Many pet owners treat their pets as if they were their children.
As well they should, as pets require an endless amount of love and attention, and should only be housed with pet-parents that can provide that.
However, not everyone views animals as if they were human children.
In fact, some people would rather avoid pets, be they dogs, cats, fish, or lizards, at all costs.
A concept that truly devoted pet owners can’t always comprehend.
Redditor Even_Editor4559 initially enjoyed having her roommate’s cat share their living space.
Until the original poster (OP) came home to discover her roommate’s cat invaded her room, leaving their mark behind them.
While the OP’s roommate made an effort to make amends, the OP stood firm in enacting some new boundaries regarding her roommate’s cat.
After being called “heartless” by her roommate for doing this, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**Hole” (AITA), where she asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for refusing to let my roommate’s cat into my room after it ‘apologized’?”
The OP explained why she made her room off-limits to her roommate’s cat, and why she remained unswayed by her roommates efforts to make things right:
“I (27 F[emale]) share an apartment with my roommate, Lily (26 F), who has a cat named Muffin.”
“Muffin is adorable but has a habit of sneaking into my room and knocking things over.”
“Last week, I came home to find Muffin had somehow gotten in and destroyed a puzzle I had spent hours working on.”
“Pieces were scattered everywhere, some were chewed up, and one was lost entirely.”
“I was furious.”
“I told Lily that Muffin needed to stay out of my room, and she agreed, but she also said Muffin felt bad and wanted to apologize.”
“I laughed it off, assuming she was joking.”
“The next day, I found a little note on my desk written in Lily’s handwriting that said, ‘I’m sowwy – Muffin’.”
“Along with it was a cat treat.”
“I thought it was funny but didn’t change my stance.”
“Since then, Lily has been passive-aggressively saying things like, ‘Muffin’s just trying to make things right,’ or ‘You’re holding a grudge against a cat’.”
“She even suggested that I let Muffin into my room supervised so she can ‘earn back my trust’.”
“I told her no and that I wasn’t interested in giving her cat another chance to destroy my stuff.”
“Now she’s calling me heartless for not accepting Muffin’s ‘apology’ and is acting like I’m being unreasonable.”
“AITA here?”
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 overwhelmingly agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for banning Muffin from her room.
While many did find the apology note Lily left pretending to be Muffin cute, it still didn’t make up for Muffin destroying the OP’s property, and if she wanted Muffin to stay out of her room, that was her right:
“‘Find’ a new letter from Muffin in which she denounces the previous letter as fake, boasts over her lack of remorse, and vows to do it again.”
“Confront Lily with it. If Lily persists, keep ‘finding’ increasingly sketchy letters from Muffin as she steadily broadens her nefarious ambitions.”
“Really commit to the scenario.”
“Out-crazy-catperson her.”
“Obviously NTA.”
“I love cats (username checks out) but they are unapologetic little gremlins that do what they want.”
“If you don’t want Muffin in your room then there is zero valid reason for Lily to keep demanding she have access to it.”
“That said, you could have a lot of fun with this if you wanted to.”- InfinityFelinity
“NTA.”
“Your roommate needs to grow up, not everyone want their roommate’s pet’s hair in their room.”
“Lock your door so the cat can’t ‘accidentally’ get in again.”
“Your room is YOUR space, not a common area.”- aikigrl
“NTA.”
“Muffin doesn’t feel bad, she’s a cat.”
“Her owner isn’t being respectful of your room and belongings.”- WhatanAsh
“This would be cute if it was a joke.”
“I always get my mom a holiday card from her dog and it’s a silly thing we do.”
“Your roommate is over the top.”
“NTA.”- LowBalance4404
“NTA.”
“You don’t have a cat.”
“She does.”
“It’s reasonable for you to not want her cat in your room.”
“And her anthropomorphizing him to try and get her way is just weird?”
“I promise Muffin doesn’t give a F*CK about ruining your puzzle, and won’t care about your other stuff either.”
“A cat can’t apologize for that.”- LostMyKeysInTheFade
“NTA.”
