What would you do if you had to choose between your marriage and your pet? That’s the difficult choice one woman was forced to make after her husband gave away her beloved cat — and now the internet is applauding her decision.
An anonymous 42-year-old woman shared her story on a relationship advice forum on Reddit. She explained that after her dad passed away, she was “feeling very down” and decided to adopt a kitten named Benji.
“It’s been two years since he died, Benji really saved me,” the woman wrote on Reddit. “He’s the best companion I could’ve asked for. I mean, there’s nothing better than being able to cuddle up with an animal that loves you at the end of a long day.”
Benji helped her cope with the loss and she believed the cat possessed the spirit of her late father. “This may sound crazy to some, but I really believe Benji is the reincarnation of my dad,” she wrote. When I look into his eyes, I feel something more than a cat. Like a cat born with a human soul.”
“Even if I am crazy the thought brings me comfort and I don’t see anything wrong with it,” she added.
Benji given away
But someone did see something wrong with it: her husband, who called her relationship with her cat “strange and unhealthy.”
Then one day, after returning from a girls trip, the woman found out that Benji was gone. Her husband revealed that he gave away Benji to his coworker.
The woman was shocked, and called the coworker to get her cat back: he replied that the husband “gave him away fair and square” and he wouldn’t be returning Benji.
“My husband had no right, the cat has always been only mine,” the woman wrote. “I adopted him, I raised him, I care for him, I’m the only one who ever spends any money on him. I am at a loss right now. Benji has never been through anything like this and I can only imagine the stress he must be feeling right now. I know I sure am.”
People on Reddit were shocked by the story, and provided advice: they encouraged the woman to contact the police or an attorney, and even to consider leaving her husband, calling his actions “unforgivable” and “grounds for divorce.”
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Update and reunion
The woman posted an update on Reddit the following day with another twist in the story: Benji was never with the coworker at all — the husband left him in a shelter.
Thankfully, she was able to track down the shelter and prove her ownership, and got her beloved cat back safe and sound. She took him to her sister’s house, understandably unwilling to return to her own home: “I haven’t been home or seen my husband since I left for the shelter,” she wrote.
The woman also wrote that she had begun preparing to file for divorce over the incident. “My sister had been through divorce and has remarried, so she will help me get all my ducks in a row and prepare to file for divorce,” the woman wrote. My family has supported me in my decisions and they are all willing to do whatever it takes to help me when I may need them.”
“This experience has been very eye opening to say the least, in so many ways,” she wrote, thanking people for their “kind words and concern.”
She also added that while Benji was “stressed and confused” by the whole ordeal, he was settling in well at her sister’s home.
It’s horrible that someone would give away someone’s beloved cat like that without them knowing — we’re so glad this woman got Benji back and got out of this toxic relationship.
Please share this story if you think this woman did the right thing!