- Joined
- Dec 3, 2019
- Messages
- 12
- Purraise
- 59
My boyfriend and I impulsively adopted a kitten on Saturday and immediately regretted the decision. We feel horrible and don't know what to do.
We already have one cat, Charlie, who is a mix of my child and best friend. He loves to cuddle, is super sweet and playful, and flounces and prance around the apartment. He's six years old and my mom got him when he was about 4 months old but I was living at home and he chose me as his human instead. When she would try to take him in the room with her, it felt like my heart would break a little. And then minutes later he'd break out and come bounding back to me. He's been my rock through grad school, and has lived with me longer than my boyfriend. We treat him like our child and have trouble leaving him alone. He loved playing with his brothers back at my mom's house and so we've always planned to get a second cat. Lately I've felt like it would be easier to leave him home alone during the day or even overnight (I can't do that now, I'm too scared of him feeling alone or being afraid).
Enter Norman. We did NOT plan to adopt a cat on Saturday. We had been talking about it as something we would do when we moved into a house. But there's was a pet adoption at petsmart and the sweetest baby wouldn't stop staring at us. It wasn't that he was cute, all the cats were cute. There was just something about his personality that called to us. We asked to meet him and they let him out with another cat. The other kitty kind of stole the show while Norman hid. But we coaxed him out and suddenly it was cuddle and purr city. He put his face against mine, stared into my eyes, and just purred. He's a 4 mth old kitten who was rescued from a hoarding situation. We filled out the adoption paper work and took it back to be submitted, expecting it to take a couple days.... They asked us if we wanted to take him home.
Immediate regret. Charlie initially had a less than thrilled reaction, especially since Norman gets the bedroom. The combination of impulsiveness, disruption to routine, and Charlie's reaction had a bad impact on my boyfriend but kind of dangerous impact on me.
I knew I had issues with anxiety, but after doing some research it looks like the situation triggered generalized anxiety disorder. I have been physically sick, trembling, crying, and unable to eat. My thoughts race constantly and I can't sleep. Hot waves of anxiety flood my body. I also feel suicidal (I think I'm okay, I'm going to therapy tomorrow).
Norman is amazing. He's a perfect kitten. There's nothing wrong with him. He's cuddly, adventurous, sweet, and playful. But the night we got him he started to get sick. We're hoping it's only an eye infection and not an upper respiratory infection that he could give to Charlie. On Monday we had all started feeling a little better (Charlie seemed to want to meet him). But the trip to the vet left Norman in a cone and in need of eye drops. In case anyone is still reading this effing novel, yes, my extreme anxiety disorder was triggered prior to this part of the story.
Whether Norman is contagious or not, this new situation is awful. He needs constant care and supervision. The cone makes it impossible for him to do anything on his own. We figured out a food dish that works, but water and going to the bathroom is a nightmare. I left him alone for an hour to clean the apartment and when I came back he was utterly miserable. Unable to cover his poop, laying on the bed with poop on his cone, litter on his cone, and his little eye in terrible shape with the other eye a little goopy as well.
I guess what I'm wondering is, should we even be allowed to have Norman? He's so happy to be here. He loves us and our bed. He loves his toys and pillow and blanket. We want him to be happy, but we turned our lives upside down and I don't know how to cope with the changes. And on top of everything, I'm leaving town for a week on Saturday for work. So likely, Norman will still have to be quarantined from Charlie, my boyfriend will sleep with Norman to care for him, and Charlie will be worse off than before: alone.
I'm concerned for Norman's health, Charlie's health, and honestly my health as well. On Sunday night we were worried that I would need to be hospitalized... And I'm honestly not sure if that's off the table yet.
Please help.
We already have one cat, Charlie, who is a mix of my child and best friend. He loves to cuddle, is super sweet and playful, and flounces and prance around the apartment. He's six years old and my mom got him when he was about 4 months old but I was living at home and he chose me as his human instead. When she would try to take him in the room with her, it felt like my heart would break a little. And then minutes later he'd break out and come bounding back to me. He's been my rock through grad school, and has lived with me longer than my boyfriend. We treat him like our child and have trouble leaving him alone. He loved playing with his brothers back at my mom's house and so we've always planned to get a second cat. Lately I've felt like it would be easier to leave him home alone during the day or even overnight (I can't do that now, I'm too scared of him feeling alone or being afraid).
Enter Norman. We did NOT plan to adopt a cat on Saturday. We had been talking about it as something we would do when we moved into a house. But there's was a pet adoption at petsmart and the sweetest baby wouldn't stop staring at us. It wasn't that he was cute, all the cats were cute. There was just something about his personality that called to us. We asked to meet him and they let him out with another cat. The other kitty kind of stole the show while Norman hid. But we coaxed him out and suddenly it was cuddle and purr city. He put his face against mine, stared into my eyes, and just purred. He's a 4 mth old kitten who was rescued from a hoarding situation. We filled out the adoption paper work and took it back to be submitted, expecting it to take a couple days.... They asked us if we wanted to take him home.
Immediate regret. Charlie initially had a less than thrilled reaction, especially since Norman gets the bedroom. The combination of impulsiveness, disruption to routine, and Charlie's reaction had a bad impact on my boyfriend but kind of dangerous impact on me.
I knew I had issues with anxiety, but after doing some research it looks like the situation triggered generalized anxiety disorder. I have been physically sick, trembling, crying, and unable to eat. My thoughts race constantly and I can't sleep. Hot waves of anxiety flood my body. I also feel suicidal (I think I'm okay, I'm going to therapy tomorrow).
Norman is amazing. He's a perfect kitten. There's nothing wrong with him. He's cuddly, adventurous, sweet, and playful. But the night we got him he started to get sick. We're hoping it's only an eye infection and not an upper respiratory infection that he could give to Charlie. On Monday we had all started feeling a little better (Charlie seemed to want to meet him). But the trip to the vet left Norman in a cone and in need of eye drops. In case anyone is still reading this effing novel, yes, my extreme anxiety disorder was triggered prior to this part of the story.
Whether Norman is contagious or not, this new situation is awful. He needs constant care and supervision. The cone makes it impossible for him to do anything on his own. We figured out a food dish that works, but water and going to the bathroom is a nightmare. I left him alone for an hour to clean the apartment and when I came back he was utterly miserable. Unable to cover his poop, laying on the bed with poop on his cone, litter on his cone, and his little eye in terrible shape with the other eye a little goopy as well.
I guess what I'm wondering is, should we even be allowed to have Norman? He's so happy to be here. He loves us and our bed. He loves his toys and pillow and blanket. We want him to be happy, but we turned our lives upside down and I don't know how to cope with the changes. And on top of everything, I'm leaving town for a week on Saturday for work. So likely, Norman will still have to be quarantined from Charlie, my boyfriend will sleep with Norman to care for him, and Charlie will be worse off than before: alone.
I'm concerned for Norman's health, Charlie's health, and honestly my health as well. On Sunday night we were worried that I would need to be hospitalized... And I'm honestly not sure if that's off the table yet.
Please help.
