Delusional And Entitled Woman Expects Host To Prioritize Her Cat's Over Baby's Safety

"SIL comes screaming into the room that I should have been watching the cat."

Damjan

• Published in Animal Stories
• September 3, 2023

When family and pets share living space, clashes are almost inevitable. One Reddit user found herself at the center of such a conflict, accused of not saving her sister-in-law's cat even when clear household rules were in place.

OP's sister-in-law is staying with them for a few weeks, and she's brought her cat along. Now, while OP is an animal lover, the sister-in-law has been somewhat disregarding the house rules, especially those concerning her pet.

She allows her cat into the kitchen, an explicit no-go zone, and gives her pet free rein to follow her around the house. At one point, she even scolded her own brother (OP's husband) for stepping over the cat on the stairs.

One day, OP took her toddler into her bedroom for a diaper change, another area of the house declared off-limits for the cat. During the change, with her back to an open window, the cat decided to make a bold leap outside.

Hearing her sister-in-law's shrieks, OP turned to find the woman accusing her of negligence towards the cat. However, it should be noted that the feline landed safely on a neighboring wall and subsequently returned to the garden.

After the incident, the sister-in-law's attitude turned frosty. She seemed to believe that OP should have abandoned her baby mid-diaper change to prevent the cat from leaping out the window—a cat that, it bears repeating, was not even supposed to be in the room to begin with.

Is OP the bad guy in this story? When balancing responsibilities, is it fair to prioritize one's own child and household rules over a guest's pet?

OP asks:

OP's sister-in-law is staying with them for a few weeks, and she's brought her cat along.

One day, OP took her toddler into her bedroom for a diaper change, another area of the house declared off-limits for the cat. During the change, with her back to an open window, the cat decided to make a bold leap outside.

OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the a-hole:

Sounds like a really bad house guest

She isn't being responsible with her cat, so why is she expecting others to be?

This Redditor is sarcastic, but they may be onto something here:

OP has a baby to watch, and that is her priority

OP did not agree to cat sit

"She can bring her entitlement and her cat to a hotel."

"What were you supposed to do?"

The bottom line is:

When balancing responsibilities, is it fair to prioritize one's own child and household rules over a guest's pet? One could argue that while it is courteous to accommodate guests, this shouldn't extend to compromising one's own standards, especially when it involves child safety.

It's also essential to remember that the sister-in-law, as a guest, should respect the rules of the house she's staying in. Her cat jumping out of a window in a room it wasn't allowed in seems to be a consequence of her own failure to observe house rules, rather than any negligence on OP's part.

Damjan