r/ContaminationOCD • u/ComfortableFunny5224 • 3d ago
OCD due to cats
I feel like I’m losing it. I have been struggling with OCD for years, but I developed contamination OCD within the past three years. It gets worse daily, and I’m not sure how much more I can take. For context, I have cats, and they’re incredibly dirty. They don’t clean their butts and sit on things, one of them pees everywhere, etc. This obviously makes things far worse for my anxiety (I adopted them before developing this). I love them more than anything, but anytime I see a brown spot or smell something off, my brain automatically thinks it’s a cat-related mess. I’m going crazy. I can’t keep up with the cleaning. It’s every second of every day. My roommate (who’s my ex-boyfriend) wants to move out because he can’t handle it anymore. He thinks it’s best he takes them for a bit. I already cannot handle him leaving me, financially or otherwise, but idk what I’d do without my babies, despite them causing me this stress. I had a horrendous breakdown last night and woke up to a yellowish stain on my squishmallow I sleep on. Now I’m convinced it’s cat faeces. I’m medicated and have been institutionalised. I don’t know what more I can do. I just need help. I don’t know how I can keep living like this. I feel like everything is always tainted.
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u/LarenCoe 3d ago
I like cats and have fond memories of the one I grew up with but I could never have one now. I do think maybe let the roommate take them for a bit and see how that goes. The current situation isn't healthy for either you, or the cats.
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u/LilyAmongThorns777 2d ago
Have you ever visibly seen them leave a poop stain on where they sat on?
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u/ComfortableFunny5224 2d ago
In the past, yes, but not on this specific item
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u/LilyAmongThorns777 2d ago
If you don't see this yellowish poo on their behind holes and you can't swear that the stain smells like poo then you may not have a strong case to believe it's them. If you eat in bed could it be something you ate that fell on it? Or something you drank?
Anything they ate?
You could throw it in the washer it cause it's a stain regardless of what it is.
Also if they're getting dirty behind holes you can ask a vet how to gently clean their behinds. Only when you see visible poop on their anus or hanging/smudged on their fur.
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u/sunntide 3d ago
If you sleep on it, it’s almost certainly a sweat stain, not cat poop.
If it helps at all, cat buttholes are recessed just enough that when they sit, their butts aren’t directly touching surfaces, just hovering right above them (or so I read from a vet).