- Date posted
- 1y
Forced to return my cat to the shelter due to OCD
Huge TW for health and disease-related OCD and mention of fear of a pet's death Hello everyone I'm new to this app and wanted to make a post introducing myself by telling of a recent story that made me realize that what I thought was just anxiety is probably full-on health OCD. This all happened last month. I always wanted a pet so I made the decision to adopt a very sweet cat I met at a shelter who was instantly attached to me at the hip. She didn't scratch much and I never saw her bite or hiss, very mellow and gentle and she loved attention. I did all the research, bought everything I needed and I was good to go. However, on the first day I saw blood in her poo and this sent me down a spiral. I asked a vet about it during her check-up and everything came back normal. I still couldn't stop worrying about if she had a disease that would make her suffer and I wouldn't have any idea and she'd just be dead the next day (cats are experts at hiding illness) or that it could even be passed to me, even —I don't want to say the name but it starts with an r and it's very deadly— became a near constant worry even though she had ALL her updated shots, perfect health-checkup at the vet, and there was just literally no way on earth it was possible for her to have it. I was constantly obsessing over both our health, and even before I got her I would obsess over my own health with freaking out about getting cuts or getting sick from people in public, etc etc. the list is literally ENDLESS. I thought I was slowly healing from it which is why I thought I'd be okay with having a pet. After the worries were just not calming down, with a heavy heart, for her and my own sake, I made the decision return her to the shelter and it absolutely broke my heart. She didn't deserve that and I still miss her everyday. I still hope she at least was able to go to a good owner without these types of issues. Man I just want to be able to have a pet like everyone else does without having an awful time.