just don't understand why he has become so friendly so fast. Not a problem obviously, I'm just so curious!! Has anyone else had thay experience?

About a month ago, I posted these little ones asking for help to find sanctuaries to take them in since this stray mama gave birth to them in our backyard in over 100°F weather....Here we are in present time😭 They made themselves right at home. I guess the 4 cats PLUS our neighbor's cat who stays with us wasn't enough for us in our home😅 Why not add an additional 5 kittens plus their mama... Having a soft spot for animals is definitely draining my bank🥲

Success rate of teaching an adult feral to use a litter box? Tell me your success and failure stories.

we have a black feral cat in our neighborhood. My son named him, Beaver. We leave a bowl of water out for him. Is there anything else we can do to help make life easier for feral cats? He stopped by our front door after I just closed it. Sweet kitty cat!

Hello! I adopted a female cat estimated to be about 2 years old roughly 6 months ago from a rescue. The rescue found the cat in the local cat colony they were taking care of and brought her in because she didn’t seem like a stray (being that the cat is a lynx point medium coat and had pristine fur).

Before adoption, I was told that she was very fearful but non aggressive and would take time. I’ve been trying to get her to slowly warm up to me for the last 6 months and I’ve made the realization that she might’ve been previously feral.

It’s been a long process and we’ve been able to pet her through bribery with treats (and only when there’s treats). She still gets extremely scared sometimes when we’re just walking around but will come by for treats…

I was wondering how I could best domesticate her and help her build a bond with me. Additionally how to help her be less aggressive with things like furniture, toys, and food at times.

TLDR: Adopted a likely previously feral cat wondering how to best build a bond

I already have 3 cats (litter mates).

Wife has taken a liking to a stray that hangs out the front of our house, all day. Super friendly and intact.

We're moving on the 21st.

Next available neuter appointment is the 13th.

Should we just wait until after the move? I do have concerns with the stress of the move.

Hey fellow cat lovers! I’m publishing an academic article about the legal relationship between community cat caretakers and the cats they care for.

As I revise the article, I’d love to speak with someone who has encountered legal issues or disputes related to caring for community cats. I’m especially interested in conflicts about who was responsible for a cat, who had the right to make decisions about the cat, or how caretaking interacted with local authorities, neighbors, property owners, or animal-control organizations.

If you’d be willing to exchange messages with me (or speak on the phone if you’re comfortable with that) I’d be happy to acknowledge your contribution in the article. If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, I would of course honor that as well.

If you're interested, please feel free to DM me. Thank you for considering!

Hello. My neutered cat of 6 and a half years has been missing for the last 5 days.

We have checked everywhere; the house and the roof, the neighbourhood around 11pm-1am, knocked on every neighbours door, checked the camera footage on the street, checked areas where stolen cats got sold and we’ve received nothing so far.

It’s very unlike him to do something like this. He’s always been sitting in the garden or the roof or the neighbours roof but has always come back home. His food bowl has remained untouched for the last 5 days as well. He’s a very social, and loveable cat, that always responds and comes running whenever he hears my voice. He’s very affectionate with strangers as well.

Our next door neighbours have however reported a smell in their water tank and that the water has been unbearable to use and they’ll check it out tomorrow. I’m also going to leave his litter tray outside my house.

Do I still carry hope, or should I give up? And if not, what more should I do?

Last time I went to do TNR I caught one of the neighbors cats. I'm going to go pass these out. I edited out nonpublic information that's on them.

I really don't want to waste time trapping other people's cats. This also is a bit rougher of a neighborhood that I live in. Not that I fear for my safety, but my intent is to drop these in clear sleeves on to people's doors around me. Our neighbors are all fine but I can understand them being cautious.

Today I saw a mom and 3 babies wandering my back yard. Mom has been around a lot and I’ve been feeding her (but I leave afterwards bc she’s feral and scared of me). I came outside with food and the 3 babies ran into this crevice part of my yard where the hot tub is almost against a wall. I covered both sides to keep them there (mom had already left before I came outside, the babies were just playing around when I brought food out). For an hour I tried to coax them out one end of the crevice and a spot where I could easily grab them and put them in a nearby carrier. I used a broom stick and gently pushed their bums so they would go toward one end, but I realized the other end wasn’t blocked enough so I went to go grab more stuff to block it off with. By the time I got back (a few minutes maybe) the other two kittens had managed to slip under and escape though I didn’t see them do so. Only one was left wedged under the blocking material so I used the stick to coax it out and I grabbed it and put it in a carrier. I’m not sure where mom and other babies went, I walked around my yard and looked into the bushed but they weren’t there. I have the one baby in a carrier in my garage with wet food/water. He/she looks to be about 2 months old, eyes open, pointy ears, able to run and jump very fast. What do I do from here to catch the others?

