'AITA for refusing to pay my roommate for vet bills after her cat ate my toxic plants?' UPDATED

"AITA for refusing to pay my roommate for vet bills?"

Background: I rent a room in a house shared by 4 people. We’re all college students and didn’t know each other prior to renting(we each pay rent to the landlord separately.) I’ve lived here for a little over 2 years now and have definitely become friends with my roommates.

Last year, one of them decided to get a cat. We were all fine with it and the landlord didn’t care, so she adopted a sweet little guy from the humane society. I’ve never been a huge cat-person, but sometimes I’d feed/play with him if she wanted to leave for a few days.

We all have a friendly relationship, but I wouldn’t say we’re close. Also relevant, I love plants and have quite a collection of beautiful house plants. When she got the cat, I moved them all to my room and make sure to keep my doors closed because some of them are toxic to animals.

On to the story: A few days ago, I went to work-I’m a receptionist at a medical office and am the only one in my house that still physically has to go to work every day. When I came home, the entire house was in a state of panic.

One of my other roommates had gone into my room to borrow a pair of scissors and accidentally left my door open. At some point, the cat walked into my room, chewed on my pothos and got really sick. He was taken to the vet and is currently recovering and is doing just fine.

My roommate now wants to charge me for the vet bill because my plants made her cat sick. Although yes, I did know that they were toxic to animals, I’ve had some of these plants for years and wasn’t going to get rid of them because she wanted to bring a cat into our home. I told her that it’s unreasonable to blame me for HER pet going into MY room. I took precautions by always closing my door.

I told her that if she wanted to blame anyone, it should be our other roommate who left the door open. Now she’s mad at me for ‘getting her cat sick’ and my roommate is mad at me for blaming them. AITA?

EDIT: Something that a few people have asked about- I used to have the plants around the house. I moved them into my room when she got the cat and let everyone know that we needed to be careful about my door because the plants could make him sick. My roommates are all aware that my plants are potentially dangerous if consumed by animals.

Also, I’m not mad that my roommate went into my room. We all share some things and are okay with each other borrowing stuff, for example scissors, nail polish remover, tape, sticky notes, etc.

What do you think? AITA? This is what top commenters had to say:

[deleted] said:

NTA. Whoever left the door open should be paying the bill.

mmac21 said:

Disagree. Owner of the cat should pay the bill. That’s what you sign up for when you get a pet. OP definitely NTA though

soukeyed said:

NTA. Your roommate got the cat knowing you already owned toxic house plants. You did the right thing and moved them into your room away from the cat. Is the cat is solely hers even though you all take part in playing/minimal care?

If so, she (because it is her cat) should split the bill with your other roommate who left the door open. If you were hoping to keep the peace, I'd offer to get a lock for the door but I would not pay that bill. Good luck!

OP responded:

The cat is solely hers. I’d like to keep the peace, but we’re not able to make any changes to the house. It does have a lock, but it’s a slide lock that only works from the inside.

njax74 said:

NAH. Everyone is upset because the cat is sick. You shut your door because you know the plants make the cat sick. The owner didn’t open the door for the cat to sneak in, the other roommate made a mistake. They both should split the cost of the vet bill as they are both responsible.

knifewrenchhh said:

NTA you’ve done exactly what you should to protect her cat, and your other roommate shouldn’t have gone in your room in the first place. If she wants help with the bills, that’s on the roommate who invaded your privacy.

And

my_chaffed_legs said:

NTA really this is just an accident that no one should be morally responsible for. If anyone is to blame then yes it would be the person who left your door open and if the cat's owner was home at the time then she could also be responsible because she could have noticed your door was open and/or that her cat was in someone else's room which contains toxic plants.

But leaving a door open is a common mistake that anyone could do so no one should hold the cats sickness over their head and be hard on themselves about it. And at the end of the day I think the pet's owner is financially responsible for the vet visit and treatment in this case.

If the person who left the door open wanted to pitch in a little bit of money to help out as they did have some fault in what happened then great, but really it was a common mistake and no one should be blamed and therefore it's the owners responsibility to pay for their pets health expenses. And you are definitely not to blame or responsible financially.

UPDATE:

Things have calmed down a bit in my house! The cat is doing really well and is making a full recovery. My roommates and I had a talk and I apologized for shifting the blame onto scissor borrower.

I pointed out that if he had jumped up onto the counter and eaten some garlic or something, that it wouldn’t be fair to bill the person who just wanted some delicious pasta. Cat Owner’s parents are helping them out with the bill and she’s in the process of starting pet insurance.

I offered to buy some cat grass for our house -grass specifically made to be okay for cats. It is supposed to deter them from going after other plants. It seems to be a happy solution for everyone.

A few of you mentioned getting a lock- the house I live in was built in 1902 and the door handles are original. I’m not going to be the one to accidentally break one because they can’t be replaced.

A few also asked why I wouldn’t get rid of my plants - I love them. I’ve had them for a while and keeping them is a hobby of mine. House plants can also be pretty expensive. Our lease ends in a few months anyway so I’m definitely not going to get rid of a few hundred dollars worth of plants to have to start from scratch in September.