Elizabeth was heartbroken when she suddenly needed to avoid her cat.
The 37-year-old from Naarm/Melbourne developed a condition called MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome).
"Basically, your immune system goes haywire and thinks you're allergic to things you are not," Elizabeth, who asked we don't use her surname, says.
"I started having reactions to my beautiful female ragdoll cat. I was so sensitive that if someone had been patting her, and then they even lightly touched me, I was going red and itchy in 60 seconds."
Elizabeth was also having breathing troubles. She spent most of her time in the bedroom with the door shut.
"It was heartbreaking. I was hypervigilant and scared, and she didn't understand why all of a sudden I was avoiding her."
Elizabeth and her husband made the difficult decision to rehome their cat.
While health concerns can be one reason behind pet rehoming, Animal Welfare League Queensland (AWLQ) says it has seen an increase in pet surrenders due to rising cost of living and the rental crisis.
And while most people do the right thing, the organisation has also witnessed a spike in pet abandonment, with cats and dogs being dumped in the car park or at the front entrance outside of business hours.
Removing the shame around pet surrender
Caroline Esera is the marketing and communications manager at AWLQ and says being dumped is distressing and dangerous for an animal.
"Especially if they have just been left in the car park by themselves. It also sparks a very urgent rescue mission to try and catch the animal."
RSPCA Queensland head of customer care Hayley Wensley says the organisation has also reported an increase in surrenders in the past financial year.
"The main reasons we are seeing a lot of these come though are for stuff like the housing crisis … and obviously the cost of animal ownership," she says.
Ms Esera says there can be an element of shame attached to having to give up a pet, and wants to remind people they are there to help.
"When people are vulnerable or in desperate situations, they feel they have no other choice. We place no judgement on people.
"We would encourage people, if they are considering surrendering their pet, or having financial hardships, just come and chat to us first — there might be ways we can help that people haven't thought of."
Help is available to keep you and your pet together
Ms Esera says AWLQ aims to keep people and pets together.
Services AWLQ offers include payment plans for vet treatments, charitable support for emergency vet treatments, emergency boarding for people in crisis, and a pet food pantry for those who can't afford pet essentials.
It can also provide subsidised desexing.
Ms Wensley at the RSPCA says she would also encourage people to reach out before it gets to "breaking point".
"The earlier they contact us, we can help keep the pet in the home … [help] them to know of other avenues to go through."
Other shelters offer similar services, so it is worth contacting whoever is local to you to find out what is available.
The right way to surrender a pet
Elizabeth initially spoke with a local shelter to surrender her cat, but ultimately decided she would prefer to know who she was going to.
"My husband put a post up on his personal Facebook [and] an old friend from many years ago saw his post and jumped at the chance to adopt her.
"We have been sent photos and she is now 'living her best life', as the saying goes."
Ms Esera says AWLQ encourages people to use their own networks before surrendering to the shelter.
"Our surrender lists are full — it's a big problem.
"Self-rehoming is when you utilise friends or families for short-term [care], or boarding kennels, or other community networks available to you.
"We should be seen as the last option."
If you're considering a surrender, Ms Esera says the more notice you can give, the more chance they will be able to take the pet when the time comes.
Ms Wensley says the RSPCA has a portal that provides some structured options for rehoming a pet safely in the community.
To surrender to the shelter, there is an online application process.
"It gives us a backstory to better inform the rehome journey," Ms Wensley says.
"If you feel shame around surrendering your pet, know the best thing for them is to give us as much information as possible through that application process, so we can give them a comfortable intake process and you know the animal is in a space to feel safe and secure."
Elizabeth says having to give up their cat was extremely difficult and "like losing a part of the family, even when you know you are doing the right thing".
She wishes more people understood that surrendering a pet isn't easy or a sign of "irresponsibility".
"Sometimes the best thing for both animals and the owners is to surrender them.
"You just don't know what someone has going on in their life."
