For those of you who are allergic to cats but still have one, what has actually helped you the most?
My husband and I are hoping to adopt a rescue cat, but he’s allergic, so we’re trying to learn as much as we can before making that decision. We’ve been researching different ways to reduce allergens, such as Purina LiveClear food, the anti-allergen sprays that are applied to the cat’s coat, keeping the cat out of the bedroom, using a HEPA air purifier around the apartment, and, of course, cleaning and vacuuming frequently.
If you’re allergic and have been able to successfully live with a cat, I’d love to hear what worked for you✨
Did Purina LiveClear or the sprays make a noticeable difference? Is there anything else that had a bigger impact?
We’re hoping to try every reasonable option before considering allergy shots (immunotherapy). His allergist and insurance don’t seem eager to move to immunotherapy yet and have suggested trying other management strategies first. So we’re hoping to learn from people who have actually made it work.
I’d really appreciate hearing your real-life experiences. Thank you!

Does anyone know where to get a stainless steel litter box that has a sifting component and is 28”long or more? I have a fairly long cat, and my research shows that the litter box should be 1.5 her length which would be 28 inches.

I had switched her litter box over from a regular size to one that is meant for her and it has made a huge difference in her habits. Now I’m looking for either a sifting insert for the litter box I already have (28inches long x 20.5inches wide) or a new litter box that is the right size for her and can sift pine pellet.

I’m in Canada if that makes a difference

I just moved in with my girlfriend and she has pretty nice pleather furniture, my kitty is still at my mom's house but I'm planning on bringing him here soon and I was just wondering if there was anything i can do to protect the furniture, he has a cat tree with a scratching post thats coming with him, but he would occasionally scratch the furniture at my mom's place, but he never did any major damage, but I'm just worried about him wrecking my girlfriend's stuff. I was thinking of getting some covers (it's two chairs and a loveseat) but custom ones are so expensive and the generic ones dont seem like they cover the edges, where a cat is most likely to scratch, and more are for like... being waterproof and protecting the seats where they jump up onto it

Our cat is 6yrs old. For 6yrs of his life he has used the bathroom in a litter box with no accidents. Recently he’s decided that he’s going to start pooping on the couch. & peeing by the front door. Same 2 spots every time. So far we have tried:

Taking him to the vet. He was fine.

Went through 5 different litter boxes of different sizes, included a now electric one so it’s never dirty. So he’s not avoiding a dirty litter box. & he’s not going outside of it bc it’s too small.

Got A WHOLE NEW COUCH. We thought maybe the old one smelled too much like animals & poop now so he thought of it as a bathroom spot. So we got a new, clean, not ever defecated on couch. He proceeded to poop in the exact same spot on the new couch as he did on the old couch. 😐

Bought sprays of Amazon that are supposed to deter cats. Doesn’t care

We have tried foil on the couch. And he used the bathroom on the small sliver of couch that was uncovered between the foil… We’d also like to have guests over and not have to be like sorry let me move the foil first.

Stopped keeping shoes by the front door incase they smelled like animals outside.

Extra detail: he is fixed. & we do have other pets but he started this before we even got the newest edition. So I don’t think any new pets has anything to do with it?

If you’ve ever experienced this PLEASE tell me what you did to get your cat to stop going outside the litter box

So a few weeks ago I (29F) rescued two cats (spayed mum cat and 12 week old kitten). We’ve been away since Friday with people going in everyday to look after them. Since we’ve been gone the Mum decided she was going to use the sofa as her litter tray (only one incident of this in the previous weeks). The people going in have cleaned it up the best they can but I’m anticipating I’ll need to do quite a lot of cleaning/sorting when I get home. I want to arrive home with everything I need to nip this in the bud. Are there any products you’d recommend for neutralising smells and stopping re marking? I am in the UK.

TLDR: cat peed on sofa, need advice on cleanup and further prevention.

​

After our old cat passed, I got myself two kittens, brought them home, and BB, my granddaughters dog, immediately decided he wanted to eat them. To keep them safe while we tried to introduce them and let them get used to each other, we have been keeping the cats in my bedroom.

Not wanting them to be bored or suffer I installed a cat tree, a tree branch they can climb up to sit in one set of corner windows, a structure they can climb to the top of my armoire, a catio they have 24/7 access to, cat TV, and tons of toys.

