Asking a friend to take in your pet is a big ask on a good day, but asking them to do it last minute while they’re living in a tiny studio on a stretched budget can feel pretty impossible.

This woman’s coworker decided to move out of state for a new relationship and needed someone to take her anxious, high-needs cat.

The woman said she’d try to make it work but was upfront about her financial limitations from the start.

So when she finally confirmed she couldn’t swing it, her friend erupted on the phone and hung up.

Read on to find out how it played out.

AITAH for not taking a friend’s cat in?

I (23F) have a friend/coworker (33F) who last minute decided she was going to move out of state to move in with an old friend that she found a relationship in after starting to hook up in late March.

But before leaving, her friend had a pretty big request for her.

My friend asked me to take in her cat (6-year-old with a lot of anxiety and some history of bowel issues) last month.

I let her know that this would ultimately be dependent on me being able to get the kitty as an ESA, as my finances are already stretched incredibly thin living close to downtown in a small studio.

She figured maybe her therapist could help her out, but turns out, there were more hoops she needed to jump through.

I’ll be honest, I continually forgot to ask my therapist about it since I’m processing a breakup and my parents getting divorced later in life.

I finally asked my therapist today, and she let me know that she can’t personally sign off for an ESA but that she could recommend me places where I can get one out-of-pocket for about $150-200.

So finally she decides her friend’s request was just too much to ask.

I called my friend to let her know I’m not in a position to take kitty given my own financial circumstances and the timeline of her moving out within the next few weeks.

But her friend wasn’t understanding at all of her situation.

My friend expressed being very angry and frustrated that she had asked me “ages ago” and it took me this long to check in on it, and that she hadn’t made any backup plans for kitty.

She angrily hung up the phone and said she’d see me tomorrow at work.

I feel like I’m kind of the AH in the sense that I wasn’t on top of asking sooner.

She also feels a little annoyed with her friends behavior.

On the other hand, is it fair that she relied entirely on me being able to take in kitty?

I feel like a jerk, but I can’t afford to take in a new pet within a few weeks and I wouldn’t feel good about it.

At the same time, I could’ve planned earlier and asked about it and said something sooner.

Idk, AITAH? I feel bad…

Her friend’s lack of planning shouldn’t mean a last-minute emergency for her.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who was stunned when her friends finally admitted the reason for their falling out.

What did Reddit have to say?

Believe it or not, true friends don’t act like this.

Pets can be incredibly expensive, especially a pet with several pre-existing health conditions.

Since this person already has money problems, accepting this cat would be a terrible idea.

Doesn’t this friend want her cat to go to a loving home?

This woman was honest about her situation from the start and kept being honest right up until the phone call that ended with a hang-up.

Her coworker moved fast on a new relationship, made a big life decision, and assumed the cat logistics would fall into place around a conditional offer from a financially stretched friend. They didn’t.

The anger on that phone call was really frustration about a plan that was never solid to begin with.

At the end of the day, this woman isn’t responsible for a cat she never confirmed she could take.

The cat deserves a real plan. She just isn’t it.