My cat is a little over 1yr old, and I've had him since he was a baby. He's fixed.
You'd think over time I would have bonded with him, but I've only grown to resent him more and more. He's brought back my mental illness that was in remission. He's strained my relationship. I can't go anywhere, do anything, or abandon him for even a few hours (even to sleep) without facing the consequences of how much destructive energy he's built up.
This damn cat has boundless energy, which I knew was the case with kittens but 1) the shelter had so many kittens that they were pushing them on everyone for free and 2) my landlord only allows one cat. Big mistake on my part, I know, but I felt bad for the little guy and thought I was doing him a favor. He would play all day/night long if he had the chance. Every second that we're not playing with him, he's pouncing and biting us trying to get us to play. And these aren't always soft "attacks", he'll often make us bleed. He will meow incessantly at our bedroom door (bf doesn't allow him in bedroom) from 3-8am every day without stopping, no matter what I do. I even bought an automatic feeder, but once that pops open he'll meow at the door for plain old attention. As I type this, I just spent a sleepless night on the couch with him as I often do, where every 5 minutes he pounced on my face and bit my feet. If we leave him for too long or change our routines at all, he'll scratch up furniture, pee on any soft things laying around, and bite/scratch us when we get back. And he hates being held, pet, or even looked at for more than a few seconds.
I have tried EVERYTHING. I have watched so many Jackson Galaxy videos that I remember all the bad cats by name now. I took him to the vet several times hoping there's something to fix, or maybe just hoping for some Prozac, but nope, he's perfectly healthy. I have our tiny apartment covered in toys, window perches, cat trees, etc. I put on cat videos and music while I'm gone. And nearly every waking moment that I'm home, I have an interactive wand-type toy in hand. I'm CONSTANTLY playing with him, which drives my boyfriend insane. I initiate the play-eat-groom-sleep cycle all the time, but he skips the sleep part most days (he'll occasionally sleep while we're at work and that's it). I want to hire a pet sitter to visit him when we're working, but unfortunately my boyfriend is not comfortable with anyone coming in our place (we've been robbed before).
I would like to get him a companion, but the vet doesn't think it would change the attention-seeking behavior. Not to mention our landlord's strict one-pet policy. I've asked friends and co-workers with pets if they would like to adopt or foster him, but everyone who meets him sees how much energy he has and gets intimidated.
I've been shamed before for trying to re-home him, and why shouldn't I be? I'm a terrible owner who never should have gotten him in the first place. But guess what, I don't have a time machine. What I do have is major anxiety, a severe lack of sleep, a declining job performance, a strained relationship, and a very needy cat. Every second is spent worrying about the cat, playing with the cat, being pissed off by the cat.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/c65osk/i_am_at_wits_end_with_my_difficult_cat/
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