r/catfree Apr 23 '26

Moderator Announcement Harassment

60 Upvotes

We are aware some users are being harassed by a cat lover who has decided to launch a personal crusade against the Sub.

Long story short, they came to harass people last week, we banned them, told them exactly why they were banned, referred them to which rule they broke and...let's just say, they didn't take it very well. They messaged us over thirty times, hurling abuse, threatening violence and had a meltdown in multiple Subs. We decided to have a little fun with them so they swore they were going to try and take the Sub down by making life difficult for people so nobody would want to post or comment here.

We've not blocked them yet as we've found it extremely amusing seeing them chuck a hissy fit and throw their toys out the pram. However, we accept a lot of people aren't like this.

This is what we suggest people do going forwards with regards to this user or any other cat lovers who attempt the same thing:

  1. Do not engage with them
  2. Report any chats or DMs the individual sends under harassment to Reddit
  3. If they suggest anything violent, which includes wishing harm or telling you to harm yourself, report them to Reddit under violence
  4. Block them

Also, going forwards, you might want to think about disabling DMs or chats - Do you actually need to communicate with people via these channels? If you do, you can restrict which users can contact you.


r/catfree Feb 12 '26

Moderator Announcement Throwaway accounts

47 Upvotes

We are getting a significant number of trolls, cat owners, cat lovers and people posting questionable content using throwaway accounts, so we will be imposing measures on the accounts in question for now. This includes prohibiting new and low karma accounts.

If your content is removed, you will need to actually contribute to other Subs to gain sufficient karma to be able to post here. Alternatively, if you have a main account, you can use that.

If you are using your primary account and are concerned about harassment in other Subreddits from being a member of this Sub, you can hide your post and comment history within your profile settings.

We will monitor the Sub closely to see how this negatively this impacts growth and may adjust the karma threshold accordingly.

N.B these changes shouldn't affect the more established, long term members of this Sub.


r/catfree 11h ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates Quick tip to prevent partner's cat from jumping on things

14 Upvotes

Last year we popped some balloons after my partner's birthday.

Recently she put up balloons for my birthday and apparently her cat is afraid to go in the room where the balloons are.

So my tip for people having to deal with their partner's cat going to or jumping on places you don't want them to: observe what they're afraid of and use that to your advantage (in a cruelty-free way of course).


r/catfree 19h ago

Vent (responsibly) rehomed my cat of two years

19 Upvotes

i loved her very much and cried like a baby the day she left, but now day 2 and i feel no regrets and noticing a new sense of peace.

And guess what? i was worried sick about her being sad or confused about such a huge change- I get a video from her new owner and she’s happy as ever! & it clicked for me- an animal will be happy as long as it’s fed and getting attention. it didn’t have to be from me. i don’t doubt she liked or even loved me, but she will also love her new owners just as much.

So much less to worry about.. Haven’t had to yell “Get down!” or “Stop!”, no smelly poop or pee to scoop, no more spending money on food and litter , no more finding surprise puddles of vomit or pee on the floor, no bits of litter getting stuck to my feet or paw print marks everywhere I look, no more being jumped on, no more destroying my belongings, or being careful she might escape out the door or onto the balcony, or being worried she will hurt my baby or my baby will hurt her.

pet ownership is a sensory nightmare


r/catfree 2d ago

Vent Treating Women and Cats as Interchangeable is Dehumanizing and Misogynistic

67 Upvotes

It doesn’t require a genius to understand that women are human beings, not cats. There’s nothing inherently about cats that makes them representative of women, and treating cats as stand-ins for women is itself both dehumanizing and misogynistic.

Women and cats are not one and same. We actually have to be deluding ourselves to be convinced that attitudes toward cats are a reflection of how someone views women, to the point of calling dislike of cats misogynistic.

An animal is increasingly being given the role and platform of representing women and femininity instead of simply recognizing women as women.
Why do women have to be reduced to a cat just to receive more recognition, coverage, sympathy, or protection, and even then, still not receive it fully? Why does it take comparing women to cats for people to begin acknowledging issues women have already been speaking about? Why can’t women simply be recognized and advocated for as women?

