dingus

Hi. I've had my cat since August. He sleeps in my bed every night and has done so since I've got him. I've always had an incredibly mild allergy to cats...mostly when they scratch me I sometimes get very itchy (but not always), or if there are a metric buttload of them in the room (as in a shelter), my throat and eyes will be a bit scratchy. Otherwise I'm fine.

In the past several weeks, I have been sneezing a fuckton and when go to bed and wake up in the morning my nose is entirely stuffed up and runny. It goes away once I'm up and moving, but I'm still periodically sneezing whenever I'm at home. The litter boxes are NOT in my bedroom.

Any tips??? I don't want to kick him out of the bed. :(((

Native to the Americas and weighs between 2-2.5kg (4.5-5.5 lbs)

If not friend, why friend shaped?????

The kitchen is exceptionally interesting/exciting because that's where the food comes from. I'm gonna think about which sort of possible cat trees or shelves he might like. He mostly prefers the couch and doesn't like to "cave" too much.

Since I posted asking for advice recently, I figured I'd also pay the cat tax. I'm a first time cat owner and he has been a very easygoing sweetie so far...even despite needing to go to the vet and getting 2x daily eye drops right away lol.

Background info on kitty/personality

Hello! I am new to cats and adopted one last week. I've honestly never even really interacted with cats before, being a lot more used to and familiar with dogs. My cat is around 4 years old found as a stray. He had been in a shelter and cat cafe for around 6 months before I adopted him.

He basically immediately seemed to acclimate, only hiding for 5-10 minutes when I got him, then immediately loving me and wanting to be out in the open. He is very sweet and sociable and loves being pet on his head and face and happily greets new people.

He does not generally like to climb or hide like most cats. He generally does not seem to like being in enclosed spaces but will occasionally like to hang out under the couch. There is nothing wrong with his mobility, as when he is incredibly motivated (like by food), he can jump very high. The couch and bed are his preferred spots, and sometimes the floor or under the couch. Jackson Galaxy would probably classify him as more of a "beach cat" with some occasional "bush cat" inclinations lol...except he prefers a soft couch to the floor. He likes to sleep in my bed and hang out near me to me altho he is not a lap cat.

I have tried to show him that there is a soft spot on my desk (I put a blanket there :)) where he can hang out with me and look out the window to the woods, but he is not interested. BUT he will actually watch TV and especially seems to be captivated by "cat tv" videos on YouTube! I play them for him when I leave for work. He is interested in that but not looking out the window lol.

Play

He does not react to catnip or silvervine.

I am trying to figure out ways for enrichment, exercise, and play. He doesn't seem interested in most toys. I have found that felt mice capture his attention the most when I occasionally manage to wiggle them in the correct way lol. Wand toys he seems to get interested in a bit, but he is also easily scared by them which I feel bad about.

He is not interested in a robotic mouse toy that I have, soft balls, bell balls, scratching posts, scratching posts with hanging balls or springs, ball rolling things that they can bat, etc.

The last couple of nights, he seems to have gotten comfortable enough in my home to get the zoomies in the middle of the night/early AM presumably after he takes a shit lol. This morning he also started batting my sheets/legs in bed.

I was kind of excited to try playing with him at this time before breakfast because he was active and seemed to want to be playful, but again I was having some trouble. I got out a new wand toy with a mouse and he initially seemed to be kind of interested, but then got a bit scared again. I think he gets most concerned when the wand toy gets too close to him (so I've been trying not to get too close) but he doesn't get scared when I get the felt mice I hold in my hand get close to him.

Is it just that he's still settling in? How can I figure out what other things he likes to stimulate him and not scare him? He is very sweet and loving. :)

Illness

Note that he also developed a URI a few days after taking him home. So he might be gaining more energy as he gets better. I have been giving him supplements and liquid antibiotics from the doc which are easy to put in his food. But they also gave me eye drops which he hates lmao. I'm wondering if the eye drops are making his trust a bit reduced with me. But I have managed to do it and give him lots of praise and some treats afterwards. He is a very good boy!

Thanks all!

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