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Family favors have a sneaky way of becoming family expectations.

A woman with severe cat allergies had spent her whole life around her mom’s cats, and she’d been in and out of urgent care for breathing treatments as a kid.

But despite her health struggles, her demanding mom still asked her to feed seven cats, three times a day, whenever she was out of town.

So after her toddler developed red, itchy eyes and weeks of congestion following a visit, she told her mom she was done.

She knows she upset her, but she just couldn’t go on any longer. Now she’s asking if she’s in the wrong.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for telling my mom I cannot watch her 7 cats anymore?

I want to start this off by stating that I AM ALLERGIC TO CATS.

These reactions are pretty serious.

My throat itches, I wheeze, and I have 2 different inhalers for if I come into contact with them. My face swells up, and there was a time when my tongue swelled.

So lately she set a strong boundary with her mother.

Although my interactions with cats are not always the worst case every time, I told my mom I can no longer watch/feed her cats when she’s gone.

She has me go to the house 3x a day to SEVEN cats.

Now she has a small child to worry about too.

My almost two-year-old is showing signs of being allergic to them as well. He gets red, itchy eyes and was congested for weeks after going over to her house.

This is all part of a larger pattern she’s dealt with for years.

My husband urged me to stand up for myself, as this has been my whole life. My mom has always had at least 2 cats where I lived, and I was in and out of urgent care for breathing treatments.

I told her last night, and I just know I made her upset.

Whenever she disappoints her mom, it turns into a whole thing.

Feeding the cats isn’t the issue.

My having to deal with the aftermath is the issue. And I feel like I’m in the wrong for telling her no, I need to stop.

She deserves to prioritize her health and the health of her child.

What did Reddit have to say?

This really wasn’t a reasonable expectation on her mom’s part.

This commenter calls it what it is: just plain selfish.

You can’t make everyone happy in life.

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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who feels hoodwinked after finding out the sick father she’s been supporting has plenty of money of his own.

Her mother may be downplaying it, but this is actually a huge deal.

This woman spent decades being the family’s designated cat sitter at the expense of her own lungs, and the first time she said no, she felt like she’d committed a crime.

A person with two inhalers and a history of swelling doesn’t need to defend herself, and a toddler already showing symptoms settles any lingering doubt.

Her mom’s disappointment is understandable, but disappointment is much easier to recover from than an emergency room visit. Seven cats is a lot of animal for anyone to ask a relative to manage three times a day.

Some favors have an expiration date, and this one just hit it.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.