How to stop family from forcing me to rehome my cat
When family members pressure a disabled, housebound pet owner to surrender their animals, it threatens their primary source of emotional connection and independence. For someone who rarely leaves the house, losing their cats makes them feel completely isolated and strips away the one meaningful comfort they have left.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 12.0× more often in r/cats than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Searching for websites and methods to safely rehome petsDid this help you?
- 2Enduring family pressure while trying to keep pets hidden or toleratedDid this help you?
- 3Returning the pet back to the rescue organization so they can find a more suitable home.Did this help you?
- 4Considering rehoming the puppy to return to a normal lifeDid this help you?
- 5planning to move out next yearDid this help you?
- 6seeking support and validation online instead of from familyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have to let go the cat I started fostering a week ago.”source ↗
“This scare made us realize that we can't handle her.”source ↗
“I don't have the capacity to give the cat, Rora, a good home as well while dealing with everything that comes with the last year of school and becoming 18.”source ↗
“I just wanted to show him off and hopefully get some good vibes coming his way since I got yelled at tonight & was made to feel guilty for getting a “wild” cat. 😞”source ↗
“I’m disabled and housebound, only leaving the house (with help) for doc appointments.”source ↗
“It’s devastating to me because it feels like there isn’t a single thing I can have in life.”source ↗
“Having cats around me make me feel like I’m alive still and not just rotting alone by myself.”source ↗
“Hi, long story short, I got a puppy I was not prepaired for.”source ↗
“She got giardia again again and again, she tends to act really bad.”source ↗
“Our family is fighting everyday bc of this dog.”source ↗
“My mom is extremely tired, me too and our bills are so high up.”source ↗
“I'm thinking about rehoming her, and going back to my normal life.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 13Why are pet rescue adoption requirements so invasive?
- 9Why do I resent my dog after having a baby?
- 3What to do with pets buried in the backyard when moving
- 3Managing new foster dogs with existing cats
- 4Roommates keep letting my indoor pet outside
- 2Should I move my senior outdoor cat to an indoor apartment?