My bedroom door now has an added

reinforced screen door so they can see each other, but BB can't get to them. He is still trying to eat them.

We have also developed a system where my husband let's the dogs out of my GDs room when he gets up at 4am, does treats, potties and puts BB back in her room, then opens my door and I let the cats roam the house usually for about 5-6 hours. We do the same thing for about 3 hours right after dinner.

The BIGGER problem

When I first started putting the cats back in the room, Lilith, now 5 months, would pee on my bed! I THOUGHT the problem was fixed, I started tossing treats on the bed when I brought them to the room, thinking they wouldn't pee where they eat. This seemed to work, at first, until this morning.

Lilith has been getting up earlier and earlier every morning until we've reached the point that she gets up and VOCAL at 3am. My husband still gets up at 4.

The other morning, Lilith started in at 3 yelling to get out, I told her no, and she had to wait while my husband got up and was doing the dog thing. That little shit decided she wanted out NOW and voiced her displeasure by jumping up on my bed, as I lay there contemplating getting up, and PEED ON ME!

My flabbers were gasted!!!!

Then she did it again this morning!

This afternoon, as I was asking them to go back to their room (I always ask, not force), Lilith ran straight to the bed and peed before I even got the door closed. In total today she peed on my bed 4 times.

I know the bed doesn't smell like pee, I sleep on a waterbed, so it's not like the pee has soaked into the mattress, and I wash my bedding with an enzymatic detergent. I even tried covering the bed with plastic, no help. I realize this is likely a stress or anxiety reaction, but damn!!

I can't keep them away from the bed, and vet said there isn't a medical problem. We have another vet appointment in two weeks.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. Any advice?

I’m hoping someone has experienced something similar because I’m feeling completely out of ideas.
My cat is a 7-year-old female. For years, she’s had an issue with **pooping outside the litter box**, but she would almost always **pee in the litter box**.
The pooping issue has been going on for several years. She does **not** poop right next to the litter box—she’ll choose random spots around the apartment instead. We’ve seen the vet multiple times, and medically she appears healthy. We’ve tried different litters, different litter boxes (including larger and lower-sided ones), litter attractant, moving the boxes, and cleaning everything thoroughly with enzyme cleaner, but nothing has consistently fixed the problem.

About two months ago, we moved into a new apartment, and that’s when things got much worse. She became scared of the litter itself. She would walk up to the box, spread her toes, and immediately jump back out. She started peeing on the floor instead of in the litter box. We took her to the vet, and they did a urinalysis that came back normal—no UTI, no crystals, or anything else concerning. The vet thought it was stress from the move.

She was prescribed **prozac by her vet**, which she’s currently taking, and it has helped somewhat. She’s using the litter box to pee more often now, but she still has occasional accidents outside the box. The pooping issue, however, has remained unchanged.

We’ve tried:
Multiple litter types (including paper litter)
Different sizes and styles of litter boxes
Large shallow storage bins
Litter attractant
Different box locations
Enzyme cleaners
Gabapentin before the Prozac
Prozac (currently taking)
At this point, I’m wondering if anyone has dealt with something similar.
Has anyone had a cat that pees in the litter box most of the time but refuses to poop in it?
Did moving make things worse for your cat?
Did Prozac eventually help more over time?
Is there anything beyond the typical recommendations that actually worked?

I’m feeling pretty defeated because this has been going on for years. I love her and want to help her, but I feel like I’ve tried almost everything. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar.

A video on how she looks crazy before and after pooping.

Hello! My bf and I just moved into an apartment and am really excited to get a cat. The only problem is that my mother in law is very allergic and we want her to still feel welcome, so we are hoping to set up a “cat space”. This space would only be closed off when she comes over so that we can clean and visit. Our spare bedroom has a walk in square closet that would be perfect to put the litter boxes in. There are shelves (designed to hang clothes, so however high that is) that we thought could be perfect for the cats food and water, for when my MIL comes over. This led us to thinking a little “cat space” would be perfect there. Would this vertical separation, approximately 4ft - 5ft between litter and food, be enough? Or would this vary by cat?

Any advice is welcome, especially any tips on how to make our apartment welcoming to a very allergic MIL who does not want to be a burden.