"AITA for locking my roommate's cat out of my room at night?"
I am 20 and share a place in Melbourne with two roommates. One of them has a cat named Noodle. He is very sweet during the day. At night he becomes a menace.
Noodle has decided that my room is actually his room. He knows how to push the door open. At three in the morning he sprints inside and jumps on my chest. He knocks my water over. He yells for food even though he has already eaten. I wake up terrified every time.
I am in uni and I also work mornings. I need sleep. I asked my roommate to keep him out of my room at night. She laughed and said that I should feel honoured that he picked me. I do not feel honoured at all.
So I started locking my door before I sleep.
Now Noodle sits outside my door and screams like he is being tortured. My roommate got angry and said I was being cruel to him. She insisted that if I cared about animals I would let him sleep where he wants.
I told her that Noodle is her pet and her responsibility. She said that it is my fault for giving him attention in the first place. I petted the cat that lives with me and now it is apparently my punishment to never have proper sleep again. Last night she said the crying is causing him stress and changing his behaviour. I told her the only real behaviour problem is that she refuses to train him.
Now she is giving me the silent treatment and telling our friends that I hate animals. I do not hate Noodle. I just do not want to be body slammed by a ten kilogram fur missile at three in the morning.
AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
Zygomaticus wrote:
NTA. Cat owner here. Roommate is being very disrespectful. My bestie came to stay with us for a month, he had to sleep in the room my cat loves the most. The first night he acted like he was absolutely dying, like someone was actively stabbing him. Nothing I did would move him on, he cried for hours while I struggled to let my friend have peace (he had earplugs but I didn't know that at the time and felt awful).
No amount of distraction, food, toys, locking him in our room, etc would stop him. He hadn't slept in there for a few days at this point so I hadn't expected that strong a reaction, but this is how it always goes when that room has to be closed - he hates closed doors.
By night 3 he was standing there staring at the door handle like his life depended on it and NOT making noise. I asked my bestie what he did. He told me he growled loudly at him and smacked the door, and he stopped. It's funny because my cat adores my best friend, stuck to him like glue the whole time....I guess he just needed to be told who was in charge?
He also growled at him when he tried to watch him eat (begging enthusiastically) and my cat developed manners he'd not had in many years very suddenly. I didn't even hear the growls, it wasn't aggressive or anything like that just a low grumble (which he'd use every time he was grumpy so not even specifically at the cat ha ha) and moving him to the floor.
TL;DR: The cat will learn it's not his space. It will help to also keep your room closed during the day OP so his scent isn't in there making him feel like it's his room, and he doesn't feel invited in there at any point. I think you should get a doorknob that locks from outside as your roommate is very likely to let him in there when you're out.
I wouldn't trust her. If he scratches thump the floor and growl or say NO! very firmly and DO NOT GIVE IN. Cats will learn they have to push you x far to override your boundaries and you will undo all the work. It may also help to cover the bottom of your door in tin foil loosely (makes them hesitant to scratch it, if it doesn't work flat scrunch it a little), and play soft music to drown him out for your comfort.
SigSauerPower320 wrote:
NTA. You're entitled to a good night sleep. Not trying to be rude, but let this be a lesson for you. While the cat is hers, securing your room is your job. This is something that should have been nipped in the bud in the first night he did that.
Don't let your roommate manipulate you. Not wanting animals in your room while you're trying to sleep doesn't mean you hate cats or are being mean to her cat. She's an ah for not handling this sooner and for making it seem like you're in the wrong.
Garden_Weed_Tender wrote:
NTA. In defense of your roommate, this kind of behavior is extremely difficult to train out of a cat; however, she should absolutely not be pressuring you to let him in your room at night, let alone shame or badmouth you. It's not your responsibility to keep her pet happy.
If she wants her cat to be allowed to sleep wherever he likes, she should get her own place. On a side note, if Noodle really weighs 10kg (rather than it being a figure of speech), he badly needs a diet. Unless he happens to belong to a very large breed (like a Main coon or Norwegian) half that would already count as overweight.
WillNotWorkForDeath wrote:
NTA. I keep my bedroom door shut at night because I have cats AND I need my sleep. They protest first, but give up after they get used to it. If the cat is so stressed this causes it to get sick, the owner needs to deal with it.
If the cat "behaves" during the day but becomes a menace at night, that means it doesn't get enough activation during the day and all that unspent energy is released at night. More play during the day or a playmate (other cat) helps. Giving a roommate the silent treatment does not.