In a roommate situation, it’s generally understood that certain responsibilities are shared by all who live there.
These include keeping the bathroom, kitchen, and living room clean, washing dishes, and restocking paper towels and toilet paper.
However, certain things are not communal responsibilities, but personal responsibilities.
Such as laundry, keeping one’s own bedroom tidy, and caring for pets.
Redditor Commercial_Stick1826 shared an apartment with two roommates.
While the living situation was generally a happy one, things had become tense between the original poster (OP) and one of their roommates.
Well, not so much their roommate, as the roommate’s cat.
Concerned they may not have handled things as well as they could have, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**hole” (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for locking my roommates cat out of my room at night?”
The OP explained why their roommate’s cat had become a point of contention:
“I am 20 and share a place in Melbourne with two roommates.”
“One of them has a cat named Noodle.”
“He is very sweet during the day.”
“At night he becomes a menace.”
“Noodle has decided that my room is actually his room.”
“He knows how to push the door open.”
“At three in the morning he sprints inside and jumps on my chest.”
“He knocks my water over. He yells for food even though he has already eaten.”
“I wake up terrified every time.”
“I am in uni and I also work mornings.”
“I need sleep.”
“I asked my roommate to keep him out of my room at night.”
“She laughed and said that I should feel honoured that he picked me.”
“I do not feel honored at all.”
“So I started locking my door before I sleep.”
“Now Noodle sits outside my door and screams like he is being tortured.”
“My roommate got angry and said I was being cruel to him.”
“She insisted that if I cared about animals I would let him sleep where he wants.”
“I told her that Noodle is her pet and her responsibility.”
“She said that it is my fault for giving him attention in the first place.”
“I petted the cat that lives with me and now it is apparently my punishment to never have proper sleep again.”
“Last night she said the crying is causing him stress and changing his behavior.”
“I told her the only real behavior problem is that she refuses to train him.”
“Now she is giving me the silent treatment and telling our friends that I hate animals.”
“I do not hate Noodle.”
“I just do not want to be body slammed by a ten kilogram fur missile at three in the morning.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community unanimously agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for locking their roommate’s cat out of their room.
Everyone agreed that it was the job of the OP’s roommate, not the OP, to ensure her cat was happy and fed, with some even wondering if she was capable of caring for a pet:
“NTA.”
“I keep my bedroom door shut at night because I have cats AND I need my sleep.”
“They protest first, but give up after they get used to it.”
“If the cat is so stressed this causes it to get sick, the owner needs to deal with it.”
“If the cat ‘behaves’ during the day but becomes a menace at night, that means it doesn’t get enough activation during the day and all that unspent energy is released at night.”
“More play during the day or a playmate (other cat) helps.”
“Giving a roommate the silent treatment does not.”- WillNotWorkForDeath
“NTA.”
“You’re entitled to a good night sleep.”
“Not trying to be rude, but let this be a lesson for you.”
“While the cat is hers, securing your room is your job.”
“This is something that should have been nipped in the bud in the first night he did that.”
“Don’t let your roommate manipulate you.”
“Not wanting animals in your room while you’re trying to sleep doesn’t mean you hate cats or are being mean to her cat.”
“She’s an ah for not handling this sooner and for making it seem like you’re in the wrong.”-SigSauerPower320
“Definitely NTA, it’s her pet and she should not be so entitled.”
“What’s surprising is she allows the cat to sit there and cry while accusing you of hating animals.”
“I’m interested to know the perspective of your other roommate.”- Cultural_You_6089
“10 kilogram fur missile had me spitting out my mocha.”
“I won’t go into the visions which came into my mind.”
“Anyway, I know how you feel. I’ve had this exact problem and locked the cat out of my room at nights too.”
“The difference here is that the owner of the cat understood and tried to do something about it.”
“Unfortunately we just ended up getting a cat bed and putting it outside my room as she wouldn’t sleep anywhere else at night.”
“The upside is that she did stop wailing all night at least.”
“Maybe my bias talking but NTA. I think your roommate is quite out of order for how she’s going about this.”
“She really should do something about her cat.”
