Hey guys! Ever since I adopted my 1-year-old cat Milo, I quickly realized he had a serious obsession with my sofa and curtains.

I actually chatted with our vet about it, and she reminded me that scratching isn't a bad habit at all—it’s a total biological necessity for full-body stretching and leaving scent marks to claim territory. You really can't change their instinct, but you can change the target!

The tricky part? My place is styled with a minimalist interior, so I really didn't want messy, flaking cardboard scratchers scattered all over the floor, nor did I want a bulky cat tree ruining the vibe.

I ended up trying out a sisal cat scratching canvas that looks like a piece of wall art. Here is how I got it to work in just 3 days:

• Place it right: Mounted it right next to his favorite scratching spot on the couch.
• Play to win: Used a wand toy and laser pointer to guide him across the textured weave for just a few minutes a day.
• Let scent do the work: The moment his paws dug in, his scent glands marked it as his official territory.

It only takes about 3 minutes of daily introduction, and by day 3, he completely stopped touching my furniture. Best of all, it blends right into my minimalist wall decor without leaving any annoying paper mess on the floor.

I actually uploaded a video above showing the whole process, so feel free to check it out if you want to see how it went.

Has anyone else tried redirecting their cats with wall-mounted canvas scratchers? Would love to hear how it worked for you!

i am finding it really hard to tell if my 2 kittens are playing or fighting. one of my kittens is 5 months and the other is 2 months and so there’s a lot of weight difference in between them and the bigger one always seems to go straight for the smaller one’s neck. my younger one will then show her tummy and meow. they play beautifully through a gap in the door but i just am so worried of the smaller one getting hurt !

I have a two year old boy and am looking to get him a friend. I am going to get a younger cat so my first still has some semblance of “importance” and can teach the other. Is it smarter to adopt another boy? Girl? Does it matter? Also, how long does it normally take for two cats to get used to each other/enjoy each others company? I don’t want my current cat to be upset for longer than necessary if it’s apparent it won’t work out.

This is my 3 month old boy, Felix Snicket. He’s so sweet and always wants to sleep on my neck/chest area and he runs his wet nose all over my face when he can reach it. Today he was literally trying to push his nose into my mouth and nearly succeeded everytime i smiled and so he rubbed his nose on my teeth. Is there a reason for this? Thanks!!

41 year old woman in US.

TL;DR: We have two 2-year-old littermate cats (male and female, both fixed). Our male has always been territorial, including blocking his sister from using the litter box since they were kittens, despite having multiple litter boxes, food, and water stations.
Over the past several months, he’s developed increasingly frequent and severe redirected aggression, initially triggered by seeing outdoor cats but now by ordinary household events. He violently chases and attacks his sister, who becomes so terrified she urinates while fleeing.
Between episodes, they coexist peacefully and can even lie next to each other. We’ve tried Feliway, blocking outdoor-cat views, separation, and gradual reintroduction, but the attacks continue. During reintroductions, she sometimes hisses when he approaches to play, and he puffs up in response.
We’re considering Prozac and/or a veterinary behaviorist. Has anyone successfully managed this type of aggression long-term? We’re desperate to find a solution that keeps both cats safe without permanently separating them or rehoming one.

Longer w details :)

