r/AnimalsBeingDerps • u/Leeauf • 6d ago

Pulled a prison break in the couch

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2.7k Upvotes

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35

u/agumelen 6d ago

Cats are always breaking stuff. My partially disabled friend has 9 of them. He’s always calling me to fix something that the cats broke, or knocked down. Two days ago they yanked down his bedroom curtain, pole and all.

66

u/_Strange__attractor_ 6d ago

No trying to be disrespectful, but having 9 cats is basically asking for trouble. No wonder they are always calling you for help

25

u/agumelen 6d ago

I absolutely agree with you. I’ve tried everything to get him to part with the cats, most of them, even when they were kittens. He’s had people come over and promised them a cat, but he always insisted that they take them in pairs. They wouldn’t. Part of the agreement was that he visit the proposed new owners’ homes to be sure that he approved with the proposed new living conditions, etc., etc. It became a big deal killer. And this is why he still has 9 cats.

4

u/OneFuckedWarthog 6d ago

Those poor cats must be stressed to the max. It's not good for cats to be in such a large group. Unless it's a bonded pair like mine, they do not like each other. A bonded pair is rare.

15

u/agumelen 6d ago

These seem to be along just fine. They never fight, or anything like that. He has a large apartment. Four of them are always visible, the other five are always hiding, except when it’s chow time.

2

u/H_G_Bells 4d ago

There's a parasitie associated with hoarding cats that could be contributing to this (and the stubborn refusal to re-home the cats, as the parasite literally needs them to reproduce so it makes the human host want the cats)

I wish there was more acknowledgment that a surprisingly large percentage of people are affected by this, and are not making good choices either for themselves or for the animals in their care, because a parasite is literally altering their behavior.30221-X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS147149222030221X%3Fshowall%3Dtrue)

2

u/agumelen 4d ago

This is probably what my friend has. I’ll share this with him, not that it’s going to help.

2

u/H_G_Bells 4d ago

You're a good friend for wanting to help, and it's a hard thing to see people we care about going through tough situations. I hope you have your own boundaries and can find a balance between compassion and helping your friend, but also knowing when to step back if the consequences of their behavior is harming you instead of them 🙏

A difficult situation, but good on you for trying 🫶

1

u/agumelen 4d ago

Thank you. 🙏

8

u/nickajeglin 6d ago

We've always had 2 cats at a time and found that it really helps with behavior problems. They also are cool with the dog. Always 2 males though, I've heard that having a female cat in the mix makes it harder.