Heart wrenching decision.. what to do? Help!

orlao

Equaliser123 wrote: »

For me, family take priority over pets.

Take my daughter for example. If I had a pet before she was born which she was allergic to would I get rid of the animal? You bet. I would do anything to keep her safe. Would it be difficult? Of course. But family (not pets) come first.

That's fair enough - but you are referring to a pet in the same house, your daughters home.

The difference here is that the OPs grandaughter doesn't live in the same house and while it would be nice for her to sleep over at Grannys it is not a day in, day out contact.

OP IMHO you should take the cats with you - they are your responsibility as you choose to get them and while they now cause a minor problem with your GD, I would feel that they are owed their twilight years in peace with you. A worst case scenario admittedly, how would you feel if you heard their new owner rehomed them/ didn't treat them as you would six months down the line?

kazwookie

Sorry, but the cats go with you.

I would never leave mine behind.

Your grand child and others will take tablets or similar.

My best friends youngest son 7 at the time was alergic to my other cat at a young age, he is now 28! (where have the years gone) and he is fine when ever he comes to visit now, he 'grew out ' by the age of 8 or 9.

I don;t understand what ever gave the buyer the idea you might give up your cats, if she wants more then a rescue centre is her next point of call, once she is settled in to your old property.

Good luck with your move.

Caroline_a

All my kids grew up with animals, dogs, cats, ponies for a while. When my eldest daughter moved out, a few years later she developed an allergy to animal hair. Of course she still comes to see me, but takes antihistomene and she's fine. As she lives 200+ miles away, it's a couple of times a year max, but my pets are here 52 weeks a year....

Equaliser123

RacyRed wrote: »

Your daughter is in your home 24/7. It is a different situation when the OP can see her granddaughter in the girl's pet free home.

The cats are elderly, they are the OP's only constant companions and this is not a situation which is going to go on for ever.

Also, many of us who have pets start out being allergic to them, anti-histamines and long term exposure usually sort it out.

Yes it is different...to an extent.

However, I know that my daughter's grandparents would also get rid of animals if they stood in the way of their enjoyment of their granddaughter.

catkins

Equaliser123 wrote: »

For me, family take priority over pets.

Take my daughter for example. If I had a pet before she was born which she was allergic to would I get rid of the animal? You bet. I would do anything to keep her safe. Would it be difficult? Of course. But family (not pets) come first.

Surely it would depend how bad the allergy was? To say you would do anything to keep her safe is over the top if talking about an allergy. Would you not try to find something to take away the symptoms of the allergy?

I do understand that in some circumstances there is no choice but to get rid of the pet but should that not be the last resort? A real animal lover would struggle to get rid of a pet.

Also is it good to teach children that an animal can be got rid of just like that? People that have animals and then get rid of them as soon as they have a baby really annoy me. If you don't think children and animals should be together then don't get the animal in the first place!!!

catkins

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Yes it is different...to an extent.

However, I know that my daughter's grandparents would also get rid of animals if they stood in the way of their enjoyment of their granddaughter.

Again they cannot be animals lovers if they would discard a pet so easily

Troythecat

I feel for you! it is a difficult situation to be in...
If it were me I would take them, given their age and that the lady has dogs.
:A

janninew

What a difficult decision to make

I have 2 cats (brother and sister - 3 years old) and I then brought a boxer puppy in our lives, it took the cats a good 6 months to be truely comfortable about my puppy (he was very bouncy though!) I think the older a cat gets, the more set in their ways they become and I think it would be terribly stressful and upsetting to expect them to live with dogs. If you don't want to take them with you, the kindest thing would be to find them a dog free home together so they can enjoy their twilight years in peace with no stress.

Another option could be to take them, but not give them free run of the house? This could minimise the effect they would have on family members - not sure if this could work?

Equaliser123

catkins wrote: »

Again they cannot be animals lovers if they would discard a pet so easily

They haven't need to but the point is they love granddaughters more than an animal.

Equaliser123

catkins wrote: »

Surely it would depend how bad the allergy was? To say you would do anything to keep her safe is over the top if talking about an allergy. Would you not try to find something to take away the symptoms of the allergy?

!

Already said (several times....) that I can appreciate it being a struggle. And yes, I would find out if there were any alternatives and try them.

But ultimately daughter v animal is no contest.

Here's the thing - we live in the country. Our garage gets a few mice from time to time. Apart from nibbling stuff and being a nuisance, they aren't actually that bad. I remove them with a live trap and relocate them to an old barn about a mile away. I've travelled miles moving mice.

However, we also have rats visit the garden. I shoot them with a .22 air rifle as I think it is the most humane method. I won't take the risk of disease. Don't like doing it but better than poison and stuff.

So whilst I do like animals and will do my best, they come a very poor second when family is at stake.