26-year-old sister refuses to take in 16-year-old brother because of his problematic history with their childhood pets: 'Relatives [are] telling me I'm "picking a cat over my brother"'

Ayala Sorotsky • Writer and Editor

Jun 17, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

When you become a cat pawrent, your cat becomes your whole world. Very similarly to when a person becomes a parent to a human baby. You take in a four-legged fluffy family member, to take care of and nurture. And all that love you took the effort to shower on your cat is always being returned, tenfold. A cat's love might be difficult to obtain, but it's the best kind of love a person can have. It's no wonder, then, that we feel so protective of our cats. As cat pawrents, it's our number one goal - ensuring our fluffy babies are cared for.

So it's only natural that when we think our cat children might not be 100% safe, that we spring into action to defend them the best we can. Such is the life of a cat pawrent. And that is exactly what one woman did with her beloved cat. She's an adult, living by herself with her rescued cat. But despite being an adult, her parents tried to pin her teenage brother on her, to make her take him in. Her brother was known to have behavioral problems, and having him around her cat was not something this cat pawrent would allow.

A few gaslighting sessions from her parents and some guilt-tripping trips from her relatives in the family group chat, this kind woman turned to the online feline family to receive advice - was she in the wrong to turn her brother down, or was she in the right for putting her kitty's wellbeing first?

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via KatarinaGondova

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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'[Am I wrong] for refusing to let my brother near my cat after what happened with our old pets?'

via u/rosyechoess
Sounds like this kitty cat is a bit skittish, and that's okay - a lot of cats are. Being cautious is part of being a cat. But having a cat that's already afraid, one that's not great at standing up for herself when needed, put in the vicinity of a person who will only make her more stressed - is definitely not what a cat pawrent should do. This cat mama's instincts were correct.
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via u/rosyechoess
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via muzaffertopuz

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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via u/rosyechoess
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via u/rosyechoess
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via Monkey Business Images

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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via u/rosyechoess
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via u/rosyechoess
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via pixelshot

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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via u/rosyechoess
That's one way to put it, for sure. There are some parents who refuse to take this word as a verb and actually parent their kids. But since these parents' decision might come at the expense of an innocent cat, they should handle the consequences themselves.
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via u/Sue323464
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via u/pwolf1111
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via corelens

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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via u/RainbowBright1982
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via u/Inevitable-Thought90
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via u/Inevitable-Thought90
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via u/Vandreeson
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via pixelshot

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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via u/MissyGrayGray
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via u/MissyGrayGray
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via Vika Glitter from Pexels

_{This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
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via u/SmartFX2001
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via u/Baaastet
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via u/Hestiah
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via u/Hestiah
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via u/NoWriter8559
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via u/NoWriter8559
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via u/NoWriter8559
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via u/NoWriter8559