We have two 2-year-old cats (male and female) who are littermates, both spayed/neutered. We’re dealing with increasingly frequent and severe aggression from our male cat toward his sister and are looking for advice on treatment and long-term management.
Background:
Our male cat has always been territorial. Even as kittens, he would sometimes try to prevent his sister from using the litter box.
We’ve always provided multiple litter boxes throughout the house, along with multiple food and water sources to minimize resource guarding.
The cats have generally coexisted peacefully. They’re not especially affectionate with each other, but they can comfortably lie near one another and share space without problems.
History of Aggression:
The serious attacks began several months ago and have increased in frequency and severity.
Initially, every episode was triggered by our male cat seeing an outdoor cat through a window. He would become extremely agitated and redirect his aggression toward his sister, violently chasing and attempting to attack her.
During these episodes, our female cat becomes so terrified that she urinates while running away.
More recently, an ordinary household stimulus (a box being opened, loud noises) triggered the same extreme reaction, suggesting his triggers are broadening.
They have been separated for weeks with supervised visits and have been fine, unless a toy comes out or the male cat tries to play with the female cat (she hisses and he puffs up or the both puff up). Most recently, the cats accidentally ended up together in our basement, and he attempted to attack her again. She urinated in fear.
Between episodes, he returns to his normal behavior, and the two cats can coexist peacefully.
What We’ve Tried:
Consulted our veterinarian.
Installed window barriers to prevent him from seeing outdoor cats.
Added multiple Feliway diffusers throughout the house.
Added calming probiotic to their food.
Maintained multiple litter boxes, food stations, and water sources.
Separated the cats into different areas of the house, rotating their spaces to maintain familiarity with each other’s scents.
Attempted gradual, supervised reintroductions.
Reintroduction Challenges:
During supervised introductions, they can generally be in the same room without issues. However, when our male cat tries to initiate play, our female cat often hisses at him, and he responds by puffing up. We separate them before the situation escalates. Shared toys can also trigger territorial behavior.
Despite these precautions, we’ve now had another severe incident.
What We’re Looking For:
We’re considering daily behavioral medication, particularly fluoxetine (Prozac), and consulting a veterinary behaviorist.
We would appreciate advice on:
Whether fluoxetine has been effective for similar cases of redirected aggression.
Whether a board-certified veterinary behaviorist is the best next step.
How to safely reintroduce cats after repeated serious attacks.
Whether cats with this pattern of aggression can eventually live together safely again.
This situation has become incredibly stressful and disruptive for our family. We’re committed to helping both cats and want to find a sustainable solution that keeps our female cat safe without permanently separating or rehoming either cat.

I adopted my girl Splat(~2yo) about a week ago from a friend, friend took her off the street and got her spayed but didn’t really want her long term but still had her about a year, and also had these behavior issues with her. Obvi she didn’t want me to touch her for the first few days but I just held out my hand to her, no contact, while I laid on the floor so she could see what’s up yk. She’s been a lot more eager for attention since and will come up to my hand or foot and rub on me. I’m not petting her, just staying still so she can decide when she’s done, However, she’ll rub from her head to tail but then wHIP around and bite/scratch/hiss, and then will try to rub more or lay down and roll on her back. I’m aware of pet aggression but in my experience they give signs beforehand, and usually it’s when they are experiencing unwanted contact, but I’m not doing that? Isn’t know I’ve never adopted an older cat, I’ve always gotten them when they were small. My girl Eggs(1yo) I got when she was about 8-10 weeks,1st generation house cat, and she’s only ever scratched me accidentally or when giving her a bath. she’s never hissed and only actually bit a couple times when she was little while playing. I would hiss at her when it hurt and she learned to bite softly or stop. Same with my boys Fred(16yo) and Otto(RIP) they would only be aggressive if I was messing with them. I don’t want to do that with Splat bc I don’t know the reason why she does that and I don’t want to affect our relationship negatively. How can I go about training her out of this? Is it maybe an anxiety thing? I was understanding at first like she’s new, she’s nervous, but she bit my hand pretty hard today so I would like to make it stop now lmao. Thank you sorry for slightly rambling 🩷

Good afternoon everyone. I feel bad for saying this because I truly love my little cat so much but she won’t leave me alone. Like ever. Whenever I’m home she has to be right on top of me receiving love. This is to the point where I essentially am no longer allowed any sort of quiet time to myself and can’t get anything done.

For context I am a university student, with adhd and a first time cat owner. I have struggled so much with academic burnout in the past and even recently to a degree so I find getting school things done already to be of difficulty.

Zephyr (my beautiful tabby American shorthair), 3 and a half years old, adopted from a cat cafe (and formerly a stray) won’t leave me alone. Like at all. She’ll walk on my laptop, she’ll sit on my lap, lick my face (and try to lick my eyeballs, I still don’t know why she does that) and I end up looking at the time realizing 5 hours has gone by and nothing has been done.

She has food, water, all of petsmart is on our floor, she has a couple interactive toys, including one she absolutely loves. But even with all that if I’m home, and even try to escape to my room to sit at my desk, she’ll either meow constantly and very loudly (like crying and yelling in cat) until I give in or get frustrated or she’ll physically head butt the door until she forces it open (even when it’s fully closed), she quite literally gave herself a bloody nose the other day over me being in my room for an hour.