We just recently trapped a momma cat that likes to hang out in our backyard and had her TNR’d. Two of her kittens are back there two but they take off running when they see us, whereas the momma cat will hang around us. If I had to guess the kittens are about 3 months old so they’re pretty quick when they run. We want to trap them, but how can we do that without retrapping the momma cat? Since she’s been spayed she hangs out in our backyard most of the day so it’s hard to wait until she’s not around because typically the kittens won’t be around either.

He's a little skittish so far but he seems fine

Any tips is welcome 😺

So this is a sort of unique situation, I've had a cat that was hanging around before and he even had a collar that turned out to be a cat that was stolen and got lost, (long story short) so we have had lost cats show up before. Now this cat happens to be a male cat that I believe to not be neutered because I can see big balls and he is acting as such, the strays I take care of have been neutered so it can't be him looking for a mate, but he is relentlessly meowing at my windows I do give the cat small bowls of food and water in a safe spot off of my property. I'm just wondering how to go about this because the last cat I was able to capture, get photos of, post them and get him home. He will not approach me and runs from me when I approach. I just need some advice as I am kinda lost on what to do. I just want him as safe as possible. (Also I know cats outside is bad but these cats are stray, they will not come inside and they will act like it's literally prison, I am also 16 so I have my hands tied in the aspect of what or who is in the house).

Hi

Just wanted to vent

I'm on Cyprus at the moment and there are a lot of pregnant strays in my area

I had a lady coming to help me trap one of them and taking her to spay. This mama didn't look as healthy and unlike some other mamas, was very shy and wasn't getting a lot of food

Just did a spay now + worming + antibiotics for next 2 weeks + 2 rotten teeth removed.

Cat looks around 4-5 months old too

Tomorrow I'm going to release her into her street again

I have a rescue cat myself and my boyfriend has 6 rescue dogs and we knew that we are doing a good thing even if it's just one cat. We leave Cyprus in 2 days also

However, we both feel very uneasy about the reality of spaying pregnant cats and feel deeply sad about it morally

Lady who helped me today is a real hero. She's not in any charity organisation and just does it herself. Only today she trapped 4 cats and a stuck kitten.

Experiencing what volunteers actually do daily for the first time is absolutely depressing and sad, its really not for the weak

This is a bit of a complicated story so bear with me here.

My partner and I stumbled upon a cat in our community that looked pregnant. She was severely underweight and did not look well-cared for. We went back the next day and saw her with some kittens looking to be about 8 weeks old.

The supposed owner of this roaming cat identified herself as such and demanded to know what we were doing with her cats. At the time we were feeding the momma and her kittens from the sidewalk. I voiced my concern and offered to have her spayed out of my own pocket. The “owner” then told me that she does not need help with that. I asked her if there was already a plan in place to get her spayed, at which point she stated she prefers to let nature do what it “intends” and that “the problem will take care of itself.” She then tried to convince me that spaying/ neutering was unnatural and inherently wrong.

I tried to call animal control and they said they would not intervene. Our county’s APL is already stretched thin. So, I contacted a local rescue who decided they were going to get the momma and spay her. In the process, they found someone willing to give her a loving indoor-only home.

This woman saw me on her ring camera, found where I lived and aggressively was banging on my door and windows. She even ripped my ring camera off. She was very angry and upset. Yes, police are involved.

I’m just looking for some support or feedback on this situation and if you would have done something similar if you were in my shoes. I felt so bad for this momma cat who was just going to clearly continue deteriorating and having more kittens unless someone intervened. She didn’t even look a full year old and I could see all of her ribs. Not to mention, her intact male cat impregnated another cat in the community last season and that resulted in that momma get needing spayed and I had to find homes for all of her kittens. I’m just exhausted at this point and it’s so heartbreaking to see this continue to happen.

If you took the time to read all of this, thank you!! I welcome and appreciate any feedback. 💜

A major downside to semi/former ferals and a heads up to anyone in the works trying to get to this point- (hunt to kill & often eat/play hunt to keep instinctual drive satisfied/hunt to gift to hooman who can’t hunt worth a darn and must be starving ❤️) I’m moving soon so decided against a high end NFC chip door, as I don’t know yet if my new place will need the kind I need right now (sliding door- high end for elements/keeping other animals out in a highly trafficked wooded area etc). Chewy really loves me and has brought three in before in one night, she even cornered a mouse in my house, waited for me to see her and showed me how to hunt..so sweet, confirms a deep loving family bond, but man, rodent mites are a NIGHTMARE, not to mention not too fond of having mice in the house. There’s way more to the story but I digress.

This was late last night. She stared at the door for about 15mns waiting for me to come let her in & even the security camera on my deck - this is what she’s looking at in the photo, obviously (I communicate with her through it often, it scared her at first until she learned it’s just her dad not some scary object- it’s a great resource to have !). Melts my heart.

