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2 Cat Owners: We Really Loathe Our Kitties

Horrified reaction follows after Cut columns detail how 2 cat moms started hating their felines
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 25, 2024 12:45 PM CDT
These 2 Owners Really Do Not Like Their Cats
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/rai)

What happens when the pet you love becomes ... not so lovable anymore? Two columnists writing for the Cut this week explain their cat conundrums, and their essays are inciting the internet's ire.

  • Essay No. 1: Mary Gaitskill kicks things off with an essay titled "Was I Capable of Killing My Cat for Bad Behavior?," detailing how she'd adopted Suki after finding her on the streets in the mid-'80s and kept her for six years, first in a Manhattan studio apartment, then in a California cottage. There were periods of happiness they enjoyed, but it was also "rocky at times" due to Suki's often-aggressive play and craving for attention from her owner. It "felt like we were in an ongoing, often tense negotiation with each other regarding space and need," Gaitskill writes. She notes things came to a head when she adopted a kitten to keep Suki company, which Suki didn't like, followed by a serious tooth infection that made Suki act out even more. "I had to choose between an enraged middle-aged cat who hated me versus an adorable kitten who loved me or at least acted that way. The more I thought about it, the more natural it seemed to ... end the misery." Find out here whether Gaitskill dumped Suki at the ASPCA, "where she would almost certainly die."

  • Essay No. 2: The Cut published another piece on the same day as Gaitskill's, this one titled: "Why Did I Stop Loving My Cat When I Had a Baby?" In this piece, the anonymous author writes that her postpartum "loathing" of her 10-year-old cat named Lucky "made me wonder whether I might be a late-onset psychopath." She details how, once her baby arrived, she would push Lucky away, throw pieces of clothing at her, and sometimes forget to empty her litter box, feed her, or fill her water bowl, "which I didn't realize until I saw paw prints all over the toilet seat—her hydration source of last resort." "By the time the baby was 2 months old, I hated Lucky so much I began to leave our windows open in the vague hope that she would take the initiative and leap out of one," the author writes. "If I treated a human the way I treated my cat, I would be in prison for years." Find out here how this particular situation resolved.
  • Reaction: "I'm hugging my dog instead of reading that essay from The Cut about the woman who abused her cat," one commenter noted on X, not specifying which confessional she'd read. "I am revolted," wrote another regarding the anonymous new mom.
(More cats stories.)

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