More and more people have been placed in the situation where a loved one, in this case my cat, comes out as a transgender. Cosmo, formally known as Cassie, was originally born a girl; a female, assigned a girl, but is no longer a girl, but was born female. He now identifies as a boy (but wasn’t born one.) When he first came out it was like a cold bucket of water, or more appropriately a spray bottle right to the face. I felt lost and confused as a parent, and was worried what the future held for my wittle cutie-pie.

At first I didn’t take his gender expression very seriously because when he started displaying trans-like behavior he was only 4 years old. I thought he was too young to have a strong sense of identity, but after forcing him to wear horrible little outfits and pink collars with tiny bells on them I knew he wasn’t like other girls. He would just flop over on the ground as if paralyzed by the tou-tous I hilariously put around his waist, and would sometimes even projectile vomit.

As a concerned mother I knew something was deeply wrong, something was eating my poor baby alive. I thought it might have been worms but I wasn’t sure. After weeks of him ignoring me, avoiding snuggling and being disinterested in his favorite toys I decided it was time to see a professional. Fearfully I cried in the vet’s office, yelling into the void “what has happened to my beautiful daughter? What is wrong with her?” The vet was like “woah, calm down lady.”

He told me that my fur-baby might be a transgendered and that the best course of action would be to start treating her as a him until he could determine if she wasn’t a her and they were actually a he so she could be it. At first I was disgusted and horrified by the idea of my princess becoming a boy, but after sleepless nights of inner turmoil I knew it was best for her, I mean him.

Slowly as a family we began to transition together into this new life. We went to Petco and picked out a bow tie for him (seen in the picture above) and I even started using his purrfured pronouns and new name. These simple adjustments drastically changed his mental health. He wasn’t shitting on the floor like an idiot, he stopped crying every 5 fucking seconds, and was more confident than ever! I came to realize I lost my daughter, which I will mourn the rest of my life and occasionally remind him of, but I gained a son.

These days life is much more simple for us; just me and him in my apartment…All alone. I fear what could have happened to my child if I had not acted quickly enough, if I had not learned to accept him as the son he is today. Cosmo and I share a special bond that we made through this life trial, and because of it he doesn’t hold any resentment to me that would cause deep rifts between family dynamics and would eventually drive us so far apart from one another that we would barely recognize each other as family. I’m so happy to have him in my life, trapped inside my apartment.

~ Catherine

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