Man Stunned At Vegan Girlfriend's Sudden Ultimatum To Give Away His Cat

When we hear about a growing movement or a common belief system, it's surprisingly easy to get in the habit of treating its followers as monolithic.

But while there may be some fundamental traits that a group's members may have in common, it's always helpful to remember that this group is still composed of individuals that will vary — and sometimes vary a great deal — on what they believe.

Unfortunately, it's not always so clear what those beliefs are until you've already invested a lot in a relationship and are suddenly confronted with an issue that drives a wedge between you and someone you care about.

And that's precisely the situation that one man wrestled with after his girlfriend came to him with an unusual demand.

When the man presented his dilemma to Reddit's community for relationship advice, he had been dating his girlfriend for seven months.

As he wrote, she had made it clear from the beginning that she is a vegan and that a cruelty-free lifestyle was paramount to a compatible relationship with her.

Since the man was already a pescatarian, he didn't find it difficult to make the transition to veganism and they were able to enjoy what he described as a beautiful relationship.

However, what he didn't know was that all along, there was a part of his life that would be a dealbreaker for her.

And that would turn out to be his "sweet and cuddly" cat Mittens, who had been living with him for the past three years.

Although the woman was always apprehensive around the cat, she initially framed it as a result of not growing up around them.

However, when they were considering a move into an apartment together, she revealed that her problems with the cat ran deeper than that.

As he put it, "She said that she believed owning a cat is unconscionable for vegans, because they hunt mice and eat meat, and because the very act of owning a pet is a violation of vegan principles."

And so as she saw it, the only way that this relationship could continue is if the man gave away Mittens.

Although he didn't want his relationship with his girlfriend to end, there was absolutely no way the man was going to agree to this.

He also wanted to stress that while the subject of cat ownership is a matter of some debate among vegan communities, he knew that is girlfriend's views did not represent them as a whole and he knows many vegans who own cats and understand their natural diets.

Although he researched vegan alternatives to what Mittens was eating, his veterinarian strongly advised against using them due to the cat's digestive issues.

As he said, "I've talked to some of my vegan and vegetarian friends and they all think my gf has lost her mind."

They also told him that it's likely the issues in their relationship aren't really about the cat.

And while they thought she was trying to end the relationship, he said in a follow-up post that many commenters on the first one suspected that this was a means of control rather than an ideological difference.

Thinking back, he recalled that she had shown a pattern of controlling behavior that managed to fly under his radar at the time.

With all that in mind, the man realized that his desire to try and work something out with her was not a realistic one and he decided to end the relationship.

No matter how nice the relationship seemed, Mittens isn't going anywhere and that's final.

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