Having roommates often means being there to offer support during certain situations, such as when they take a trip and need you to watch their pet. But most people wouldn’t like feeling taken for granted, even if they were in a situation such as the one from this story.

A nurse shares a house with her roommate who is also her landlord. The thing is, her job is already demanding enough, but her roommate/landlord expects her to take care of their five cats as well. Even when she’s home. She doesn’t even particularly like cats.

The situation has become even more complicated because of a family situation, and now she’s considering asking for compensation for being their in-house catsitter.

Read the full story below.

WIBTA if I stopped taking care of my roommate’s cats?

I rent a room in a house and live with my friend and her dad.

Her dad genuinely is an ******* and refuses to help with any household chores.

He’s retired and just stays in his room. He has his own cat but my friend and I are often the ones feeding and taking care of it.

My friend has four cats.

I don’t have any nor would I ever want any. Whenever she’s away visiting family for a few days at a time, she asks if I can feed her cats and clean the litter box.

But it’s harder than it sounds.

I tell her I can, it’s not a problem except her grandma has been really sick and she’s been away from home for a few days each week lately.

It is a hassle for me because I work 13-hour shifts back to back, and commute an hour one way.

So I get home, feed all 5 cats and clean all the litter boxes and put out dry food and water, then shower and go straight to bed so I can get enough sleep before having to leave again.

And even when my friend is home, I often feed all of them after I get back from work anyway because they start crying super loudly right when I open the front door at 7am and my friend doesn’t wake up until like 10-11am.

It’s getting very tiring.

Would I be the ******* if I just didn’t feed them when she’s home and ignore their loud and annoying crying?

It’s not like I’m getting compensated in any way or paying any less in rent.

She is the landlord and she used to have a cat sitter but stopped having her come when I moved in 6 months ago.

But she’s on the fence.

This is only a temporary housing situation for me so I know I won’t be here much longer and I do feel bad that her grandma is probably dying so she’s not home to take care of them as often as she normally would, but I’d be more inclined and less bitter if there was any appreciation or compensation.

I work overtime as a nurse and drive a lot for work. I’m exhausted and truthfully don’t even like cats very much.

WIBTA?

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about someone who asked their neighbor to move their fence off their property, then learned the neighbor was trying to claim their land as theirs instead.

What did Reddit think?

A reader shares their thoughts.

An idea.

Yup.

Another commenter adds to the conversation.

Something to consider.

Helping a friend during a difficult time is one thing, but becoming an unpaid pet sitter indefinitely is not fair. I mean, they clearly replaced the one they had with her.

She acknowledges that her roommate has been spending a lot of time away from home because her grandmother is seriously ill, but it’s just really tiring for her to have another responsibility besides her very demanding job as a nurse. She says she often ends up feeding the cats even when her roommate is home. Wow.

But at the same time, refusing to help altogether could create tension that she can’t afford right now, especially given her roommate’s current family circumstances.

Her roommate also being her landlord doesn’t help.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who walked away from their lease after the landlord hassled them over renting month-to-month.