I spontaneously adopted a 2 year old, short hair white and black cat named Chicken about two weeks ago. I’m starting to regret this adoption. As a main point: I was under-prepared for this and it’s making me stressed.
The first week was the most difficult. On his records it said he was a low activity cat. He is far from that. He constantly wants to play and requires attention. His crying and meowing at night exemplified that. Fortunately, he’s learned recently to stop meowing, however I still have to wear soundproof headphones while I sleep because he has the zoomies and will play with his toys. I live in a studio so I can't go into another room. I feel bad since I'm in school and work for most of the day.
I didn't fully comprehend the financial component of owning a cat. Coincidentally, I received a major blow to my income after adopting Chicken. I don't know if this sounds messed up, but when I've been spending money on Chicken for his cat tree, his food, his toys, etc. I think to myself "I could've used this for myself".
The most dumb thing I didn't take into account was; who would take care of my cat while I'm gone? My parents don't want to care for him, I can't afford a pet sitter, and I hate the idea of forcing my problems on my S/O when she's already got her own cat. I feel restrained to my apartment since I can't just leave him alone for 24 hours.
One of the main reason's why I adopted a cat is for some emotional support while I'm in school. However, the stress from the previous examples provided overtakes the affection given by him. I don't feel like I get anything out of him being sweet. It doesn't feel rewarding.
Despite being very affectionate and more energetic than expected, he's actually a shy and nervous cat. Whenever someone new walks into a room, he immediately hides under the couch. He managed to burrow a hole inside the couch so he hides there now. I've attempted to block off all underpasses inside my studio but he get's stressed and starts hissing.
By all means, Chicken isn't "ruining" my life. He's not making me pull my hair out or anything. If anything, I feel like I'm not fully equipped to provide him the best life he could have. I’ve always loved cats, I’ve always wanted one since I was a teen. However, I think it might just be the wrong time for me. I feel really lost and need some advice.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/pdvfq0/thinking_about_surrendering_my_cat/
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