Rehoming the family cat and dealing with sadness

[Firsttimemummyy2021]

Hey everyone!
I had to make a very had, probably the hardest decision in my life..😢 I had to rehome my beautiful 3,5 years old ragdoll cat because of his behavior towards to our child. The cat came first and the kid was born 1,5 years later. That's when he changed, of course it was a big change in everyone's life. Our baby got older and as he enteres the toddler stage he was more interested to our fluff ball which is understable but the cat didn't love him as much as the kid loved him. This was heart breaking to see, he hurted our child many times and he hurted me many times ever since the kid was born.
We tried so many ways and things to make it work but unfortunately it didn't work 😢 A few days ago we took him to Cats protection and I am depressed ever since. I know it was the best choice for the kid and the cat too, the cat definitely wasn't happy here any more and if I know right, Cats protection will find the best place for him to go, where he can be happy.
My brain tells me I did the right thing even this was hard and I am heart broken ever since...😭😭😭😭😭😢😢😢😢
I am looking for some advices how to deal with this kind of grief because all I feel atm is 💔💔💔😭😢
Thank you for any kind words 😢🩷

Ahh I feel for you but it sounds like you did the right thing for both your child and your cat.

On the plus side, a young Ragdoll won't be hard to re-home and I'm sure it'll bring a lot of joy to someone else's life.

You did the right thing - your cat is young enough to be rehomed, and clearly prefers a house with no young children.

Totally natural to feel sad, but please don't try to fill the gap by getting another cat. Wait until your baby (and any future children) are much older, and can be expected to approach cats carefully and handle them gently.

You have done the right thing, the situation wasn't working for any of you.

From the other side, we rehomed a beautiful young cat who had to be given up in similar circumstances, where the young child meant she was restricted to 1 room only. At the re-homing centre, she picked us and our teen girls, literally climbing up the cage to introduce herself and once the cage was opened attached herself to DH until we agreed to take her home.

Thank you for all the kind words ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹
We're definitely won't get another furry friend in the near future. We're planning to have another kid in 4-5 years and don't want to go all over on a situation like this again. I hope we'll be able to adopt a cat one day but this is will be when everyone is old enough 🤍 I'll never forget my first fur baby though 😢
My brain tells me this was the right thing to do, so as everyone else around me. It is just very hard to process. I feel I failed as a pet owner because I couldn't prevent this to happen. 😢 It is way more painful as I imagined how it will be. 😢

Sorry to hear this, I have a ragdoll and would break my heart to part with him so can understand why you are so upset. They aren't like normal cats and you build such a strong bond.

I'm shocked a ragdoll behaved that way as they are known for there loving docile nature but I guess they don't all follow the manual. You definitely done the right thing.

We have only had adult rehomes including pedigrees.

They are just wonderful, no kitten trashing your house either!

Much better to responsibly rehome an animal via a reputable organisation than for the animal and family to be miserable. A young Ragdoll will get snapped up, he won’t be in the centre for long.

Difficult, but definitely sounds like you’ve done the right thing.

@Alargeoneplease89 I thought the same! 😢 Not just because I absolutely adore ragdolls, my main reason to chose this breed it was because I read they are very sociable, good with people & kids.. But not every cat is the same I guess. 😢
Thank you for the support everyone ❤️‍🩹🤍

If he is a pedigree do you not have a contract with the breeder to tell them there is an issue?

Also the Ragdoll cat club welfare and rescue would help you rehome.

My family have adopted several rehomers over the years and they’ve all coped much better with us than with their original owners, so you’re not being a bad owner but a responsible and good one. My grandparents took in a little Siamese who had been stress weeing everywhere and hiding under the furniture in her old home which had children, but quickly became a plump, impeccably behaved and friendly lapcat with my grandparents, for example.

Sometimes animals (of all sorts) just don’t slot in with the personalities of their humans. It’s actually a close analogy with owners who refuse to have their suffering animals put down, that’s a more selfish decision as an owner to not want to let go of your pet despite their suffering. So please try to be compassionate about it with yourself.

The grief of losing a pet is comparable to losing a human friend, so be gentle with yourself regarding that as well. On the other hand, you do have the tiny consolation that the cat will probably live a long and happy life.

Re whether you adopt another one, I think it’s sensible to wait until there are no babies in the house, but even young children can get on well with cats. I’d think about adopting an older cat which can cope with children and is fairly independent (the rehoming centre will tell you these things in advance). This is pure anecdotal but I grew up with three very independent farm cats and we didn’t get in each other’s way until I was at least six, nor did they get stressed by me.

I'm feeling absolutely heartbroken as we have made the very hard decision to rehome our 4 cats :( they are being collected tomorrow and I am dreading it!!

Two of them are brother, who I took as kittens after they'd been dumped in a bag in a graveyard :( they will always be my babies. Fast forward a few years and I met my now husband, and together we took in two more rescue cats. Then we had our first child and we decided to stop the cats coming into the house as I just couldn't keep up with the constant cleaning etc. They were in the garage and had free access to outside. However things changed this summer when they got fleas, for the first time ever :(

I just can't cope with them. We have had another baby and I'm struggling with PPD, and I know that the cats deserve so much better. I just don't have time to give them any attention.

I'm sat here crying my eyes out, not wanting to let them go, but also feeling like it is the best thing for them and for us.

If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it.