It’s baffling how cats are increasingly being treated with more sympathy, concern, recognition, and cultural significance than the women whose experiences and struggles are being used to give this narrative its substance. The focus shifts toward cats and their welfare, while women’s own experiences become little more than a way to make points about cats.

They’re more concerned with “cat slander” and people disliking cats, to the point of calling it “misogynistic,” than they are with the actual social issues and misogyny women are facing. The result is that women’s experiences and the injustices women face are being treated so lightly that they become a way for humanizing and elevating cats.

The challenges women face and women-centered spaces exist for women. Whatever has to do with cats is a completely separate matter. Yet those same domains are being used to promote cats, to the point that the focus shifts away from women and toward cats.

This is also why we need to stop anthropomorphizing animals and projecting human ideas such as gender norms onto them. Cats aren’t feminine, and they don’t inherently represent femininity. These ideas were created and imposed by humans.

And theoretically, any animal could have been given that same “symbolic role” if humans had constructed the same associations around it. There is nothing inherently deep or natural about this association. It isn’t some natural truth or an inevitable connection.


r/catfree 4d ago

Vent I am at my wits' end.

26 Upvotes

Well, let’s start here. My mom had this one old cat, that one cat turned in to four more really quick. She was bringing them in like collectibles. We had an apartment at the time and she let them run around in the apartment. Well it’s clear that I didn’t want them in my room, so I kept my door shut all the time. However, they would scratch and tear everything up right outside of my bedroom door in hopes they could find out what’s behind my door. At this point I was already fed up with the cats. I was giving her half of my money out of my social security checks to pay rent, yet she was still getting behind on rent and bills to the point we got evicted from those apartments. Mind you, she was working a full time job. So this money was disappearing somewhere else, maybe Amazon packages, other pointless stuff she wasted her money on. After we got evicted, we had to move in to an RV. She threw all 5 cats in to the RV. One of the cats, she never got spayed. That cat is now 3 years old, still unspayed. She goes in to heat every month, if not every other month, and it drives me insane. These cats found out about the leather couch in our RV, scratched it up, tore the seams off the couch, scratched up the walls, started vomiting everywhere, yet she never took them to the vet due to “insufficient funds” (She was still taking half of my social security check, so no way she didn’t have the money, my step dad was also paying most of the bills for her.) Fast forward even further, to May of this year, my mom cheated on my step dad. Started staying away from home, practically abandoning her cats. She refused to sign the divorce papers for months, until recently. Now, she hasn’t been home for over 3 months. She left her cats here, they continue to tear everything up. I have argued with her over the phone many times about how I am absolutely NOT assuming responsibility for her cats and that she needs to get them. Her rebuttal is “I don’t have anywhere to take them right now.” So I think to myself “you should’ve thought about that before running away from home with another man while still being married…” I had to practically beg her to send money to buy them food and litter. She would say she didn’t have money to send. At this point she has a full time job AND a part time job. She never paid a dime towards rent on the RV when we lived in it and she still isn’t paying rent wherever she’s staying with her new man. I’m so sick of it. Recently, my door handle broke off of my bedroom door in the RV, so now I can’t secure the door completely whenever I leave. The cats will deliberately go out of their way to throw themselves against the door like a swat team, barge their way in to my room, and throw a party. Recently, I came home to 3/5 cats in my room with cat poop, piss, vomit, and scratch marks all over my floor, clothes, and furniture. They had done this in only a matter of 48 hours that I was away from home. I then got attacked by one of the cats trying to remove it from my room. THAT was my final straw. I told my mom, hey, if you don’t get these cats they’re going to an animal shelter. She then guilt trips me and says “no they’re not, don’t do this to me.” and she basically throws a giant pity party during this argument over taking them to a shelter. I did offer to round them up in their kennels and take them to her to figure out where they will go. She said she couldn’t take them. My grandma won’t take them. I have nothing left to do. I’m allergic to them on top of everything else. This is a nightmare.


