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I've never posted here, so I'm sorry if this isn't structured properly.
CW: Threatened animal abuse (under the influence)

Basically, I'm 20 years old, and I've had an orange cat named Harry, who is approximately 7-8 years old. My family got him in 2022 at the start of Year 12 and I absolutely adore him. He hangs out with me all the time, but he has never been very active or much of a cuddler (likely because his first owner may have been abusive). He's quite literally a 'Garfield'. However, he gets overstimulated very easily and is very quick to bite/scratch. I've had him for 2 years at this point and I now have built a lot of trust with him and I'm now able to pick him up, hold him, cuddle him and pet him for much longer than I used to. But for the other people in my family who have tried to force him to love them, they get angry and frustrated when he doesn't let them pet him. This upsets me a lot because I know that Harry is just trying to protect himself, and he is always showing the signs that he's overstimulated before biting or scratching.

My younger brother (17 years old) in particular loves teasing the cat a lot, and unfortunately when he went to go give Harry a hug tonight,

I love my brother but he and I both understand that if he hadn't teased the cat, he wouldn't have been bitten.

I also overheard him talking to my mom, where she said I "wasn't stupid" and that "if the cat went missing [I would] know it was [because of dad] and [he would] harm [his] relationship with [his] daughter forever."

I moved all of my cat's stuff (litterbox, food, water, scratching posts) to my bedroom for the night to keep him away from my dad in case dad does something to him. Dad has barged in twice to tell me [switching between nearly yelling and crying] that he would never actually hurt my cat, but it's Harry's fault for "not being a pet" and not letting everyone just do what they want to him, regardless of his boundaries. This isn't the first time he's been stubborn about the cat; we have fought about keeping him indoors, feeding him on a schedule, etc, etc. I know he wouldn't hurt him, but I have pretty severe anxiety and still worry that he will.

To make things worse, I thought my mom would understand, but it sounds like she's on my dad's side too. But she did say that I will probably need to just start keeping Harry upstairs from now on and even get a baby gate to keep him upstairs (my dad typically stays downstairs). But unfortunately she said multiple times tonight that we should just take Harry to a shelter and get a new cat, one that's younger. I don't want a new cat. I want my cat. And the idea of me, the only person he has developed a trust with in years (maybe even ever), leaving him at a shelter to die just completely breaks me. He's old, and his chances at being adopted again aren't amazing, especially considering his history. He's sleeping at the foot of my bed right now, 'protecting me,' and the fact that everyone is talking about this around him and he doesn't even know he did anything wrong is hurting me so badly. Like I can't protect him too. The thought of him waking up, expecting another day of love, and instead being put in a carrier to be sent away makes me want to throw up. It's so completely unfair, and I'm just feeling so, so scared, and I can't sleep.

Moving out isn't really an option for me; I've never had a job and I'm pretty dependent on my parents right now. I just feel so guilty. I don't really know what I'm hoping to get out of posting here, but thank you for reading.