The TV was on for some background noise and everything too. And I’ve tried letting her sit with me but on her bed or something, but she just comes over and decides I’m her bed. What can I do if anything? To better this situation because I don’t want her to be distressed but I also can’t fail out of university.

And I know working elsewhere (outside of my home) is an option but I don’t want to study at the university on the weekends and during holidays that may not even be possible. Not to mention sometimes I find it too distracting and simply want to work in the comfort of my own home…please help. I’ll take any advice. Literally anything

She does fine inside I can put it on her and she'll walk around the house and do stuff but as soon as I take her outside she just goes completely limp on me

She's very familiar and comfortable with being outside and my neighborhood so it's not from being scared of her surroundings if I let her shed roam the whole block and only come home to eat

She's roughly six years old and this is her first experience with a harness she's been wearing it at least 30 mins everyday for the last couple weeks ands we've got no improvement with the noodle

just look at that defiant little grin...

She's a very smart kitty and she's a good girl I love her very much

Hi all!

I am looking for advice on how to help my young adult (female spayed) cat become more comfortable with being handled. I am want training to be on her own time, but it’s also pretty crucial that I be able to comfortably travel with her without completely traumatizing her within a reasonable amount of time. I know there are medications to help reduce anxiety for cats for when they must be brought to the vet or go in the car. However, I cannot get these for her unless a vet sees her for an exam first, and I also still would prefer for her to be comfortable with more handling no matter what.

For some context, I adopted the cat in question about three months ago. When I got her, she was described by the rescue as “highly shutdown and undersocialized”. Basically, she had spent the first year of her life in a hoarding and abuse situation with no direct human contact, and was borderline permanently fractious/semi-feral. However, the shelter thought I would be a good fit as an adopter given my experience as a vet tech and that I already had two very sweet and tolerant older cats to show her how to trust people.

She spent the first week by herself in a room acclimating, during which she did not allow me to touch her. However, she was making very steady progress and exploring more. I began making baby steps toward introducing her to the other cats. However, at a critical point in the introduction process when we had graduated from using barriers to separate them all, she became gravely ill. She was vomiting every few hours and had stopped using the litter box. She did not let me catch her for several days. There was no hope of wrangling her without a trap. By the time I did get her to the vet, they were unsure she would recover. Scans showed that her spay had been botched and had caused an opening in her abdominal wall that was trapping and cutting off circulation to portion her small intestine. She needed an immediate bowel resection and spent several days in the hospital.

When they released her back me, she was 100X worse off regarding her behavior. She was no longer just scared, but aggressive, and did not want anything to do with me. After her clearance to resume her normal routine, I took the next several weeks to restart the introduction to the other cats. We then spent weeks socializing them together with group treat time. I fed her with a tool so I would not get bitten, but we still built the association between me and Churu access.

Now, after months of consistently and slowly building trust, she is very fond of being near me. She meows at the bedroom door if it is closed, approaches me to be pet and starts purring when I scratch her. Recently, she even lays in the bed with me. Her and my other cats frequently groom each other and share beds when napping. They also are very respectful when playing and my two larger males are clearly cautious of not hurting this much smaller female cat.

I want her to let me pick her up, transport her, trim her nails, etc. without fear. I make my best effort to continually build trust and show her our interactions on her terms. I let her approach me first and never corner her or restrict her movement/ability to escape. Again, she has made incredible progress in the time I’ve had her and continues to do so, but I am looking for any advice on how to help her understand that she doesn’t need to defend herself against me.

Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance!

How can they play more gently :(. When I pull her away for separate play she doesn't go as hard until she back in the hunt with my boy Kevin ;(.

Hello, I'd like some advice on how to deal with my cat, I'm starting to really be at a loss here idk what to do.

My cat is a male, that I got around 3 years ago from an aunt that couldn't keep him anymore. He's always been kind of prissy around others, I got him with his brother and when coming to my place, he started being so violent to his brother that we had to give him to someone else and keep mine. Now I have a dog who he's not mean to, and two female kittens.

My cat is neutered, has been for a while now but the vet has mentioned that his cheeks were 'chubby?' and that on first glance, he didn't look neutered at all. I live in a house with a garden, and a lot of my neighbors have cats, so it's hard to guess who he's been fighting with. He's always fought a bit but lately it's just getting worse, we had to get him treated for abscesses, he's been limping since yesterday for some unknown reason, and nowadays he always has dry fur and scratches.