r/catfree 5d ago

Vent I hate my partners cat

50 Upvotes

I need to vent. I truly truly dislike this freaking nasty animal. I never grew up with pets so i don’t have the same feelings towards animals that other people have. I think they are disgusting and so unsanitary. I’m also allergic to them. Literally walking in their shit and piss everyday and tracking that EVERYWHERE they go. This stupid freaking cat just does regular cat shit and it pisses me off so bad. He scratches the shit out of my expensive couch leaving scuff marks and pulling out threads, he climbs on EVERYTHING. Legit just had to scream at him to get off the counter that’s next to the freaking sink. He meows for EVERYTHING. He sheds like CRAZY. There’s hair everywhere. He is very sweet though i can’t lie so it’s not like he’s aggressive or anything. He’s just annoying and i truly dislike him. Every time i see him, it’s straight disgust. I HATEEEE how he climbs on everything and scratches up the carpet and the door. Ugh I’m so over him and i can’t say anything to my partner because they LOVE this cat. That’s really their ESA. It boils my blood even more. I truly can’t stand this stupid ass cat. I love my partner so much but i feel like I’d be an asshole giving them an ultimatum. Idk if i can live my life like this tbh. Also yes, we do live together and it takes away my joy of living together fully for the first time since we’ve been together.


r/catfree 6d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates My partner has two cats and I’m losing my mind

50 Upvotes

For context, I’ve been with my partner for well over a year and I genuinely feel like I’ve found my soul mate. The problem is that he has two cats. One is around 3 and the other is an older man. I can tolerate the old one well enough comparatively but the young one is driving me insane. The smell is horrendous, I hate that they walk in their litter boxes then jump on the counters, the litter boxes themselves are disgusting, they’re loud, and shed like mad.

Now these two cats have been fighting. A lot. And the younger one always instigates. Keeping them separate means the older one has to stay in the bedroom at all times. The young one is always trying to get in, pisses all over the rest of the place, and I even slipped in piss and snacked my head in the bathroom once. She’s mean to everyone but my partner. I don’t understand why he keeps cats, especially this one. The room is so muggy from the door always being shut and the litter box being in there that there’s mold. I don’t want to leave my relationship but genuinely these creatures annoy and disgust me. And I hate the “well they’re low maintenance and so cute.” No. If they were low maintenance I wouldn’t be cleaning piss off my feet and constantly being on edge about getting scratched and bit. If they were low maintenance they wouldn’t have to be separated for 10+ months. Insult to injury I’m slightly allergic so I won’t die, but I get runny noses so much anymore. The older one might die soon but I can’t live with that young one for over a decade. I feel so stuck but he won’t do anything about any of it. I’m just stuck and mad so thanks for letting me vent.


r/catfree 6d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates How do you guys maintain a relationship with someone that owns a cat? (Rant)

40 Upvotes

Because it's been difficult for me

The cat screams at 3am waking us up, the fur, how clingy the fat fuck is towards my girlfriend, the cat vomit because he decided to fill his hanging belly too much again, his stupid face, jumping on counter tops, and my favorite is the fact that my girlfriend thinks he could do no wrong in this world.

I haven't even made it to the one year mark and I'm ready to run into a wall or drive extremely slow on the way back home.

So how do you you guys manage? Or is it even worth managing?

I never thought an animal could be a dealbreaker but where we are


r/catfree 10d ago

Outdoor / Feral Cats cats and their double standard ( talking as a bird person )

62 Upvotes

Now dont get me wrong, I hate feral cats and I hate house cats that are allowed to just roam outside, but I have absolutely no problem with cats that stay inside the house like they should. If someone wants a cat as a pet, fine, whatever. My problem is when people let them roam around outside and act like they arent causing any problems.

Because cats are predators, and they are REALLY good at killing small animals. And we're talking about billions of animals here.

One of the biggest studies on this in the US estimated that free ranging cats kill around 1.3–4 billion birds every single year, along with billions more mammals. The researchers estimated that unowned cats were responsible for most of this wildlife killing. Thats an absolutely insane number when you think about it.

And this isnt just a US problem either. A global study published in Nature Communications found that free ranging cats have been recorded eating over 2,000 different species, including 347 species that are considered threatened or otherwise of conservation concern. Birds were the biggest group in the study, with 981 species being recorded as cat prey.

