A Worried Grandson Is Reeling After an Elderly Relative Turned a Feline Diet Into a Medical Emergency

It’s never easy telling someone you love that you think they’re doing something wrong.

That’s the position this man found himself in while visiting his grandmother.

The two of them adore her cat, but lately he’s started worrying that the animal’s health is headed in the wrong direction.

His grandmother feeds the cat almost every time she meows. The more he watches it happen, the more he wonders if she’s using food to keep the cat quiet instead of feeding her because she’s actually hungry.

Now he’s trying to decide whether he should say something or mind his own business.

Read on to see exactly what’s been going on.

I (21M) stay with my grandma (79F) when I visit her. I love her dearly. She has a cat (8F), Daisy, that we both adore.

However, she is overweight and possibly obese. I don’t remember how much she weighs exactly (or if she’s ever even been weighed). I know that different breeds have different thresholds for obesity, but every person I show her to agrees that she looks quite rotund and large. Additionally, I can see her belly pooch from the side.

My grandma feeds her whenever Daisy meows or asks, which is quite often (more than two or three times a day). And when she does, my grandma calls her annoying and mutters to herself about giving Daisy away.

Daisy hasn’t always been an indoor cat.

I love my grandma, but I don’t agree with her having this blasé attitude about raising Daisy. My concern isn’t that she would actually abandon Daisy, but the way she’s seemingly using food as a pacifier for her pet.

For additional context, when Daisy was bitten by a snake, my grandma decided to keep her indoors from that point on. I know cats are an invasive species and should be kept inside for their own safety and the environment, so it should have happened sooner anyway.

During that period, Daisy meowed nonstop, asking to be let out, but my grandma would not relent.

Now, he’s unsure what to do.

So, to me, that shows she can tolerate the meowing but chooses to use food as a simple solution.

I know I’m not a cat expert. And at the end of the day, it really isn’t my business how someone raises their pet. But when something so awful is so preventable (early death, diabetes, disease, etc.), and I have the opportunity to intervene and prevent it, I really feel like I should.

Previous “action” has been taken in the form of other relatives and me suggesting that she stop overfeeding Daisy.

WIBTA?

Eek! It’s easy to see why he wants to intervene, but there’s no way tot tell how his grandma will respond.

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit think he should proceed.

It seems like he’s wondering that too.

As this person explains, obesity is bad for pets.

This reader thinks he needs to speak up.

For this person, it’s about encouraging a vet visit.