Sometimes, being a good neighbor and making your pet happy at the same time can be tricky.

In today’s story, a cat owner shares that an allergic neighbor complained when her cat was exploring their apartment’s hallway… in a pet-friendly building.

Would she be in the wrong to continue letting her cat wander the halls? Or was her neighbor out of line?

Let’s read the whole story.

WIBTAH if I continue allowing my cat to go in the hallway while on leash and under my supervision?

Okay, so I recently moved to a new pet-friendly apartment building with my 9 year old medium-haired cat.

My cat is very well behaved, never uses the bathroom outside of her litter box and doesn’t make any noise or scratch things up.

The lease agreement requires that animals must be supervised and on leash or in a pet carrier while in apartment building common spaces, such as the hallways.

My cat is very skittish, but has recently decided that she would like to explore the hallway for a minute or two in the evenings when there is less foot traffic.

I have a harness and leash for her that she tolerates wearing, and I keep our apartment door propped open so she and I can quickly return to the apartment if she sees another human/gets scared.

But it became an issue for her neighbor.

We were in the hallway together a few nights ago, and she was sitting on the floor of the hallway, just observing, when a neighbor from down at the other end of the hall exited her apartment.

My cat considered running back into our apartment, but felt confident enough in that moment to continue sitting there, so I allowed it.

The neighbor said as they walked toward us “is that a cat?” I said yes and said what my cat’s name is.

The neighbor then said in a harsh tone “I am very allergic to cats“. I said “okay”.

Things got tense really fast.

The neighbor then said “your cat should not be out in the hallway”, again with a harsh tone and frown.

I was a bit taken aback so I just said “Okay” in a polite tone. The neighbor then continued on down the hallway to the elevators, and the interaction was over.

I re-read the lease agreement to ensure that I was not actually breaking any rules and have determined that I was not.

But I am not trying to start a fight with my neighbor or cause any trouble, but I feel nervous about the situation and wanted to hear some alternative perspectives.

WIBTA?

It’s understandable to want to keep the peace, but her allergic neighbor chose a pet-friendly building to live in.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this.

Simple like that.

Exactly.

Another reader chimes in.

Good advice.

Yup.

A sensible comment.

Nobody wants to make others uncomfortable on purpose.

But if her neighbor is so allergic, she should not have moved into a pet-friendly building.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.