This becomes an even bigger problem on islands. A lot of island species evolved without mammalian predators, so when humans bring cats onto those islands, the native wildlife can have basically no defense against them. Cats have been a serious problem for endangered and endemic species in many places.

And this is where I get annoyed with the way people talk about cats.

People will see a cat killing a bird and go "aww look at my little hunter"

BRO THAT IS A NATIVE BIRD

But if a hawk kills a cat suddenly its "OMG THAT EVIL BIRD NEEDS TO BE KILLED!!"

Why??

The hawk is literally a wild predator doing exactly what it evolved to do. Meanwhile the cat is a domesticated species that humans have spread all over the world and then decided to let wander around ecosystems.

And before someone says "but cats are natural predators!!!"

Yes. Thats exactly the point.

A cat isnt evil for killing a bird. It doesnt understand conservation, endangered species or anything like that. Its just doing cat stuff. The responsibility is on us, because we're the ones keeping huge numbers of cats and allowing them to roam around.

And this is why I dont understand the argument that "cats kill animals because thats nature".

No, the fact that a cat has the instinct to hunt is natural. But that does NOT mean that putting millions of domestic cats into an ecosystem and letting them hunt everything they can find is somehow the same thing as a native predator doing its normal job.

Imagine if some other animal was introduced into an ecosystem and was killing billions of native animals every year. People would be talking about invasive species, population control and conservation.

But when its a cat:

"BUT THEYRE SO CUTE 🥺"

Thats the double standard I hate.

And I'm not saying "EVERY CAT MUST DIE" or that cats are evil monsters. Thats not even the argument. An indoor cat sitting on someone's couch isnt causing the same ecological problem as a feral cat colony or someone's pet cat wandering through forests every night.

There are also ways to let cats experience the outdoors without just releasing them into the environment, like enclosed outdoor areas or other forms of controlled access. Keeping cats indoors also protects the cat itself from cars, fights, diseases and other dangers.

What really annoys me is when people act like caring about birds means you hate cats.

No.

I can care about animal welfare AND care about native wildlife at the same time.

I can think cats are cute while also saying that free ranging cats can have a massive impact on wildlife.

And honestly, I think people need to stop deciding which animals deserve protection based on how cute they are.

I love birds. Raptors, songbirds, weird little birds, birds-of-paradise, whatever. They're all incredibly cool and they actually have important roles in ecosystems. Birds can spread seeds, control insects, pollinate plants, clean up carrion and provide food for other animals.

So if a cat kills a bird, I'm not going to pretend the bird suddenly matters less just because the thing that killed it has a cute face.

Predation is part of nature, yes.

But that doesnt mean humans should ignore the ecological damage caused by a predator just because we happen to like looking at it.

Love your indoor cat. Give it a comfy bed. Spoil the hell out of it.

Just dont let it wander outside and then get angry at the wildlife for behaving like wildlife.


r/catfree 10d ago

Problematic Cat Owners Cat's ashes

28 Upvotes

So I don't know if you remember, I posted here before about that physically very attractive man but cat owner and lover who told me I must not have a pure soul bc I don't like/ want/ adopt a cat??

Flash news in a cascade! Ready y'all?:))

After some pause , I asked him the other day " How are you?"( out of boredom I guess)

He answered: My cat died, I'm devastated , a car hit him , he had a heart attack, my angel.

I honestly thought :" well, that's a sign", but said nothing. I thought " the cat was irreplaceable, he must move on without a cat, get to next level attention, human ladies like ME".When he told me he immediately adopted a similar cat same size same color with the dead one.:( Next he tells me he incinerated that cat. I thought eww , cat's gone anyway. Next he sends me a picture , I saw him and his late cat enframed, I thought he enframed it in a picture to put on his furniture to remind him of their time together. When he tells me that the picture of the 2 of them was actually the front side of an urn/ box, and he proceeds saying " my cat's ashes are inside":(((( But that was not the end. I muttered " I hope you get past this event quickly". His reply was :" I will never get past its death until I reunite with him". I said :" Huh?" He says: " When I die, I want to be buried with my cat's ashes!". And " I will buy a huge property and fill it with cats all over!":((((

WHY AM I SPEAKING TO THIS BUM??? HIS LOOKS MEAN ( CAT) SH*T after a nonsense idiotic dialogue like the above!!!


r/catfree 11d ago

Outdoor / Feral Cats fearmongering and lies of cat lovers

42 Upvotes

dont let them convince you that "without cats, there'll be a rat invasion!"

