My First Cat Mistakes I Made and Owning a Cat 101

I had 11 cats in my life before I adopted my first apartment cat, Jericho.

My previous cats were family cats. And we lived in a house.

Jericho is the first cat ever that I’m fully responsible for.

I hold cat care to very high standards.

But we’re all human. And we make mistakes.

I want to share my mistakes so you don’t have to make them.

Disclaimer: I earn a commission through affiliate links below. No additional cost to you. 

Also, nothing I say is medical advice. All photos are of my cats.

My cat burned his paws on the stove

Jericho is constantly up on the counters. His foster mother fed the cats on the kitchen counters.

Lucky me.

I have an electric stove in my apartment.

So I was making tea and turned around to fill my mug.

Boom. I hear a loud cry.

Jericho was up on the stove scalding his paw pads on the burner I just used to boil water.

Like the highest heat setting boil water.

His paws were raw and immediately started peeling. The natural color of his pads is black.

All of that skin came off, and his pads were bright pink.

I felt so bad.

By the way, this happened twice.

The second time it happened I was so upset with myself.

I should have put something over the burner.

Jericho is hard-headed and didn’t learn. But I’m his mom. I should have learned and prevented it.

I sat down with Jericho in my lap, and I was crying.

My heart was full of grief and upset for him. I was also angry with myself.

But mostly I felt terrible that he had to feel this pain again.

I looked into his eyes and could feel my heart radiating sorrow.

He looked in my eyes and then started licking my hand. As if to tell me that it’s ok.

This proves to me that emotional animal communication is real. It’s on my list of things to learn.

Anyway, the lesson here is we cannot expect our cats to learn from mistakes. Even if terrible pain is involved.

Cats are curious, and they’re going to do what they want to do.

So my solution is to cover the burner with a pan lid. I also put up a large gate to the kitchen entrance.

Jericho can still hop over the gate and jump on the counter. But at least I can hear him coming and prepare.

My cat ate and puked up my dishcloth

As you know, Jericho is constantly on the kitchen counter.

He got a hold of my Swedish dishcloth and took off large bites.

Since it’s made of materials he isn’t meant to consume, he puked it up.

Now I keep the dishcloths behind the kitchen cabinet. And a note on the sink that reads PUT SPONGE AWAY.

My cat had an ear infection for 3 years

Jericho was a stray cat before I adopted him. He was in foster care with other cats and some dogs for about one month.

I noticed his ears had a lot of black gunk and residue. And he was constantly scratching, holding his ear flat, and shaking his head.

Online searches will tell you these are symptoms of ear mites or an infection.

I asked the vet to take a look. She looked in his ears and said no.

It’s probably just extra dirty from living outside.

So I accepted that, and we just dealt with itchy ears.

For 3 years…

Finally, I said enough is enough.

I did more research and discovered that the vet needs to take a sample of debris to determine the cause.

The lesson here is not to disregard what your vet says. Instead, do some research and ask a lot of questions.

Prepare yourself before the appointment.

Or perhaps get a second opinion.

So I had our new vet test a sample of the debris. She confirmed that he has an outer ear infection and sent a cleanser to me.

My cat scratched his face raw

Going on with ear infections and itchiness…

Jericho is constantly scratching himself. He scratches his ears, face, neck, back, armpits… everything.

He’s scratched his face so rough that he has bleeding wounds. He keeps scratching the scabs off.

I’ve tried an air purifier, chemical-free soaps, and replacing rugs.

Currently, I’m transitioning to a new protein to see if it’s a food allergy. I’m also using an algae superfood to see if that helps heal him from the inside out.

My cat lost 2 of his incisors and is losing more teeth

Incisors are the little tiny baby teeth in the front of your cat’s mouth.

These teeth are sensitive, and the roots are shallow.

My vet told me they can lose these easily with trauma.

Jericho is clumsy when he plays.

He’s more concerned with catching the toy than his surroundings.

So we’re playing, and he’s jumping around.

Then he knocked into the corner of the coffee table.

This happened multiple times.

So the lesson here is to practice a safe playtime.

Always value safety over pride.

Don’t assume that all will be well.

Again, cats will do whatever they want to do.

Additionally, I ignored his dental health for too long.

Currently, he has angry red inflamed gums, tooth resorption, and lots of plaque.

I am still testing different remedies to help heal him.

My cat was underweight

More than half the cats in the US are overweight. I’ve had and still have family cats that are obese.

