I love my cat. He's a 7 year old Abyssinian with loads of character and is very loving. He particularly adores me and DS and will constantly follow either one of us around and settle himself so he can keep an eye on us.
But I keep wondering if our current situation is unfair on him...
DS is 22m and rough with the cat. He hits and tries to kick and pulls his tail. I have tried telling him repeatedly not to, I confiscate his toys when he does so, I have even smacked him once because I got so frustrated with it. But he still does it and it seems to be a game for him- he will do it and laugh and look at me while doing it, so it seems to be intentional. The damn cat won't even run away when DS is doing this and I am worried that one day he will snap and bite / scratch DS. I have a 3mo DD too and try my best not to leave them unattended, but in the split second that it takes me to walk into the living room after DS has has his lunch, DS will have already honed in on the cat and done something to him. We have stair gates etc and the cat always has an escape route and somewhere to hide away from DS (behind the chairs), but DS is getting more boisterous and tries to reach the cat even when he is hiding from DS.
The other issue is that our personal circumstances are up in the air at the moment. We are both exploring work options abroad and there is a high chance we will leave the country by the end of the year (probably to go to asia or the states). Moving the cat will be a considerable expense (around £1500) and will be very stressful for him (it's over 10 hours flight for the places we're considering and he'll have to fly cargo, so with the check in / check out / processing time with the cargo so likely he will be in a crate for 20h). With us exploring these job options, we'll have to travel abroad a fair bit and I'm planning to go for 3m in about a months time. I could (and probably will) leave the cat with DH but they just tolerate each other and neither like the other very much (DH is not a cat person at all and only puts up with it as he doesnt have a choice)
As much as I love my cat, I keep wondering if he'd be better off in another home... One without a toddler harrassing him, and one where the owners are settled and he wouldn't have to face huge disruption and a very long flight...
I know it's my decision and at the moment I really can't imagine parting with him... but I have to do what's best for him too..... Please tell me your opinions...
Sorry it's such a long post!
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Thinking of rehoming my cat..
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AbbyCat · 18/01/2013 11:06
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