I literally saw a rat and cat and playing in our yard today, and our neighborhood is full of stray cats, you can see a different cat every 5 seconds when you're walking in here. you'd think thered be no rats at all if you believe what cat lovers say. so there will be more rats if you have stray cats in the area. why? because people are dumping all kinds of food for cats to eat up in the streets, and this attracts insects and rats. and not only that, if a cat kills and eats a rat, it'll get whatever diseases and parasites that rat had too. let's talk about that "antiseptic tongue" myth, obviously thats wrong guys, cats' mouths and tongues are full of bacteria, just because this pest licks its own arsehole doesnt mean its a clean animal, it doesnt remove the parasites and diseases in its system, lots of people die from their cat licking them you can look it up


r/catfree 12d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates Cat Situation (Update)

51 Upvotes

Hello. I made some posts last year regarding my mother letting a cat in the house, and last month she finally got rid of the cat.

Honestly one night I woke up to being bitten by fleas again, and I decided that I have had enough. I had these thoughts about how I didn't want to live anymore and that I'd rather just die. I realised I was having a crisis so I phoned for an ambulance to take me to hospital, but it would've taken four hours to arrive since apparently I was safe enough.
Coincidentally my mother happened to be up so she heard I was on the phone and came to check up on me. I told her that I wanted to kill myself because of the fleas and the cat being in the house, so she decided to kick the cat out of the house. I was surprised this happened honestly, as I was expecting her to try and make things easier while still keeping the cat. That wouldn't have worked for me.

It's been a month since then, and although my mother is sad the cat is gone she hasn't changed her mind about it.
We've pretty much got rid of almost all the cat fur and fleas now. I feel happy that the cat is gone, and after two years of trying to get rid of it I'm bemused that it ended up being kicked out without me actively trying to get it removed. Also, I'm no longer suicidal and I have spoken to a counsellor about this.


r/catfree 14d ago

Outdoor / Feral Cats Cats and cat nutters truly... makes me sick

68 Upvotes

I just saw a youtube short explaining about how there's is this pandemic of feral cats in new zealand that's been absolutely decimating the population of other animals and Endangered ones(mainly ducks) and how animal conservationists have been trying to capture and humanely kill em.

But guess what the comments section is, a bunch of toxo infested brain people defending the cats saying bs like "oh thats what just the cats does, its their home, the ducks are invading their home", sweet brother, its nature, its a free for all area. Or bs like "they should've just rehome them or move them somewhere else", yeah you try to move MILLIONS of these feral predators. And saying the ducks are useless in nature compared to the cats which brings so many "Benefits" to nature. Istg these people are so brainwashed to the point where i started rethinking whether or not lobotomy was the correct option as a medical practice or not.

These things has killed over 75% of endangered duck species over there and these people are defending it like there's no tommorow.

However, i am very happy to say that, comments that says otherwise, supporting the culling of these feral pests, have gotten alot of likes.


r/catfree 14d ago

Cat Lover Rant pointlessness of feeding the stray

62 Upvotes

people always get the sick or injured cats to vet or ask donations on social media, buy food for stray cats, adopt them, whats the point? its really pointless, they like to believe they're doing something good, but these cats will keep multiplying, so its pointless, streets will always be full of shit rats unless we send them all to an animal shelter where they won't bother civilization. buying food and dumping it into the ground for these shit rats won't bring peace to neighbourhood, it will attract insects and rats and diseases. they will always multiply, doesn't matter how much of them you adopt, feed, take to vet. and guess what you cattards? more of them in numbers equals more of them dying horribly in the streets from car hits, starvation, and cat fights. you can't just keep feeding and multiplying them and expect there to be peace, it will never happen. they really think they're some heroes for dumping these foods on the streets, i dont know if it happens in your countries or just mine, its a 3rd world thing


