She Wants To Bring Her Dog To Her Family’s Christmas Celebration But Doesn’t Want Her Other Family Members To Bring Their Cats
With Christmas just about a month away, this twenty-seven-year-old woman and her husband are in charge of coordinating her family’s holiday plans.
There will not be a ton of family members in attendance, but the guest list will include her two brothers, one of her brother’s partners, her mother, and her grandmother.
Now, since she and her husband recently purchased a home last year, they have the most space to host a holiday celebration. In fact, all of her other family members live in apartments at the moment.
So last year, she actually hosted everyone at her and her husband’s house for the first time ever. This year, though, she honestly does not really want to do it again– and the reason is her family’s pets.
For context, she and her husband have a Boston Terrier that is just three-years-old, and her pup absolutely loves people.
On the other hand, both of her brothers, her mother, and her grandmother have cats– so four felines in total.
And when she hosted Christmas last year, all of the cat owners were able to figure out arrangements for their pups.
For instance, her brother– who lives about half an hour away– was able to stop in at his house and check on his kitten from time to time.
Plus, her mother just got someone who lived in her apartment building to look after her pet for the holiday.
Look! – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
This year, though, she and her husband were debating between hosting at their home again or renting a winterized cottage out for two days.
And while brainstorming the weekend away idea, she found a pet-friendly cottage that would fit into her family’s budget.
The only problem, though, is that she wants to bring her Boston Terrier but does not want her family members to bring their cats.
“We were planning to present this cottage booking as a gift for my grandmother and mother, and I have a strong feeling they, too, would like to bring their two cats if they know my brothers will be bringing their cats,” she explained.
But apparently, she believes that having the cats around her pup is a really bad idea. She claims that the last time her dog was around her mother’s cats, two of the felines acted pretty aggressively toward him. In fact, her Boston Terrier even walked away with a big scratch on his face right near his eye.
So, for the rest of that visit, she and her husband were pretty on edge about the cats swatting or scratching their pup. According to her, though, her mother did not think the altercation was a big deal at all.
“My mother had a laid-back reaction and said that all of the animals were just ‘sorting out their dominance’ and asserting their new territory. She did not try to separate her cats from the dog,” she recalled.
Plus, on top of her reservations about her mother’s cats, she also realized that her brother’s cat has never been around other cats or dogs.
That really worries her since she has no idea how the cat will behave in a new environment with new animals.
So now, she and her husband are basically at a crossroads. Of course, she wants to spend time with her family at the cottage and is really looking forward to everyone being together. However, she cannot help but feel nervous about the cats roaming around her pup.
“I am also nervous about them [the cats] spraying or damaging the cottage in some way since the booking would be under my name,” she added.
But she is lost about how to handle this situation. If she suggests that her family just stay at her house for Christmas, then she feels like she will have to put up a boundary about the cats going over her house, too– and she believes that would be an issue for her brother since he lives far away.
At the same time, if she moves forward with renting the cottage, she would want to bring her Boston Terrier but tell her family that they cannot bring their own pets, too– which would likely cause some drama.
So, she is looking for any advice on how to move forward and is wondering if barring her family’s cats from also attending the Christmas celebration while her pup goes along would be a really jerky thing to do.
Do you think it is fair to allow one pet and not the others? Does it matter whether she will be booking the cottage or not? Would you be nervous about the cats being around your dog or not? If you were in her shoes, how would you navigate this situation?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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