She Gave Her Cats To The Sister They Loved Most, And Her Neighbor Called It Abandonment
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Loving an animal sometimes means letting it go to the person it loves most.
One woman adopted two cats right before lockdown, and since she was out working most of the day, her sister ended up caring for them.
The cats attached to her sister so strongly that one of them nested in her jumper when she traveled, and the other mourned.
When the sister got her own place nearby, she asked if she could take them. The woman agreed, even though she felt a little reluctant, since it seemed best for the cats.
Her neighbor, however, strongly disagreed, calling it abandonment and insisting you should never rehome an animal.
Now the woman wonders if she made the right call.
Keep reading for the full story.
AITA for giving away my cats?
I adopted two cats just before lockdown. I was a keyworker, so I was out most of the day.
The cats spent all their time with my sister (who spent lockdown with us, as we have more space than my parents did), so the cats bonded with her.
And when she says bonded, she means really bonded.
Now they like the rest of us, don’t get me wrong, but they LOVE her. She speaks, and they come running. She sits down, and they jump on her.
She went away for a few months, and one of them started nesting in a jumper she left behind while the other one was just sad-kitty.
Now she is getting her own place nearby and moving out.
That’s when she decided her cats would be happier with her sister.
She asked to take the cats, and I said yes. I felt a shade reluctant, but to me, this seems like a total no-brainer.
It’s in the cats’ best interest, and I’ll still see them all the time.
But someone else in her life has a real problem with this.
But my neighbor has taken real issue with it. It came up in conversation, and she thinks it is terrible that I am “abandoning” my cats. I explained again, thinking she had misunderstood, and she semi-screeched at me, “You should never rehome an animal for ANY reason!”
Her reaction was so extreme that I’m starting to think I’ve done something hideously unacceptable.
AITA?
Her neighbor is clearly making a mountain out of a molehill.
What did Reddit have to say?
This user doesn’t see anything irresponsible about allowing a cat to have a good home.
The neighbor really needs to stay out of decisions that don’t concern them.
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“Abandonment” is a very strong word that doesn’t even apply here.
A fellow animal lover chimes in.
Abandoning a pet means dumping it somewhere and walking away, and this woman did the opposite.
She gave her cats to the person they adore, a sister who lives nearby, and she’ll see them whenever she wants. That’s about as smooth of a handoff as someone can ask for.
The neighbor’s “never rehome an animal for ANY reason” is a rule that sounds noble, but ignores all the complexities of real life.
Cats don’t care whose name is on the adoption papers. They care who feeds them, sits with them, and makes them run to the door.
The best home for a pet is the one they’ve already chosen.
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