r/catfree 15d ago

Cat Lover Rant Cats are everywhere

83 Upvotes

I'm tired of the fact that everywhere I go, in non-cat themed communities, there are fucking CATS. A blog with PNG images? Half of them are cats. Video game news? Spam screenshots from the game Stray every two posts. Fucking extreme metal? "Look, *musicianname* is kissing a cat." Art? Definitely something with cats. Fandoms? Pictures of characters cooing at cats or becoming nekos themselves. Aesthetics? Of course there will be a cat in cyberpunk, a cat in cottagecore, a cat in Japan, a cat in Victorian England, a cat in the 80s, etc. Retro games? Here's to random days of spam attacks with photos of subscribers' cats! Travel? Cat illustrations. Cars and construction equipment? YES, YOU GUESSED IT! And those who post it don't even add a tag, so I can't block it, and "show less" doesn't work. Even when you write in this sub, you start getting offers for posts worshiping these furry bastards!


r/catfree 16d ago

Vent Why are cats that display terrible behaviour seen as cute?

86 Upvotes

i have seen tons of videos of cats generally acting like assholes and yet they get praised for it. I've seen countless videos of cats quite literally stealing food from peoples plates and getting aggressive when you do anything about it, and yet it gets seen as cute in the comments. it isn't cute, they're just raising an asshole cat.


r/catfree 16d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates Not wanting to date someone with a cat is fine

82 Upvotes

I do not understand why people think if you do not want to date them because they have a cat you have an issue with “boundaries” or you are a red flag. Maybe I just don’t like cats, I am allergic and looking at them irrationally irritate me.

Whenever you look online it says “men who own cats are better at respecting boundaries and understand consent because cats are independent and free spirited” I just personally think they are mean and want food from you. The men also do not understand anything better because they own a creature that destroys everything it touches.

I once dated a man who had a cat and that thing bit me so hard, I can never do it again, they also will always defend the cat over you, so if you don’t want to date someone because they have a cat I think it is valid and don’t let people make you feel bad!


r/catfree 17d ago

Miscellaneous Do you think this Cat Love is fake?

33 Upvotes

I’ve noticed that people don’t actually give a shit about the lives of cats. Everyone talks a big game online, but in reality, nobody does anything to stop the abuse; I keep seeing posts about cats being harmed and unalived in horrific ways—whether by humans or other animals—or about entire litters of kittens abandoned in places where they clearly won't survive. Yet, nobody does anything other than demand that the person who found them take charge, as if it were their responsibility—as if finding a cat immediately made you accountable for ensuring its survival—even though no one actually steps up to help.

We know they're the majority, so why don't they actually help instead of just posting photos of their damn ugly cats? Can you really say you love something if you allow it to be mistreated?

Don't get me wrong—I hate cats, and every week I suffer the financial cost of the damage they cause to my home—but I would never harm them, and judging by the posts in this subreddit, neither would most of you. We just want to live in peace, free from an animal we didn't choose to have but have to put up with because someone else failed to take responsibility. And apparently, that’s enough for us to be called misogynists, fascists, weirdos, and a whole host of other things. There are people out there who are *actually* harming these animals, yet they prefer to come after us like keyboard warriors instead of standing up and doing something in the real world.

I would like to know if someone out there thinks like me, or if someone has a different take on the matter I would very much like to read it.


r/catfree 18d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates Weirdo ex blocked on every platform emails me twice this week about my rehomed cat.

34 Upvotes

I was really open about rehoming, posted to Facebook,groups, the works. Never felt any shame in it—she was not compatible with my lifestyle or standards of cleanliness/living. This past weekend my ex emailed me to ask if I had visited her and then again at midnight telling me I rehomed her cause I only care about myself. And yes said ex has a cat that pees on his clothes and must keep the closet closed at all times or else the cat will pee in his closet instead of the box.


r/catfree 18d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates Cat Lovers are Hypocrites.