“The note is cute and the sentiment is sweet, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that the cat did destroy your things.”
“There are two facts about cats that I know to be true: cats are liquid, and cats are a**holes.”
“And the second is what will lead to more stuff being destroyed if you allowed Muffin back in.”
“It’s your room, and if you don’t want the cat in there, that’s your right.”
“And I hope your roommate will come to accept that.”- SweetAshori
“NTA.”
“As a cat lover, if the cat was destructive once, it will likely do it again and because it is not your cat, there is no reason for you to cat proof your room, just because the cat owner wants you to.”
“Also, tell your roommate you are tired of her stupid little childish imagination of a cat apology.”
“Cats honestly DGAF and that is one of the reasons I love about them.”- ShipComprehensive543
“I’m a crazy cat lady and even I found this stupid.”
“NTA.”- DoubleOccasion4126
“NTA I have 3 cats that love.”
“You know what I don’t do…let them in the bedroom where special and breakable stuff is.”
“She’s being ridiculous.”- MisfitIncarnate
“NTA, your roommate insane lmao the note from the cat sent me rolling!”
“From the title I thought it was like the cat sat on you and purred after.”- CanIseeYourBoobsPlzz
“NTA.”
“Your roommate is nuts.”
“The note is a cute gesture that with the kitty treat and a real apology from it’s owner servant and a replacement puzzle and promises of trying to ensure her cat doesn’t go in your room would have been what ‘normal’ cat lady would do.”
“Nutso ones think that a note is enough and refuse to believe that 1. Cats are AH.”
“And 2. Their fields of s(f)*cks are empty.”
“3. They aren’t slaves to the cats.”
“Trust me cats are adorable little dictators.”- snowpixiemn
“NTA.”
“I have no tolerance for anthropomorphizing.”- StAlvis
“NTA.”
“I have a cat and I love him.”
I have a working room, where the cat is simply not allowed.”
“He is a nice, gentle cat, who is usually showing limited intest in destroying things, and prefers sleeping to playing (he is 10 years old).”
“That said, he can be playful, and he can knock things over.”
“So I do not do risks.”- Edelgul
“Wtf.”
“It’s your room.”
“Why does the cat need access to the entire place.”
“She’s not your freaking cat!”
“She doesn’t need to be in your room!”
“Doesn’t matter why you’re not budging on this.”
“No means no!”
“I’ve got nothing against people loving animals and thinking of them so highly.”
“But in this situation, that’s her buzz, not yours.”
“I wouldn’t even force my own children to allow an animal into their room if they’re not comfortable with it.”
“WTF would a cat need to be in your room over every other area anyway honestly..”
“I’d be asking her why is this so important.”
“It’s one room, my personal space with my personal belongings.”
“I’m not treating your cat any differently, I’m not bullying her etc.”
“I just want my space to be just that, my space.”
“NTA!”- NettyKing89
“NTA.”
“Muffin stays out of your personal space.”
“Your roommate needs to get a grip and grow up.”- Antelope_31
“NTA as a cat owner this is a perfectly reasonable and boundary.”- User43217
“NTA.”
“My cats have destroyed a lot of my stuff; it’s okay because I love them.”
“I chose to have them.”
“You didn’t choose to have a cat.”
“I think you should be respected and not let her cat in your room.”- DanaMarie75038
“NTA.”
“Geez, some people go way overboard with that stuff.”- Agile-Entry-5603
“NTA.”
“I don’t even let my own cats in my room because they break things in there.”
“All my valuable ornaments are in there so they don’t break them.”
“You’re not holding a grudge against a cat, you’re protecting your property from being damaged or destroyed.”
“The cat doesn’t understand it did something wrong so it won’t understand that it shouldn’t do it again and will absolutely do it again.”- Xavius20
One has to give credit to Lily for at least having the imagination to come up with Muffin writing an apology note.
That being said, Muffin didn’t write that note, and isn’t aware of what they did, meaning there is no guarantee that the same sort of thing won’t happen again.
Hence why the OP doesn’t want Muffin to have access to her room, as is her right…