Good. Your dad needs to be out of the picture as much as possible. That's ****** up.

Holy shit, if someone threatened my cats or treated some person I love that way they wouldn't ever see the inside of my house again. family or not. I'm getting furious just reading this. ******* scum of the earth.

Man, some days I really wish they had the option to thumb up OP comments :P

OP, your dad seems like a worthy recipient of a Bus Driver Uppercut. Sometimes, your family ... really isn't family.

Aren't wanting to kill animals a sign of a serial killer or something? Maybe it's just in kids but I don't know he sounds messed up and dangerous to me.

Ugh. People who treat animals like crap usually treat humans the same way. On the upside you and your husband sound like awesome caring parents. (:

Bravo to your husband

Even if it's a joke, that's not the kind of joke you tell an eight year-old. They don't really understand that it's joke yet. Besides, if your father treats your son's cat like you say he does, then it's perfectly understandable that your son would be afraid his grandfather would follow through with his threat. I'm an adult and if someone were to say that about my cat, I'd be upset because it's just natural to have a protective response even if they aren't being serious.

Speaking from experience, it's hard to tell your dad things like this. On one hand, it's important, serious, and needs to be done. On the other, it's your dad, even if they're not the best dad, and that's not a relationship you'd want to risk losing. In OP'S case, they'd def be better off with her dad not in the picture but it's still a hard thing to do because that's still her dad and it's hard to cut family ties.

He seems like the type of person to only take the *Man* of the family seriously. Especially since its his daughter he may not respect her enough to listen

Or if OP wasn't home, this seems like something that needs to be taken care of ASAP, so her hubby did it.

You guys are hitting the nail on the head. My dad is old-fashioned, so he doesn't really take me all that seriously. Which is also why he refused to apologize for my son's crying. I don't know if that has to do with the fact that he sees men crying as weak or whatever, but it's hard to change the way someone was raised; so I'm just doing my best to teach my son to not listen to him and that he's free to cry or tell me his feelings whenever he wants. I love my father, but I'd love him even more if he just stayed away for awhile. I hope he considers changing because his relationship with his only grandchild is at risk. It's hard to have a civil conversation with your parents, siblings, friends or anyone when they act like this. A friend of mine is afraid to confront his father because his dad is one of those gun-toting, "All-American" war vets who gets angry at the slightest howl of the wind.

I'm going to add on to this since the editing window is over: As for allowing him to be near my son even after everything; he's my dad. This is the first time he's actually done any of this in front of my son. All the other times, he's made sure to say it when he thinks no one's listening (as in, talking to the kitten as if the kitten will reply to his threats), or to me and my husband. He defends it by saying it was a "joke"...really reminds me of Trump/and his supporters when they talk about political correctness. Like I said: it's hard to tell someone you love to never be near their relative again unless they change. And BTW, my father has never really been into alcohol, so he wasn't dead ass drunk when he said this. Which I think that fact makes this worse.

I hate to ask, but how was the family dynamic before you had your child? Were there any things that led up to this point, or did it manifest itself during your own upbringing?

My dad's a dog person. We've had hunting dogs since I could remember, and my dad would actually enjoy walking through the woods and playing with them. We got a kitten for my son because we had a not-so-good encounter with a neighbor's dog a year ago when it bit my son's finger (so he's very wary around dogs now, especially big ones), plus my husband's allergic to dogs. I never really witnessed anything like this during my childhood. I'm not quite sure what led to his hatred of cats; whether it's just because he's more of a dog person or because a cat was mean to him, or whatever.

I have to agree with reconsidering letting him around your son at all. Not only the animal, but how he refuses to apologize and holds such beliefs. What exactly is having him around teaching your son? And does your son WANT to be around him?

OP, your dad needs to be dropped into a starving lion's den with nothing but his clothes. Anyone who wants to kill any domesticated pet that is in perfect health deserves to be ripped to shreds. He's a piece of human garbage and it's a shame he's allowed to breathe.

Did you miss the part where it says the OP's dad has been witnessed trying to kick the kitten and throw it from the room?

On top of that, this dick thinks it's okay to slap the ass of someone he's just met