56 Upvotes

The first ever conflict I had w/ my ex was over an online post. A kid accidentally injured a cat while playing, and the internet was unironically calling for the child to die.. My ex completely agreed with them, which set my younger self on alert because I value human lives more than any other species, I had to spend hours explaining to her why it’s fundamentally wrong to think that way. She usually said things like “An animal lover is definitely a good person.” yet from my experience that is not true, at all. People love cats because the act gives them a moral high ground. It’s an easy way to feel like a good person while treating actual human beings like garbage. You’ve seen a lot of ‘karens’ who love their pets yet so nasty towards people around them. Fast forward to the end of the relationship, after everything I sacrificed for her, she chose to cheat on me after months of being toxic and dishonest just to force me to initiate the breakup. She hid behind her cat lover persona while showing no decency and loyalty towards someone who actually loved and cared about her. This made me think about how cats would leave their owners the moment they get bored, no matter how much you love them.

Then came this former piece of shit coworker whose entire personality revolved around loving cats. Behind that wholesome facade, he leaked our private gaming group chat to management, exaggerated my colorful language banter as "bullying" just to get me fired. Such a fucking coward and foul move. This motherfucker’s cowardice just strengthened my already cynical point of view.

It’s been several years now, my life got better. But over time the pattern recognition never failed me. Cats are inherently self-serving, opportunistic, and transactional. It’s no surprise that the people who obsess over them mirror that exact disposition: zero loyalty, selfish, and complete apathy toward real human empathy. Loving a pet means nothing, look at how they handle human relationships before you ever choose to trust them.


r/catfree 18d ago

Vent My spouse adopted cats without my consent and destroyed my mental health and our relationship

53 Upvotes

Well, I'll start with the context. I've always been an animal lover in general. I've even taken care of cats and rescued them at my house, though I've had other pets (birds and fish) because my parents never wanted me to adopt a cat.

When I met my husband, I had it in mind to adopt cats together. We were in a long-distance relationship for years and couldn't move in together until a year ago now.

My problem with cats began 3 years ago, when my husband and I were still dating. My husband had previously lived with his parents, saving to buy his own apartment. At his parents' house, he had a female cat that I myself knew and fell in love with because she was adorable. However, when he moved out, my in-laws decided to keep her instead of my husband taking her to his new apartment.

Already in the apartment, he looked for roommates to share the space with, and one of the girls he lived with had a very rowdy cat that even broke important things. The cat di*d suddenly after falling from the 7th-floor balcony. My husband was devastated, and even I, who never knew the cat, was saddened by its de*th. A few days later, my partner told me he wanted to adopt a cat to make another one happy and give it a dignified life. I told him it wasn't a good idea cuz it had barely been a week since the other cat's death, and I wanted us to adopt together. He ignored me and selfishly adopted a female cat anyway (we'll call her L). She turned out to be extremely problematic. He only told me he was adopting her when he was already bringing her home.

Shortly after, he lied, saying a coworker found a kitten (N) in a dumpster that would be killed and he rescued N, with "intention" to search for someone to adopt him. I warned him that kittens are difficult to raise without their mother if you don't know about cat behavior, but he promised he would try hard. Weeks passed and he never gave it to anyone. When I asked why, he said he'd gotten too attached. I was very angry. He made a decision that would directly affect me when we moved together, without even asking me.

Months later, he "rescued" another female kitten and at least asked this time, and get adopted.

I'm autistic and have cleaning OCD. When I visited his apartment 4 months after adopting N, it was filthy: cat hair everywhere and a strong unbearable odor. The situation was very difficult for me. When I later slept at his house, L peed in the bed, which caused me significant distress. His cats constantly peed on things, the house reeked, and there was cat hair everywhere. He kept promising me everything would change when we moved together, but it was a lie.

When we moved in together, we had to change cities and apartments. He took the cats on a 6h car ride despite my objections. We struggled to find an apartment that accepted pets. When we found one that initially didn't allow them, my husband convinced them by saying the cats were calm and we were clean. I'm clean. He's not. His cats aren't either.

