DH dumped kittens on me

[Kitcatkins]

Long story short, DH took in some stray kittens that would otherwise have died. I agreed on the basis that he was the sole caregiver - I don't like cats and don't have time for them.

Of course, increasingly, they are becoming my responsibility as DH asks me/leaves me to do stuff for them. I'm particularly pissed off this morning as I got up early to work and he heard them smashing some glass so texted me to clean up as he is still in bed.

If I had the choice I'd take them to the animal shelter for rehoming, but we have young children and their dad has promised we can keep them.

What should I do? Either I'm stuck with the burden of animals I don't want, or I break my kids' hearts.

Nobody needs cats in their life. She does not want to care for cats. They are her husband’s cats, she does not want or need to do anything for them.

You obviously need to tell him no. If you keep doing it he’ll keep expecting it.

You know this post needs pictures, right?

Every single time he asks you to do something with kittens just repeat..."No, remember they are your kittens, so your responsibility"

EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!!!!!

DO NOT DO ANYTHING FOR THEM.

Or rehome 3 and keep 1

The saving grace for now is my kids, who spend a lot of time playing with them!

If you take two to the shelter now then they will vaccinate and neuter or provide the new owner with a voucher if it's too early. If you can afford to then you could donate to help cover their costs. Waiting and doing it yourself with four is more risky as they have to be a minimum weight, too late and you have kittens having kittens 😔.

I'd tell your children that giving away two will make some other children very happy as they get to play with them too.

4 cats is too many. Either send all 4 (and they will be rehomed easily) or keep one and send the rest

If you have cats, having glass on a window ledge is stupid.

For the cats' sake take them to a shelter. The kids will get over it. The animals need a home where they'll be looked after.

Nobody has to have cats in their life, it isn't a requirement like GCSE.
If you give in and let him get away with this. There will be other things he offloads onto you. He will do less and less with DC and homemaking.
Kittens depart. DH explains to DC.

This. Put the kittens up for adoption via a shelter now (even if you agree to house them in the meantime). They are much more likely to quickly find homes than if you wait.
If you keep 2 do it as a family pet but it seems very unfair that you'll do all the work
Well fine for saving them. You did a great thing

Well done not fine!

4!! I'm a cat lover and I wouldn't want 4. My one cat has cost me £300 at the vet so far this month and that was just in routine stuff and some blood tests. Can you afford to times that by 4?? If they were strays they'll need neutering shortly presumably, have you looked into the cost of that x 4?

You need to put your foot down OP. Keep one or two if you want to for the kids, and the rest to the shelter pronto.

How old are the kittens?

4 is a lot!

I would definitely rehome 2.

Why was he in bed?
Was he working late or needed his sleep for work?
If not I would have moved the kittens and DCs away from the glass but told him he needs to wake up and clear the glass up.

He can have whatever he wants - as long as he takes care of it.
I think you’re being a bit of a pushover.

I would take 2 to a rescue centre and tell my husband that if he didn't start to look after the other 2 they would go too.

Seriously, you could have these cats for 20 years and that is a lot of work.

I love cats, my husband is a dog person so I do everything for our 2. He just gets to cuddle them.

If he was diving out the door to head to work I wouldn't expect him to be late to clean up the glass. I think in that case you're being a little unreasonable, pitching in his just how homes work sometimes.

I would however expect him to cat proof the house if he's serious about keeping them and maybe look at rehoming some of them and only keeping one. The kids won't be happy but they'll get over that and it will make life a lot easier.

I'm particularly pissed off this morning as I got up early to work and he heard them smashing some glass so texted me to clean up as he is still in bed.

I hope you reminded him that he had agreed they were his responsibility so he needed to shift his arse immediately and do the clearing up?

I see I read that wrong, he was still in bed ?? Sod that the cheeky twat, I'd have gone apeshit !!!

He wasn't diving out the door. He was in bed.

Four kittens who will grow into cats!! You have no idea what you are letting yourself in for. I adore cats but would not take them on. Frankly I couldn't afford them. I would re-home together with that lazy git of a manchild husband. I cannot understand the shit some women put up with. FGS stop enabling his lazy attitude that also shows what little respect he has for you or four cats will be the least of your problems.

Re-read the OP - he wasn't leaving to drive to work, he was IN BED. The OP was up early because SHE was starting work

Precisely.

When he asks (or texts) you to do something, you say "no, you said you will do this".

He needs to get them registered and checked over by a vets if he hasn't already. Like PPs have said they'll need fixing soon otherwise you'll end up overrun with kittens. I would do the absolute bare minimum you need to ensure they don't come to harm. If they break something then shut them out of that room and tell your husband he needs to get up and deal with it. Ideally get your DH to kitten proof the house. I would get the DCs to help with feeding and watering, but again, it should be your DH who is teaching them this as they're his kittens.

The kids are playing with them now but will they play with them when you have 4 adult cats in the house? I doubt it. The novelty will wear off They already have a dog to play with. This is madness. Your husband needs to be the bad guy (not you!) and tell them they can't keep all 4.

😂🐈‍⬛

I think that having four kittens is ridiculous. Any more than two is too many and two of them should have been rehomed at the start.

However I also don’t agree with the sentiment that you tell dh he can have the kittens only if he looks after them. If you agree to take on an animal then that animal becomes part of the whole family, if you didn’t want a cat you should have said no, but you didn’t. And so while I think that it’s perfectly acceptable to tell dh that he needs to take some responsibility for the animals he chose to have, they are partly your kittens now, and as animals they need looking after.

I would suggest rehoming two of them on the basis that four cats was always going to be too many, but you agreed to kittens, other than that you can’t be bothered now there isn’t a legitimate reason to rehome them all.