It starts as a simple favor: a neighbor asks you to watch their pet, and you say OK. What could go wrong?

Let this story be your cautionary tail… not all favors are that simple. When a woman takes responsibility for her neighbor’s cat, it’s supposed to be temporary. But then things get hairy.

Read on to see why this wasn’t a purr-fect situation.

AITA: Rehoming Neighbor’s Cat

I need to give some background before I share my current situation. For the past six months, I’ve been caring for my mother-in-law.

During this time, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Dementia. She is now severely impaired because of it.

That’s a tough load to carry. What else is on this woman’s plate?

We’re also in the process of moving due to my husband’s military orders, and since he’s currently away at a school, I’ve been managing everything at home on my own.

Last month, my neighbor asked if I could take in their 6-year-old cat because she wasn’t doing well in their home. Poor thing was over-grooming to the point that half her body was bald.

Aw, poor kitty. Will this obliging neighbor be able to rehabilitate her?

I told them I could take her temporarily since my husband was away, but I wasn’t sure we would be her forever home.

Since then, I’ve had her spayed and fully vetted (she had never been to the vet before). Her hair is now growing back beautifully. We also found out she was allergic to the cheap flea treatment they had given her.

What meow-y news. Seems like this cat is thriving. But will it last?

However, things have gotten complicated.

My MIL has started hallucinating and wandering. I had to install curtains over our doors to prevent her from leaving in the middle of the night.

The cat constantly climbs the curtains and has pulled them down more than once.

She also kneads like many cats do, and while it’s harmless for most, it causes scratches on my MIL, who isn’t able to push her away.

Uh-oh. Bad case of cat scratch fever. What’s OP to do?

We recently had to start antibiotics due to a particularly nasty scratch being infected. This weekend, my MIL stumbled over the cat and fell.

That was the last straw, and I started looking for a new home for her. She’s a great kitty but my MIL being comfortable in her end of life is more important.

I met with a wonderful family today and they adopted her.

That’s a happy ending, it seems. But will the neighbor be OK with it?

Now my neighbor is furious.

She said that if I didn’t want the cat, I should’ve told her or given her back. I was basically berated for rehoming the cat. I did tell her in the beginning there could be a possibility that I rehoused her.

So now I’m wondering—AITA? Was I truly in the wrong here?

Nope, not OK. How would you feel in this situation? Purr-fect or hissy?

Let’s check the comments’ responses.

This person says, NTA but context needed.

Someone else is like, a heads up woulda been nice.

One user is like, sounds like the neighbors suck but info needed.

This poster is like, why didn’t you just talk to the neighbor??

And someone else says, finders, keepers.

Nine lives? How about nine homes?

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.