He's not agressive at all towards humans, unless we purposefully bother him, and he's a lazy fuck who always looks annoyed, but cuddles up to me often. Every advice I get is to just lock him in or get him sprayed but 1, locking him in isn't an option, we have the windows and doors constantly open for air and 2, well he's already neutered, I can't exactly do it a second time.

Any advice would be appreciated, I'm starting to get worried as he comes back beat up and bloody every day, and I can't be out there breaking up fights in the middle of the night.

hey guys i posted on the r/cats subreddit the other day and ended up getting some good advice. thought i would come here specifically though because i would like some advice on teaching my cat tricks!

i never really taught them anything before a few days ago and they already know how to sit and high five. they just turned about 4 years old and i think this could be a really cool bonding moment for us. any advice for next steps after high five? what are some cool tricks your cat can do? i want to challenge them so they can be mentally stimulated

I adopted her exactly a year ago, she's three years old. When I first met her, she slept on my lap. I instantly fell in love and adopted her.

She was cuddly for a while after she came home but a month or so later, she started getting really aggressive. She bit and scratched me so much. She would spontaneously run into my room from somewhere else to bite me. She was still cuddling with me so I didn't really mind.

But then she stopped cuddling with me too. She follows me from room to room, loves getting petted, and slow blinks at me. Sometimes she does lean up against me. Two mins later, she's like wth? What am I doing so near this lady? And bunny kicks me while biting me.

I do play with her a lot. Almost 2 hours every single day. I follow the chase, catch, and eat sequence. I'm good at listening to her body cues, I'll stop touching her if she gets even a little bit annoyed. I feel so lost, I love her so much but I'm a little scared of her. We've ruled out medical reasons too.

Two cats,female 10yo,male 8yo,they live together 7 years,now we moved and they fight a lot more that they used to.Male attacks more often,female stays just at the bedroom,male hunts her everything she goes out,for food or water.Any suggestions?

Is anyone else attempting to introduce cats with zero success?! Stressing out big time right now

We have a 4 year old female resident cat and have just rescued a 3 month old female kitten. We have followed all the advice from Jackson Galaxy - keeping the kitten in a separate room for the first few days, scent swapping, feeding them on opposite sides of the closed door, and opening the door a tiny bit each time. We've got to the stage where we can feed them in front of each other and they are fine but the second there's no food, our older cat starts hissing, swatting and growling at the kitten and we are finding it impossible to move to the next stage. We've had the kitten for over a month now and we just seem to be going backwards! Our resident cat has even started to hiss and swat at us and I've got several scratches on my arms. I know she's probably stressed but I know what else we can do so they will tolerate each other. The poor kitten hates being stuck in a room for the majority of the time and often cries to be let out/for attention. But there's no way we can trust them to be near each other without the older cat beating the shit out of the kitten!

Can anyone reassure me that it will get better or have any recommendations on things that have helped them?! Also how long it it taking people in the same situation to resolve things?

Hi! I recently (just saturday morning) took in a stray kitten i have been feeding her and her mother her whole life. She’s about 2-3 months old, and very vocal and playful. This is no problem during the day since during the day time she’s quiet, but then at night it gets bad.

I just recently (today) started a job where i have to wake up at 430 am. I cannot get her to calm down. I’m only able to keep her in my bedroom until i’m able to afford a door the restroom. i’ve tried putting her in her crate when i go to sleep, but the screaming only gets worse.

I’m planning on moving her into the bathroom until she calms down, since i know that’s regular procedure, but i’m clueless on what to do until then. She’s a tabby, but i’m not sure if that’s important.

This night she’s honestly louder than the first night i had her. I’m trying to be patient but it’s so hard and frustrating.

Sorry if this is a dumb question. i’ve asked my friends who have kittens and older cats but none of them know how to help me.

Edit: Thak you everyone!! I’ve found so many different ideas and ways to help her adjust. She’s a sweet girl so i want to make her stay great. I know now about the crates, and won’t be doing that of course. It’s 12am now in my time zone and she’s finally went to bed, so i’m going to get as much sleep as i can, and hopefully i can ready more comments in the morning 🫶🏼🫶🏼 any advice for new cat owners is welcome even if unrelated!!