What would you do if your pet suddenly kick-started one of the most traumatic journeys in your lifetime?

While it's not quite uncommon for cats to carry pathogens that can be contracted by humans, the sheer experience of it can sometimes be quite strange and traumatizing—as experienced by this particular Redditor with the handle u/carsgobeep3. Their story was posted under the TIFU subreddit, which gives you an idea of how badly things went after they contracted tapeworms from a newly adopted cat.

From the looks of it, this person seemed like they went through hell and back, from the malevolent COVID-19 taking away their job to leaving themselves grief-stricken amidst a bad case of what the OP (original poster) says "wormageddon". While it's established that they still love their cat despite it all, it's undeniable that the feline certainly caused quite a ruckus here!

It all started when they adopted the cat in question in January. It was a senior one, 11 years of age, with a bad case of fleas—which was the reason why the past owners returned the poor little fellow in the first place.

The post has attracted thousands of Redditors all around the world, hooked on the twists and turns of this story, all while concerned with the health of both the OP and the cat. Check out the story below and prepare yourself for a wild ride!

OP started this thread by saying "TIFU by adopting a cat, which resulted in us both getting tapeworm, and me almost dying." That certainly caught the attention of a lot of people on the platform.

It all started when they adopted the 11-year-old cat after being returned because of a bad case of fleas. OP fell in love at the sight of it, but he didn't expect the events that would follow.

And so began the saga of this relationship. OP started taking care of it and tried to fix its health issues as well as its chonky weight.

The cat was brought into the vet for the 6th time within the span of a month and a half. The vet assumed that the cat's coughs were because of allergies and may only be behavioral issues.

The tables turned, and OP started feeling sick after the cat got better.

Living in the middle of a pandemic is not complete without the good 'ol COVID-19 scare, and this person went through it.

Played Doctor Google, until everything went straight to hell. Rice demons were suddenly EVERYWHERE.

Tapeworms were all over the place, and OP had to throw most of their stuff out. Yikes.

Hell fused with a gruesome nightmare that seemed inescapable for this person.

Everything continued to go downhill from there. The additional expenses definitely didn't help.

They tried to make up for their current situation with humor.

They even prepared for their own funeral!

...And that's when the knowledge of their allergies to the medication comes in.

Hooray for American healthcare. It sucks.

"Truly, complete mental breakdown."

Unemployed, alone, and started to think they were on the brink of death. Life's been eventful for this one, but hey, at least they still got the cat!

Now, lo and behold, check out what some people had to say regarding this story:

This person just described it too well!

An advice that may benefit you in case you fall under this similar situation (hopefully not!).

It was not good—it was a GREAT read!

This one is definitely one of those stories that would probably never get old, no matter how traumatizing it is! Funnily enough, OP certainly knows how to put humor into the situation, and they certainly have the knack of getting us hooked!

Comment down your thoughts, or share this unfortunate yet comical story for all your family and friends to rave about!