Woman Contemplates Divorce After Husband Breaks Pledge To Care For Adopted Kittens And ‘Callously’ Dumps Them At Shelter Days Later

“If I can’t trust him with kittens, how can I trust him with kids?!”

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• March 31, 2024

Once upon a time (well, more like during the pandemic), our spirited narrator (Original Poster) and her husband embarked on a heartwarming new adventure—fostering kittens.

It was a delightful hobby that brought them closer together until one fateful work trip threw their kitty kingdom into chaos.

All was purr-fect until duty called OP away on a lengthy work venture. The problem was - these enthusiastic cat parents had a litter of newly-weaned fluffballs scheduled for pickup a few days before her trip. 

Handling three kittens alone was obviously a handful for even the toughest pet parents, so OP offered her husband an escape hatch—notifying the shelter so they could find new foster parents. 

However, he assured her he was up to the task, so OP kissed him goodbye with one final message: if the feline frenzy still proved too much to handle, notify the shelter immediately to coordinate a return. 

For the first three days, OP’s husband bombarded her with cute photos of him and their new babies. But on the fourth day, things took an alarming turn.

OP’s husband, feeling overwhelmed by work and besieged by real estate demands to prep their house for showings, hastily returned the kittens to the shelter—without coordinating with the foster program!

Not only did he tarnish their good reputation in the eyes of the foster coordinator, he also shattered her trust to pieces. If she couldn’t even rely on him to handle kittens, could she really trust him with kids?

OP found herself teary-eyed and seriously contemplating divorce over this. Was her reaction justified, or cat-astrophically over-the-top? 

The story in detail

A bit of background

Everything was going fine for the first three days until OP’s husband informed her that he had returned the kittens to the shelter. Worst of all, he didn’t coordinate the return with the foster coordinator

OP made her unhappiness evident to her husband. Apparently he has a habit of taking important decisions alone, then tells her late

OP seems to have been overwhelmed by all his shortcomings, and this one just broke the camel’s back

We gathered some reactions from the Reddit community:

“ESH you aren't allowed pets in that apartment and made plans to repeatedly break those terms. He’s also the b—face for dumping them without plans.”

“You're severly overreacting. You're putting random baby animals that aren't even your own pets above your husband.”

“I lean toward YTBF. Your communication with each other is all based on your preferences and rules.”

“He did make a mistake yes, but I feel a healthier relationship could mend this problem, and you aren't really seeking to mend.”

“YTB you're not even supposed have kittens and throwing away your marriage over it is really stupid.”

“YTBF - You were not there, you don't get to dictate how he handles it.”

The majority of commenters acknowledged the husband's flawed but arguably well-intentioned actions and deemed divorce an overblown reaction.

However, a few others highlighted deeper issues in communication and commitment and were squarely on OP’s side.

In the end, the final decision lies with OP. We do hope she’s happy and satisfied with whatever course of action she decides to take.

What do you think about this story? Let us know in the comments.

Jesse