AITA For Not helping take care of my Ex-partners pets??

YTA

my Ex and I both have ADHD and Austism (high functioning) we have been in some pretty shitty situations and depressing times in the past. That lead to situation happening twice. One time My Ex asked if we could get a puppy. Now I know my weakness and I knew taking care of a dog is lot of responsibility and I dont do good with repeated routines however Im also a people pleasure and its very hard for me to say no. so I agreed and said only if we both work together to train the dog. Fast forwards a year. I hated the whole experience. The puppy would cry in the morning, my ex would wake me up to take care of it, I would be the one walking it majority of the time, I would be the one always having to deal with its whining. I tried to teach the puppy to listen be calm and quiet but my Ex would roughhouse and do the opposite. in the end I got tired and we ened up giving away the puppy. Also at one time that dog jumped up on my stomach so hard it dug its claws in my stomach left scratch marks now I have anxiety around dogs who I see are hyper and jumpy.

Second time was when my ex asked for a kitten. This time I told them "I dont think its a good idea" cause again, I dindt want a pet, I knew I dont have the mindset to responsibily take care of the pet and I knew they wouldnt either. "please its really important, this means a lot to me Ive been having really bad days with my mental health this will really help" I hear that then say "ok but this will be your cat only not mine ok?" "yes ok dont worry I will take care of them myself" and again being a people pleaser I agreed cause saying no is really hard and I hate the feeling of disappointing others. When we got the cat 90 percent of the time I was the one that always cleaned out its litter box. many times I wouldnt but then it would get so bad and stink I couldnt resist.

by the end of it, I got really tired of once again doing the majority of the work because my ex worked night shift, they were always tired. However I was losing my patience and stopped cleaning the litter box. I told my Ex "I dont want to keep taking care of your cat" and they got upset at me saying "he's not just my cat he is our cat" in the end we gave away the cat as well to another friend and my Ex was left upset.

So WITA for refusing to take care of my Ex's pet's, should I have just dealed with it or tired harder?

Posted Aug 12, 2026, 10:52 AM UTC

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