Related Recs

💗

SEEING YOUR CAT’S PERSONALITY BLOSSOM

When I adopted Bunny the sweet old ladies at the shelter cried because they were afraid nobody would want her; she was shy and generally pretty odd because she had grown up in quarantine as a kitten for panleukopenia, a deadly disease that’s the feline equivalent to parvovirus. It has a low survival rate and requires aggressive supportive care but it’s easily transmitted, even from human to cat, so the only contact she got was during medical treatments. Bunny stayed timid because she was afraid of my husband but she had started showing a little more personality after we moved from our small one bedroom apartment into a large house and he got a job. She would come out of her shell when he was not nearby and then retreat and hide when he was around. Now that we’re far away from him, the change in her demeanor and confidence in just a little over a week has been astonishing. The woman at the shelter who helped with the adoption told me that I was meant to find Bunny and that we would heal each other. She didn’t know how right she was.

@taterhole

Mar 29, 2025

🪅

This is my cat, Kitty!

I found her at a family gathering about 7-8 years ago. The previous lady who was taking care of her & a colony of feral cats moved away, leaving her without a consistent food source. She hung around me the whole day, soaking up the sun from a lawn chair while occasionally stealing some of my mac & cheese. That day I ended up taking her home, now she’s my whole world. Since then, i’ve started studying all things cat (especially feline behavior), working at animal shelters, occasionally fostering, & volunteering at other animal shelters + different pet retention services. She’s taught me so much & has given me the motivation to be better everyday. I don’t know what i’d do or be without her.

@dirteater04

Jan 18, 2025

🐾

All of my pets have changed my life

I leaned on my childhood dogs (pictured ft. teen me with acne) a lot growing up for companionship and emotional support. The pets I’ve had in my adult life have all been with me at differing stages of my life and have grounded me and given me a sense of purpose in taking care of them even when I had nothing else and felt like I was doing everything wrong in life. My dog Benny is teaching me to be patient and how to handle frustration and take care of the needs of a very sensitive emotional creature lol… My cat Bunny is very shy and odd due to illness she suffered as a kitten that led her to be quarantined, which can be frustrating to me sometimes because I kind of wish she would be more like the two cuddly gregarious cats I’ve had who I lost before their time. But I looked at it from another point of view yesterday and had the thought that maybe I bonded with my other cats instantly because they weren’t going to be with me for very long, but my life with Bunny is going to be something that unfolds over the span of many years so our bond is going to take more time to develop and maybe someday it’ll be just as strong if not stronger. I think that’s beautiful 🥹

@taterhole

Oct 20, 2024

Top Recs from @taterhole

🧳

Starting over

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.” — Anaïs Nin This is uncharacteristically raw and personal, even for me, and pretty heavy! I know many of you have seen me posting through it and I feel safe to talk about it openly now that I’ve safely landed at the start of my new life. It’s honestly even a little bit embarrassing but I think it’s important to share. I’ve never publicly mentioned it on here, but I have a husband; as of Friday, we’d have been together for 11 years, and we’ve been married for 3 years as of 2/22. I realize now that I wanted to explore what I looked like outside of my relationship with him because I had lost that. This is why PI.FYI has been so meaningful to me as a space to express myself and connect with people—to rediscover my voice. I had been living a lie this entire time, to others but worst of all to myself. He’s been verbally and emotionally abusive, physically but without touching me, to the point that every day I spent with him I was in danger. I’ve been shrinking myself and walking on eggshells to avoid making him insecure and provoking his casual put-downs and fits of rage, while hanging on for dear life to the threads of good I could see. I’ve wanted so badly to leave, more than anything, but I felt like there was no way out and that this was just something I would need to endure indefinitely—but someone who is so very dear to me helped me see that I have wings to fly, not by acting as my savior but by reminding me of my own power. The emotional safety they built and the gentle care they showed me made me feel like I could open up to them. With their encouragement I was brave enough to tell the truth to my friends, my family, my boss, and they have received me with warm, loving and open arms and rallied to support and protect me. The financial and  logistical aspects were the most intimidating to me and it’s going to be tough for a while but I’m going to be better than okay! Now I’m opening up to you. This isn’t the only abuse I’ve suffered in my life, and my old therapist told me she believed it was my mission to share my strength and light with others to inspire them and show them that change is possible. I hope that by sharing this, I can reach even just one person who is going through something similar and show that they are not alone, and they are not weak. People with certain backgrounds may be more vulnerable to abuse, but it can happen to anyone. It thrives in darkness, shame, and isolation—and breaking that silence is the first step toward freedom. Leaving is the scariest thing I have ever done but I have so many angels around me, and I am endlessly grateful. Thank you for being here with me 💌

@taterhole

Mar 16, 2025

🧸

Never changing

My dad teases me about how when I was a little kid, my favorite thing to do when I was on the landline phone with somebody—be it a relative or one of my best friends—was to breathlessly describe the things that were in my bedroom so that they could have a mental picture of everything I loved and chose to surround myself with, and where I sat at that moment in time. Perfectly Imperfect reminds me of that so thanks for always listening and for sharing with me too 💌

@taterhole

Feb 23, 2025

🕊

Finally Quitting the job that you hate

Schedule sent my resignation email for the morning, effective immediately ✅💅

@taterhole

Feb 27, 2025