All of my previous cats that passed had serious health issues. They all ate dry food only.

I was so scared that this would happen to Jericho. Even though he’s eating a healthy BARF diet.

He can still gain unnecessary weight if he’s fed too much.

I was feeding him 2% of his ideal weight. Based on the raw feeding guidelines.

But Jericho is very active.

He plays a lot with me and runs around by himself.

Jericho started showing weird behaviors. This is how I found out he needed more food.

He sleeps in bed with me every night. He also naps with me during the day.

But he’s never slept under the blankets. Jericho likes to lay on me, my pillow, or on top of the blanket.

He started sleeping under the blanket. I thought maybe because the AC was too cold.

Then he tried to eat a clump of litter.

Now I know something is wrong. He’s never done anything like that before.

I read this may be related to a nutritional deficiency.

So I weighed Jericho and discovered that he is underweight.

We have a few lessons here.

1- You must weigh your cat and not only rely on body composition charts.

2- Take feeding amounts as general guidelines. You know your cat best. Now I feed Jericho 4% of his ideal weight.

3- Knowing your cat intimately is the best tool you have. Strange and new behaviors should not be ignored.

I gave my cat diarrhea

I was really excited to feed Jericho a frankenprey diet.

Frankenprey means whole cuts of meat, bone, and organ. Rather than ground food.

But I didn’t balance his food.

Hearts are a great source of Taurine. Taurine is essential to cat health.

So I fed a couple of hearts all in one shot. I also fed some extra kidney.

Well, hearts and kidney are also rich in vitamin C. And too much vitamin C will cause diarrhea.

The lesson here is to use a balanced recipe. Don’t go it alone.

Homemade cat food is complex. It isn’t as simple as tossing some chunks of meat and organs on your cat’s plate.

I gave my cat trace urinary crystals

Here’s another mistake I made regarding diet.

Rabbit is very high in protein and low in fat. I thought that’s great. Protein is good.

Liver is important to have in the diet too.

So I was feeding ground rabbit meat, bones, and organs and some small chunks of liver.

Jericho always pees twice a day. That’s his normal.

But he started going only once a day.

So I had a urine sample tested. The test showed high protein and trace amounts of crystals.

Rabbit is high in protein. And liver is a good source of vitamin D. Too much vitamin D can cause crystals.

The lesson here is to offer a balanced variety in your cat’s diet. And pay attention to the litter box.

Cats won’t tell us when something is off. But their litter box habits can tell us a lot.

Now I use urine test strips to monitor his levels.

I switched my cat’s food too quickly

And yet another diet-related mistake.

The first raw food Jericho ate was Rad Cat.

Unfortunately, they had to close the business and stop selling food.

So I had to find a new supplier.

I thought since Jericho was already eating a raw diet I didn’t have to transition the food.

Wrong.

I switched his food too quickly. And as a result, his bathroom habits were out of whack.

We cannot control companies going out of business.

So the lesson here is to buy from a few different companies.

Keep a variety of different foods on rotation.

This will also help save you if one food is out of stock.

So if you have to feed more of another food at least your cat is already eating it.

And do your best to transition cat food gradually.

My cat stopped using the box

Every few months I visit my parents.

My partner, John, takes care of Jericho while I’m away.

I explained to John that it’s important that he scoops the litter box every time Jericho goes.

I scoop every time Jericho goes. So Jericho never has to walk and dig around pee clumps and poop.

John got lazy with it though.

When I returned there were 2 pee clumps and poop in the box.

So that means Jericho had to use a dirty box at least once.

That week Jericho’s bathroom habits were not his normal routine.

The lesson here is don’t trust guys to clean.

I’M TOTALLY KIDDING ????

Just a bit of cheeky humor to lighten up the mood.

The lesson here is to keep the litter area clean.

Cats refuse the box for many reasons. But sometimes the solution is simple. Clean it.

Final thoughts on my first cat mistakes

Again, we’re all human. We all make mistakes.

The point is to learn from your mistakes.

Cats are complex creatures. And they rely on us for proper nutrition, safety, and a clean home.

Learn everything you can about cats. I’ve been around 400+ cats since 2017. I’m still learning about cats daily.

Trust me. There’s always more to learn.

Every cat is an individual. So knowing your cat intimately is the best tool you have.

And, at the end of the day, you (and only you) are responsible for your cat’s health.

Need more help making your cat happy indoors? Check out my single cat household tips next!