One man thought housesitting for his friend was a great way to lend a hand.

That is, until the friend forgot to mention one small detail.

The friend had gotten a cat and neglected to mention it, knowing he was allergic.

The two are left at a standstill, leaving him wondering how far he’s expected to go to help out a friend.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for refusing to house-sit for my friend after I found out they got a cat?

I (28M) agreed to house-sit for my friend Alex (30M) while they went on a week-long vacation.

At first, he was all for helping out his friend.

Alex has a dog that I’ve always loved, and I thought it would be nice to help them out.

I even took some time off work to make sure I could give the dog plenty of attention.

A few days before Alex left, I went over to get the house keys and a rundown of what needed to be done.

It was then Alex sprung some unexpected information on him.

That’s when Alex casually mentioned, “Oh, by the way, we got a cat!”

This caught me off guard because I’m very allergic to cats.

Alex knows this — I’ve had to leave gatherings early before because of my allergies.

He wonders why this is coming up just now.

I asked why they hadn’t told me earlier, and Alex said they forgot because they’d only had the cat for about a month.

Knowing his limits, he set a boundary with Alex.

I told Alex I couldn’t stay in their house if they had a cat.

Even if I avoided it, the dander would still trigger my allergies.

I suggested they ask someone else or hire a sitter.

But Alex wasn’t exactly understanding.

Alex got defensive, saying I was leaving them in a lurch right before their trip.

I felt bad, but I didn’t think it was fair for Alex to spring this on me last minute.

He tried to make a compromise, but for Alex, it was all or nothing.

I offered to check in on the dog daily (if they could isolate the cat in another room), but Alex said that wouldn’t work.

They ended up scrambling to find someone else and left for their trip angry at me.

Now the rest of his friends are peeved at him too.

A mutual friend later told me I should’ve sucked it up for a week because Alex really needed the break and probably just forgot to mention the cat.

I’m starting to feel like I might’ve overreacted.

AITA?

What was he supposed to do – have an allergic reaction?

What did Reddit think?

His friend lacks serious empathy for guilting him over this.

This commenter doesn’t buy Alex’s story for one second.

Alex is asking for way too much.

Following through with the housesitting gig wouldn’t just be inconvenient – it could be dangerous.

Ultimately, friendship and loyalty just can’t overtake the power of allergies.

Sometimes you just have to put yourself first.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.