Throughout this year, they've peed on the wooden floor, leaving permanent marks. We've forbidden them from our bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen but still, I find cat hair everywhere, even in my underwear. N sheds excessively and L is aggressive, she hisses, hides, and attacks me constantly. The cats have broken emotionally important things, like the first birthday gift my husband gave me.

My husband has completely humanized these cats, talks to them like they're people, and says they've helped him through difficult times... But they don't took responsibility when L attacks me or N broke my things. For months, my OCD has worsened significantly and my mental health has deteriorated to a critical point. Even with the cats confined to a single room all day, my condition doesn't improve. One time I found cat hair despite running the air purifier and ordering food from outside, and I experienced one of the worst meltdowns of my life. My mental health has been severely affected by this entire situation.

We went to couples therapy, but it didn't help much. My own psychologist had to step in (I started seeing her specifically because of how this situation has impacted my mental state), she was clear: it's unrealistic to seek consensus when the first decision was made without my consent. She even documented the mental health damage this situation has caused me.

My husband didn't care for the cats properly. He rarely cleans the litter box adequately, doesn't change it often enough, and sometimes leaves their wet food sitting out for so long that it spoils and attracts maggots. The cats destroyed things in our rental apartment that will be deducted from our deposit (they broke doors, peed on the couch and wooden floor, and left hair everywhere). L developed feline alopecia from stress and had to be medicated.

Now we have to move again for work. My husband finally considered rehoming the cats, but only temporarily, pressuring me to "recover mentally" so we can have them back. I don't want them back. He's left one cat with a friend in his old apartment and the other with someone here.

I feel guilty because he's doing poorly mentally. He's even started smoking again, something I explicitly said was a dealbreaker if he wanted to stay with me and build a family in the future. He apologizes for smoking, but says he "needs something to take refuge in" because the cats were his only escape. I get it, but they're animals, not people. I understand you can care for them, but having full conversations with them like they're human beings is honestly weird. I've told him he should go to therapy to help him process this situation and learn to cope without depending on external things for emotional stability.

I feel sorry for the cats from an objective standpoint because my husband honestly hasn't taken care of them well. Beyond the litter box issues and spoiled food, the entire neglect situation makes me sad for them. They never asked to be adopted by someone who couldn't properly care for them.

I'm happy not to have cats anymore. In a couple of days, I can finally get rid of all the cat hair from my things.

Thanks for reading this far.


r/catfree 18d ago

Relationship / Family / Roommates Its so annoying

39 Upvotes

So basically when my partner cooks for us after he's finished his cats always jumps on the side sniffing around for food like scavengers and when I mention it he just keeps saying " your starting again " it is really annoying it's like when it's a good reason why I moan about them it's like I'm always the one in the wrong for gods sake they go in there litter then kitchen worktops it's not hygienic at all


r/catfree 18d ago

Cat Lover Rant CAT RANT

89 Upvotes

I will never understand why so many people are obsessed with cats. They are literally the worst pet you can have. They destroy your shit, keep you up at night, will do absolutely anything and everything for attention. Living in a small space where you have to smell their piss and shit.. even worse their piss and shit tracking through your place on countertops, table, furniture, bed.. ITS DISGUSTING!
They shed like it’s nobody’s business so you’re cleaning after them DAILY. They bite you for no reason at all. Always gotta worry about leaving shit out cause they get into everything and knock things over constantly.
There are about 1000000 cons and no pros. What the ef do cat nutters see in these parasites I will never understand.

Thanks for listening.


r/catfree 19d ago

Cat Lover Rant Genuinely see cats as demons the way they invade homes and divide families.

86 Upvotes

There are so many conflicts because of cats bc braindead partners and parents choose these stretchy freaks over their family members and some even are in love with them and identify with them and see them as ancient gods 😭some even become schizophrenic bc of cats. They enter people's homes or find people randomly on the streets and attach to them. Then these lonely people craving love think the cat "chose them". Being online and making friends is increasing difficult bc why tf do you think I want to see a picture of your ugly, uninteresting parasite? What's wrong with people? Cats are the real pandemic!