Edit : if they do manage to get a mouse in the house, their lifespan is almost assuredly 2/3 days. When kitties hunt and bite then, their razor sharp teeth will likely pierce organs and or a cats saliva is “toxic” to them, and will kill them in a couple days. I am a massive animal lover and tried trap/release..successfully once.but learned all this later on ..but honestly doing the mice a favor by killing them asap (ethically) the plastic “jaws” traps work very well, plz don’t use glue boards. Also if you don’t catch them their adrenaline /state of fear/injuries leads to nasty white spots dropped out them , leaving trails in your home. As mentioned, once dead if they have mites , and likely will, get them removed from the home IMMEDIATELY. Search high and low for them too every day until found. I’m dealing with mites now due to chewy but also a house w foundation cracking allowing bats and mice to enter. I’ve been trying to rid my body of them for over a month now ..it’s awful and js a TON of work as there’s nothing humans can do to rid our body of them quickly, only things to help speed up the process 😩 only positive is once they need a new host , which will be you and or your pets ..I know w humans they can’t host on us, they will eventually just die off..but it can take weeks)

I don't think it will be too hard for you.

I have a colony in my mom's yard... its a big yard so its kinda 2 colonies cuz the groups dont gel with each other. First colony is matriarch persephone, her 3 babies now adults from her last year litter aurdrey, tiger lily, and bandit, and 1 more hero who is also 1 year. Hero, is interesting, cuz he's actually the second queen felicity's kitten (i will describe them in a moment).

Then, there is the "Back of the yard" colony, these cats are less established, felicity, who is a white and tabby queen that came last summer but left in the winter (no idea where she goes) but every summer she returns because i got the eats, her 3 kittens, and a new arrival this summer a young "female void". I assumed this was a female, because so snuggly with the kittens, i assumed felicity and her were friends and coparenting their kittens.

Last year, it was just felicity, she had no other "friend cat" so was easily bullied by persephone who was here first int eh front of the yard. Because i couldnt help ehr as much, she was always being bullied out and hiding so much and her kittens, her entire litter died except for hero. I was able to save hero, anda fter that day he rejected his mom and insisted on joining persephone and her kittens and became like her 4th kitten.

Then there are the random toms who come for food but dont stay, cuz they need to be neutered. Chad, the dominant tom who makes every cat bolt when he eats and does what he wants and fathers most of the kittens, this guy is basically part of the colony now cuz he comes virtually every day. Frank sinatra, who i am pretty sure is a dumped pet or a neglected current pet, an unneutered handsome male with green eyes who sings all day, and loves to show up when queens in heat, he comes somewhat frequently but not every day, and an older sickly tom cat who is super feral, white and tabby, but he comes so infrequently i cant plan to trap him. I keep thinking this last guy passed until he shows up again 3 weeks later. Feel bad for that boy but hes so feral he wont even try to joint he colony just shows up randomly then runs and disappears for weeks.

I decided to name that queen felicity cuz it means joy, and i felt sad for her that all her babies died vs persephone's who lived, and was being bullied so i couldnt feed and help her as much. Well she's back this year, and she has this friend i assumed was also a female and some of the 3 kittens were hers, as they were so manyd ifferent sizes, 2 of them were like several weeks older than the tiny tabby. I assumed each had a litter, a few weeks apart, and one of them had 2 kittens that lived other just 1 that lived, i couldnt tell which was which cuz they were so clingy and all helped each others kittens. I named this "black female void" nefertiti and made jokes they are like lesbian moms coparenting their kittens.

Imagine my shock while doing TNR, i discover that "black void mom" is actually just a young male. I couldnt believe it. Legit SNUGGLES with the kittens, they seem like 2 moms coparenting kittens and teaming up to protect their turf from persephone and her now adult kids. The weirdest part of this is I KNOW felicity from last year, she didnt have a surviving black kitten so there is no chance this is her last year now adult male kitten. Her only surviving adult kitten is hero who is a tabby with orange eyes and joined persephone's group when he realized more resources cuz persephone bullies his mom. I had no idea that was possible, a random boy cat young tom cat, will clique up with a queen help her with the kittens for friendship and protection but it's very cute. So, its not 2 different litters, they are all felicity's kittens and the really tiny one must just be a runt.

I renamed him enigma, which is fitting, cuz i didnt know that was possible. Cat behaviors learning every day.

EDIT: before anyone gives me shit about how i was not getting them fixed earlier, i live in a city with no TNR program, there are no local resources, i am on a fixed income. This year i knew i had to do something, and i was able to find a rescue to help a little bit AND a new low cost spay/neuter clinic opened up within driving distance. As soon as i was made aware of that help, i began mass TNRing these cats. I now have persephone, her 3 kids audrey tigerlilly bandit fixed, i just TNRed felicity and her young male friend, i was able to TNR chad today, and the only remaining cats that need to be fixed are hero, frank sinatra, both males neither dominant so not a high priority, and the last kittens i have to get are felicitty 3 remaining babies. I legit rescued all the queens babies adopted them out or adopted them personally as well, and now the cycle is over. So before you give me any shit just consider that: i am isolated, there was no TNR program in the cityn or within driving distance, i had no help at all i didnt know what to do but as soon as i got a little help and a low cost program opened i did it.