I keep having impulsive thoughts to strangle my innocent cat

Usedandabused · Jan 1, 2022

iamallama1234 said:
These thoughts are incredibly random and aren't brought up by anything. I have, multiple times, actually put the string toy around her neck and only stopped pulling once I realized what the hell I was doing. I'm not sure why this happens and I most definitely want to stop this behavior because I'm scared of the damage I might cause to my poor little kitty. I kind of just do it. No reason, no thought, I just do it. I refuse to play with string cat toys anymore because of this. But how do I stop it? I don't want to be the reason something bad happens to my cat because I turned a blind eye to it. It's not like I actively want to kill her, I don't think of what I'm doing when it happens. It's like a seperate evil entity takes over my body for a amount of time, and then I snap back to reality. Please help me.

Sincerely, a distressed 12 year old boy

Idk but this video is interesting about empathy, with the premise that I am taking this post seriously and another premise that I love my cat like my own blood, and vice versa, I really struggle to understand why you were taught such behaviour but I don't think playing the blame game will solve the problem, it will just make you resentful, the only thing I can advise is to ask for support on learning empathy and other classy behaviours from your teacher and a psychologist too, i.e. we have psychotherapy, and you don't have to share much, they know what's wrong and they fix it.

Usedandabused · Jan 2, 2022

iamallama1234 said:
Nothing was wrongly taught, I am usually full of empathy. This sort of just started happening awhile back and I've put off getting help because I'm scared my parents will take my cat away from me

Well my assessment is that you have not much empathy compared to myself and the norm, hence why I made that statement, if you deny you have empathy when you don't then clearly you must have heard this unhelpful statement by someone else, who is not being helpful in your regard. Empathy is something you can learn anyway, but if you refuse to because you have the parent who claims you don't require to learn anything in life, then that is another issue, it is up to you to be smart and do what's good for you even if it defies all norms, or to act stupid like your parent. I am not saying your parent is a bad person, but some parents make many mistakes, I'd make sure I am not one of them, regardless of my age.

IveryKeys · Jan 5, 2022

Do something beside thinking about strangling your cat. Play the guitar, go for a walk, read a book, you have become obscessed with this thought and now it begins to control you. You will have to change your thought patterns, and try not to think about not thinking about it, because ironically you will think about it even more! Find someone to discuss this with, a teacher, counselor, minister, or someone you trust. If you want to try looking into it yourself, search Cognitinve Behavior Therapy, and you should find some ideas there...
Best of luck,
Ivery

IveryKeys · Jan 6, 2022

Also, just tell yourself you are just not going to do it. Strangling the cat is too far, it is not you, you are not going to do it, so no more thinking about it. Period!

Phoenix · Feb 3, 2022

iamallama1234 said:
Nothing was wrongly taught, I am usually full of empathy. This sort of just started happening awhile back and I've put off getting help because I'm scared my parents will take my cat away from me

Telling your parents is the right thing to do. Think about what's best for the cat, rather than what you want. It's best if the cat is kept safe until you are able to be around it safely again. Once you are able to get help, your cat and you could maybe be safely reunited again.

You can either worry about your cat being taken away from you, or you can worry about you taking your cat away yourself. If you tell your parents, at least there's a chance you can be reunited - if they do take it away.

Phoenix · Feb 3, 2022

I agree with @Usedandabused about you having low empathy, by the way. The fact that you're thinking about what you want (the cat to stay with you) more than the cat's well-being/general safety also demonstrates this.