My dad (61m) recently shot our cat instead of having it euthanatized. How do I (26f) tell him how up upset I am?

Our family cat has always been mean. He would scratch and bite people all the time. Last fall he bit my mom and she endured a terrible infection that she is still having health issues from. I agree entirely that putting that cat down was the right decision. My mom and sister had made plans to have him euthanized on a Monday.

Without telling anyone my dad borrowed a gun from a family member and shot the cat the weekend prior.

He grew up in very rural America and acts as if this is a “tough man” thing to do. Apparently he’s been telling (“bragging about” as my mom said) the story to all the men he has seen.

I find it incredibly violent and scary.

To make it worst, my dad is legally not allowed to have a gun.

My dad was a terrible, scary alcoholic until I was 15 and his recent actions are 100% something he would have done and did back then. After he threatened my family with a gun while drunk he was arrested, stopped drinking, and really has been a better person over the past decade.

There is a lot of instances of childhood trauma this brings up, I’ll skip over most of that, but it makes me think “you’re still that person” and it scares me. Literally scares me.

I love my dad and have seen him be sober, and loving, and reasonable over the past decade. I’m not sure how to navigate this.

I think we should talk about it, but I don’t know how or what I expect from the conversation.

It’s hard to access therapy where he lives, but I think he needs major treatment. But he would definitely see that as a sign of weakness.

Does anyone have advice on how I could go about this conversation? I wish I had a therapist to discuss this with but I’m on a waiting list right now.

Tl:dr - My dad shot our cat and I want to talk to him about how wrong I think it is.

Submitted March 03, 2020 at 05:26PM by nauticalpoem https://ift.tt/3amcyKw