Love appears in our lives in many ways. And the love that we share with our pets is among the strongest there is. It is inhuman to make a person choose between two of their loved ones, but one woman was forced to make the difficult choice when her boyfriend moved out as he was allergic to her cat.
The woman shared her story on the popular subreddit, r/AITAH, where she received overwhelming support.
Woman stands by her pet cat
The woman shared that she has been in a relationship for four years. From the very beginning, her boyfriend has known that she has a 10-year-old cat that she has cared for since it was just seven weeks old. On her part, she was aware of her boyfriend’s cat allergy.
Due to a recent change in living arrangements, she moved in with her boyfriend and brought her cat along with her. However, just a week after staying together, the woman claimed that the boyfriend went back to his mother’s place because “he couldn’t handle it.”
To salvage the situation, the woman reached out to her mother and asked if she wanted to take care of her cat. However, since the latter already has a cat and her lease permits her to keep just one pet, she was unable to do so.
“There is no one else I trust, and I refuse to take her to a shelter. For those reasons, plus a few more, she’s staying,” explained the woman in her post.
On her part, she shared that she had switched the cat food to the LiveClear line, which is an allergen-reducing cat food, prior to moving in. She had also purchased air purifiers and got an even better one after moving in, and started sleeping on the couch “to keep the bedroom a cat-free zone.”
While her boyfriend stated in the past that he would consider getting anti-allergy shots, he has stayed at his mother’s place for over a month and is no longer interested in getting the shots.
“It seems as though he was never going to look into them anyway,” she wrote. “My mom even ordered patches for him as something else to try. He used one.”
To make matters worse, the boyfriend’s family believes she should have given up the cat, and claimed that they would have given up their pets if the situation were the other way around.
“My feelings aren’t being considered by any of them. My family and friends are siding with me, while being understanding of how he feels,” shared the woman, before asking for the unbiased opinion of fellow Redditors.
Redditors pick pet over partner
Netizens on Reddit did not hold back while sharing their views, as they told the woman in clear terms to prioritise her cat.
“You’re obviously a cat lover. You love THIS cat. Do you want to spend the rest of your life without a cat? You need to find your own place and find a guy who loves cats,” assured a person.
“He’s not putting nearly as much effort into this as you are, and once you give up your cat, that attitude will extend to everything,” cautioned another.
“He figured you’d get rid of her after you moved in. That is obvious now isn’t it? Now his mother is involved. So now you have more reasons to choose the cat. So dishonest and manipulative,” observed a third individual.
“Do not give up your cat! He knew and did nothing about it. Get a new boyfriend,” noted a fourth.
Yet another person quipped, “Rehome the boyfriend there’s no other answer than this.”
Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