“Not everyone wants to sleep with a cat in their room and you pay for your personal space.”-Uubilicious_The_Wise
“NTA.”
“I’m an animal lover but if I had a cat and roommates, it’d be my responsibility.”
“Is she going to pay your security deposit if the cat destroys the place?”
“Or replace any broken or damaged furniture as a result of the cat launching, scratching etc?”
“I think you need to have a sit down chat.”
“She needs to stop bad mouthing you and deal with the energetic kitty at night in her own room (probably why she was delighted to have the cat come join you so she didn’t have to deal with it!).”-makemashnotwar
“NTA.”
“I am not a cat person and woke up once with a cat literally on my face.”
“Locks are good.”- ServelanDarrow
“NTA.”
“You can be kind and respectful to Noodle without sleeping with him.”- KingQueerdo
“NTA.”
“But your roommate is.”- Dry_Chemistry3113
“NTA.”
“I love cats, but you are entitled to a good night’s sleep.”
“It’s your roommates responsibility to train and handle Noodle (what a lovely name, by the way, I love it).”- IllustriousSyzygy
“NTA.”
“I kick my cats out of my room when they’re being bad.”
“I wake up at 3:45 every week day for my job, I adore my babies but I absolutely need my sleep.”
“They don’t cry at my door or act a fool because they have been taught that when I set them free they can play all over the house and it’s no issue.”
“I also have 5 cats so they’re never bored or lonely.”
“You are not responsible for her animal.”- PerspectiveDry9601
“You’re NTA.”
“The cat is pestering you at an ungodly hour.”
“You have a right to your sleep.”
“She insisted that if I cared about animals I would let him sleep where he wants.”
“Easy for her to say when the cat isn’t startling her awake.”
“I suggest you slip into her room and spray her bed with a some catnip.”
“Hell, make a path from the hallway and across her floor.”
“Let her see how she likes her cat invading her room.”- Dittoheadforever
“NTA.”
“In defense of your roommate, this kind of behavior is extremely difficult to train out of a cat; however, she should absolutely not be pressuring you to let him in your room at night, let alone shame or badmouth you.”
“It’s not your responsibility to keep her pet happy.”
“If she wants her cat to be allowed to sleep wherever he likes, she should get her own place.”
“On a side note, if Noodle really weighs 10kg (rather than it being a figure of speech), he badly needs a diet.”
“Unless he happens to belong to a very large breed (like a Main coon or Norwegian) half that would already count as overweight.”- Garden_Weed_Tender
“NTA your roommate needs to be a better pet owner and deal with its distress, not foist the problem off on you.”
“Maybe get earplugs for now and let her suffer on her own?”-Vegetable-County-905
“NTA at all.”
“It is entirely up to you to close your door.”
“Whatever she says has no relevance whatsoever.”- GlassCommercial7105
“NTA.”
“I am a crazy cat lady and completely agree – cats are absolutely crazy menaces during nighttime hours.”
“The meowing, the scratching, the zoomies, the sneak attacks.”
“It is very entitled of her to expect you to appreciate and tolerate this behavior when it is not your cat.”
“You have set a boundary, and she should respect that.”
“Ideally, she should keep the cat in her room at night if he is being disruptive to others.”
“It is just silly to say that the cat’s behaviour is changing and that you’re hateful – that is complete BS.”
“The cat would not give a f*ck, I promise you.”
“And you are not being hateful to a cat just because you don’t want to be woken by crazy cat time at night.”
“Keep your boundary – Keep locking your door.”
“Wear earplugs (it really helps, trust me). You could also put a barrier up outside your door at night so the cat cannot scratch the door.”
“And advise her that you do not accept her statements, that you love the cat during the day, and that’s fine, but you have the right to a good sleep in your bedroom.”
“If she keeps pushing it, just keep reminding her of this boundary.”- NonsenseText
It would be one thing if this cat were everybody’s pet, that everyone agreed to care for.
That isn’t the case, however, as the cat belongs to no one other than the OP’s roommate.
As such, she is the only one who should be concerned with his safety, health, and well-being.
And should also be making sure he isn’t waking the OP up in the middle of the night.