Girlfriend starts mistreating her cat after her new boyfriend tells her he doesn't like them, her roommate turns her cat against her in the funniest way possible: 'The cat looked at her, looked at me... and immediately ran to me'

The sooner you talk with your date about your cat, the more trouble you'll save all three of you in the future. 

As cat owners, it is paramount that we talk to every single person that we date about our cats as soon as we can. 

We know that it is hard to believe, but some people legitimately don't like cats. The choices that the girlfriend made in this story were bad ones, but honestly, she shouldn't have had to make them in the first place. You should never make your partner choose between you and your cat. You should not date someone who doesn't like your cats in the first place. And if you do end up in that situation, you should never ever abandon your cats for a person like that. There is nothing healthy about it. 

The entire situation in this story is a red flag - both the girlfriend and the boyfriend. The boyfriend for being with her, knowing that she has a cat that she (seemingly) cares about, and asking her to stop being with the cat as much as she was before because of him. And the girlfriend for acquiescing. This is not the first time that we have come across a story where a cat owner was in this situation, but thankfully, for the most part, they seem to make the right choice and not abandon these creatures who depend on them so much.

Honestly, we are glad that this cat had the roommate - someone else at home who was able to take care of it, someone to love her and protect her in this situation. Even though the roommate was a lot kinder here than we probably would have been. We don't think that we would have been able to see the cat in such distress and not do something drastic, like yell at the cat owner, try to get some sense into her. We might have tried to steal the cat outright if we didn't see things begin to improve.

There's a part of us that almost feels bad for the girlfriend. Wanting to please her man and also be a good cat mom at the same time, in this situation specifically, has to feel awful. But at the same time… she should have the spine to stand up to him, if not for herself, then for the well-being of her fur baby. 

We hope that this will be a lesson to others. We hope that reading this story will help others see how bad it is to neglect their cats for their partners. They are our family. And we have to treat them as such. Just like we would with an actual kid, we have to surround them with people who have their best interests at heart. 

And it really is possible. Here at ICHC, we have an office full of cat owners, and nearly all of us have managed to find partners who not only like our cats, but actually love them. Have faith. The right person for you is out there, and they are going to accept your cat the same way that they accept you - like family.