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I had the craziest weekends recently. It all started with me and my wife talking about things and the topic of our 2 cats came up. We had spoken before about maybe giving them away. Reasons: My wife and I can be neat freaks at times. Some of the natural things that pets will do probably bother us more than others, like throwing up or trailing a poop nugget here and there. Those things can stress a couple like us out. On top of this we will be moving soon and plan on continuing to rent, this of course can be costly as some places will charge a fee. So on Saturday we decided that it was time to just get it over with.

The Listing

So I threw an ad up on Craigslist. The cats were free to a good home and all of our supplies would go with them. Within 5 minutes I received an email from someone who wanted them.

This was a family home that loved animals and sounded like a great place. So we agreed we would drive the cats up the next day with the kids and look at the place. If all was good we would leave the cats. They lived about an hour from us.

Telling The Kids

My daughter is still pretty young and was not too concerned. My son however is very attached to the cats. We have had them pretty much from birth (2 yrs). My son is 6 and one of the cats in particular is his favorite. We had told him before that we may have to do this one day. Now that it was for real, he was concerned but not really getting it. He even helped us pack up their things and get them ready. At times he would mention that he wants to keep the cats. Through all this it still felt like the right thing to do.

The Drop Off

That Sunday we drove the cats up to their new home. The house seemed like a great place for them. The cats were a bit skittish at first with the new surroundings but that was to be expected. So after talking for a bit we left the cats and headed home.

The Aftermath

My son was being brave but crying and saying “Why can’t we just keep the cats?”. We stopped at a gas station where I got out and held him and just began crying with him. He was so sad about this and all I could do was hold him and try to explain that it was the best thing for us to do.

When we got home that night, he was still very sad. All I could do again was hold him and cry with him. Telling him I’m sorry. All I could think of was him waking up in the morning and looking for his favorite cat to hold and her not being there. I cried myself to sleep that night thinking about my son. Both kids slept in our bed that night. I had no idea it would be this emotional.

For me I thought of it just as a logical decision. But I was so heart broken to see my son so sad. I couldn’t stand it. I emailed the family we left the cats with late that night asking how things were. I was hoping deep down inside that they would say the cats were a mess and they didn’t want them.

The Next Day

Our house was extremely gloomy. My son again mentioning that he misses the cats. My wife extremely emotional, even my daughter was acting pretty weird. I felt like a horrible person. I felt like I let the family down. All morning I kept reminding myself that we did the right thing. But man what a sad day it was.

I emailed the family again saying that if things were not ok with the cats that we would take them back. They replied that everything was ok. I went off to some appointments I had and just kept reminding myself that this was just an emotion that would go away. Everyone will get over it.

On my way to my first appointment my wife called and was crying again. She said she wanted the cats back and we should do whatever it takes to make sure we keep them permanently. I immediately emailed the family and said that I hated doing this to them but that we wanted the cats back. I then went on with my day extremely depressed and it definitely affected my appointments.

With no response to my email, I emailed again mentioning that I would actually not be far from them on one of my appointments. I spoke with my wife once more who was sure she definitely wanted them back. I sat in a parking lot checking my email every 30 seconds waiting for a response. Finally I got one that said I can come get the cats. They completely understood and were fine with it. I brought the cats home and my wife and kids were thrilled. The next day it was great to have a happy home again.

What I Learned

What a draining weekend! Was absolutely miserable! I learned just how important my family’s happiness was to me. When I saw the affect it had on them, I knew I would stop at nothing to get those cats back. I learned that seeing my son so sad was one of the worst pains I ever felt. I learned that I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep those cats, because it is so important to my family.

I understand that under different circumstances, I may have been forced to give them away and we would have dealt with it differently. But right now it is not necessary and that means I must do what I can.

What You Can Learn

Something you can learn from this is that your family’s happiness must take precedent over some of your pet peeves (no pun intended). Another thing is when you make a commitment don’t go back on it. 2 years ago we adopted those kittens and now I am telling my son we’re just gonna get rid of them. A big lesson is if you are going to get a pet like a cat or dog think of how big of a commitment it is. They live a long time. They cost money every month. Your family will get very attached. It changes the way you look at vacations etc.. .

I know I learned some valuable lessons this weekend!

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