'WIBTAH if I continue allowing my cat to go in the hallway while on a leash and under my supervision?'

"WIBTAH if I continue allowing my cat to go in the hallway while on a leash and under my supervision?"

Okay, so I recently moved to a new pet-friendly apartment building with my 9yo medium-haired cat. My cat is very well behaved, never uses the bathroom outside of her litter box and doesn’t make any noise or scratch things up. The lease agreement requires that animals must be supervised and on leash or in a pet carrier while in apartment building common spaces, such as the hallways.

My cat is very skittish, but has recently decided that she would like to explore the hallway for a minute or two in the evenings when there is less foot traffic. I have a harness and leash for her that she tolerates wearing, and I keep our apartment door propped open so she and I can quickly return to the apartment if she sees another human/gets scared.

We were in the hallway together a few nights ago, and she was sitting on the floor of the hallway, just observing, when a neighbor from down at the other end of the hall exited her apartment. My cat considered running back into our apartment, but felt confident enough in that moment to continue sitting there, so I allowed it.

The neighbor said as they walked toward us “is that a cat?” I said yes and said what my cat’s name is. The neighbor then said in a harsh tone “I am very allergic to cats“. I said “okay." The neighbor then said “your cat should not be out in the hallway," again with a harsh tone and frown.

I was a bit taken aback so I just said “Okay” in a polite tone. The neighbor then continued on down the hallway to the elevators, and the interaction was over. I re-read the lease agreement to ensure that I was not actually breaking any rules and have determined that I was not, and so I am wondering...

Would I be the ahole for continuing to allow my cat to explore the hallway while on a leash with me supervising? I am not trying to start a fight with my neighbor or cause any trouble, but I feel nervous about the situation and wanted to hear some alternative perspectives.

Here's what people had to say to OP:

PoetLocksmith said:

NTA. You're following the rules. It's odd that some who's very allergic to a super common house pet would live in an apartment building that could easily lead to exposure.

Adorable_Click9074 said:

NTA. You are doing everything right. If your neighbor is so allergic, she should not have moved into a pet-friendly apartment building.

silvercrayons said:

NTA. Maybe she should move if her allergy is that severe. She doesn't have any say over leashed pets in common spaces, only the apartment complex does. I would email the front desk just to get clarification of rules and to get ahead of it in case she decides to raise a stink.

Outrageous_Lab375 said:

NTA-it's not like you were trying to force her to hold your cat. I'm sorry she's allergic, but like others have said, she knew it was a pet friendly building when she moved in. Keep doing what you're doing, and if she comes out again, just head back into your place until she leaves.

Broken-Ice-Cube said:

NTA. People who don't want to be around any type of pet shouldn't move into pet friendly apartments.

Inevitable-Spirit491 said:

NTA - Cat allergies aren’t like peanut allergies. The neighbor isn’t going to go into anaphylactic shock from being in the same hallway as your cat. If they were, they’d already be in trouble from the level of cat dander in the building.

Might be worth confirming your understanding of the lease with your landlord/property manager. That will be helpful if they try to confront you again or try to escalate with management.