Panic attack over new cat

[Jamtoasty]

Me And my hubby and our 2 young kids all wanted a cat , after a few months of thinking and wondering and umm-ing and arrgh-ing and searching we decided on a 6 month old kitten , we collected her and on the way home I started crying and panicking and we got the cat In and we let the cat settle and DD was up and saw the cat and me being upset , I told her we are looking after it for a bit to see how we get on and we might have to give her back

[Jamtoasty]

I thought this would really help my depression and anxiety but it's only made it worse . I feel terrible and guilty I'm now struggling to sleep and I never in a million years thought I would have this kind of reaction to looking after cat as I've grown up with them

[PersianCatLady]

What exactly is the cat doing that is making you feel this way??

If you felt that bad when you were bringing the cat home then I think you should have turned around and took it back then.

[Jamtoasty]

It's nothing the cat is doing , the cat is doing the usual Hong when they settle , hiding . He's a lovely friendly thing .
There was no chance I could take it back .

The cat wasn't in a good place.
We felt as if we were rescuing him.

The thing was I was fine an hour later but now I'm not .

My husband understands and he told me my health is the most important thing and he was shocked I had such a reaction

[PersianCatLady]

If the cat makes you feel that bad then you need to rehome it.

However until you can be sure that this won't happen again, you must not get another cat.

Although your health does come first, it isn't fair to treat any animal like a piece of worthless trash.

Where in the country do you live??

[PersianCatLady]

The cat wasn't in a good place
Where was it that wasn't good??

We felt as if we were rescuing him
Sorry I don't know why but I assumed the cat was a girl earlier on.

Why did you feel you were rescuing him?

[Jamon]

Anxiety and depression are terrible. I hope the cat settles in and you get used to it - before long you won't be able to imagine life without it 😁

Get yourself to your doctor if you haven't already regarding your mental ill health.

[MrsFoxPlus4]

I’m confused don’t you know the gender of the cat?

[PersianCatLady]

I’m confused don’t you know the gender of the cat?
I thought I was confused about the gender of the cat but the OP does refer to it in one post as "her" and another post as "him".

[bluebell1982]

I think giving yourself an extra responsibility has not helped your anxiety. Maybe you were looking for a distraction. However, distractions never work for long.

I think the fairest thing to do is have the cat re-homed. Please do not just dump him/her somewhere (I'm not saying you would by the way, but when we are anxious and desperate we can do out of character things).

People think cats are self-reliant. They are to a certain extent, when they mature. But as a kitten they demand so much attention, almost like having a toddler! They can be mentally draining, so not ideal if you are already drained from anxiety.

[susurration]

This happened to me. It was horrendous. One day at a time, it does get easier. After two weeks I was perfectly happy with the cat and I can't imagine life without her now.

Give it time, no hasty decisions.