Hey everyone! First off, I feel like this is one of the strangest things I have ever been anxious about….but then again the pandemic has really messed with my mental health and made me more sensitive to a lot of things. I also recently lost 2 relatives.
I’m in my mid-20s and have been living with my parents during the pandemic to save money while I take prerequisite classes for grad school. About a month and a half ago, my cat “Licorice” passed away at the age of 17. I’d had her for 16 years. Losing her was really tough, but after a few weeks I began to feel ready to have another kitty. My family and I adopted a new kitty, I’ll call her “Stella” a few days ago and I already love her so much.
At the same time though, I have been feeling incredibly anxious about Stella ever since she came home. I googled “new pet owner anxiety”, but the kind of anxiety mentioned in most of those articles (i.e. having regrets about adopting a pet, etc.) isn’t what I have at all. Instead, I almost feel like a new mom battling postpartum anxiety.
I have been constantly worried about something bad happening to Stella. My parents, for the most part, are good pet owners, but I worry about her constantly because a few years ago my mom let one of our cats outside late at night and she never came home (there are coyotes in our area). There was also a time where I witnessed my dad giving our family dog twice her normal amount of medication simply because he didn’t read the label (I was really upset at him because an overdose of that medication could have killed her). Even though I know my parents didn’t mean to cause any harm, I’ve been worrying that one of them will make another stupid mistake like that with Stella and she’ll get hurt.
I’ve also had an irrational fear that my parents won’t want to keep Stella and will want to return her to the humane society. I know my parents really like her, but Stella has been taking a few days to get used to living with our other 2 pets (a cat and a dog). There haven’t been any pet fights for a couple of days, but the day after she came home somebody let the dog into my room (the room she’s been staying in to get used to the house) and Stella ended up attacking her. Our dog was fine and they can now be in rooms together without fighting, but when I heard my mom say “If she can’t be around the dog I don’t know what will happen” I started feeling anxious. Other than the fight she had with the dog, there is nothing else wrong with Stella.
Finally, the third thing I’ve felt both anxious and sad about is that I won’t be able to take Stella with me when I eventually move out. I was actually the one that found Stella online and convinced my parents to drive 2 hours to the shelter she was at. Stella has also been spending most of her time with me and sleeps next to me every night, which is why I already feel really close to her. However, at the end of the day Stella is my parents’ cat, not mine. I feel bad for how selfish this sounds, but I really wish she could be MY kitty.
Anyways, thanks for reading my ramble. I never thought that I would have this much anxiety bringing a new pet home, but it’s been really weighing on me. If anyone here has experienced anxiety like this with bringing a pet home I would love to know your tips.
PSA: Please do not leave any comments on here about going to see a therapist. I already do that, thank you very much, and because I recently lost 2 family members and my 17 year old cat my anxiety has naturally been a little higher lately.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/m1stu4/postadoption_anxiety_just_adopted_a_new_cat_and_i/
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