to have refused to pay?

[Helenagrace]

Yesterday I found a cat in my house. I must have left the door open while taking some shopping in. Cats give me the creeps so I asked my neighbour (a cat lover) to get the cat out of the house for me as it was in my daughter's bedroom and wouldn't come out from under the bed.

It turned out to be one of her cats. It had its front paw stuck through its collar and it seemed to be distressed. She took the cat away. I can't imagine what the cat could have injured itself on in my house.

This morning she has turned up at my door with a bill from the vet for £60 which she thinks I should pay. Apparently the cat needed a check up as it now has a shoulder injury. She thinks that I should pay because the "cat obviously couldn't have got into the house in that state so it must have had an accident in my house".

I have refused to pay. It's her cat so the vet's bill is her problem. She thinks I am being completely unreasonable and apparently intends to sue me - according to the very gossipy neighbour over the road who just happened to pop over while I was bringing the bin in because she was watching her window waiting for me to leave my house because she has a juicy titbit of gossip to impart.

So mumsnet jury AIBU?

Say exactly this to her....

"Neighbour, You can run right up my humph"

Tell her that this is why the RSPCA say that cats should not wear collars. The amount of collar injuries is quite large. She chose for whatever reason to ignore the advice so that's the risk she takes.

YANBU, that's ridiculous. Even if the cat did get accidentally injured in your house, that's hardly your fault, especially as it wasn't supposed to be there anyway!

I hope the poor cat is OK, but it's definitely not your responsibility to pay for anything!

YANBU and I have 3 cats myself. Is she claiming that you stuck the cat's paw through its collar? No? Well then. It's her fault that she did not buy proper easy-opening collars that would snap open in case the paw was stuck there. Random collars are very dangerous to cats as they can easily get stuck somewhere and hang the cat.

even if she could prove that the cat injured itself in your house (and i can't see how) surely she would have to prove that you were negligent in some way. if someone fell down your stairs and hurt their ankle i don't think they could sue you unless the carpet was lose/banister broken.

And another - YANBU - agree, threaten her with a carpet cleaning bill. Cheeky mare. (This is, obviously, assuming you didn't actually injure the cat)

WTF ?! YADNBU. Your neighbour is a nutter.

If anyone posts anything other than YANBU on this thread I will question their sanity.

She is a chancer loon.

I didn't know collars were dangerous for cats actually, would guess most people don't, so this has been an educational thread!

I'll be less at the neighbour's cat turning up collarless in our garden in future (I think she's chipped anyway).

Mine had proper quick release collars, but I found one of them with his paw stuck through really panicking. He would have really hurt himself had we not found him and the release mechanism didnt work. Mine have not worn them since - I won't risk it. If it had happened outdoors I dread to think what could have happened. I think he could also have hung himself if he had got it caught on something. They are chipped though.

Oh suzi that it too tempting......

YADNBU - I'd be horrified to find a cat in my house, surely it's her responsibility to keep it out in the first place?!

"Is she having a laff". Well...is she?

Invite her to go forth and multiply.

YANBU - If the collar was that slack the cat could get a paw in, it was too loose.
Tell she is a bad owner

Wow you lot are quick! I only went off to fetch the post and I came back to 36 YANBUs!

I had no idea collars are dangerous! The cat did look distressed that's why I went to get her in the first place. Cats seem to know I'm not entirely happy around them and I thought a cat lover would know the best way to handle the cat to prevent it being hurt any more.

Well you could always threaten her with neglect what a complete loon!

YABU pay up!

Only kidding, of course YANBU. She's a nutter.

Eh? What about her cat tresspassing in your home?
She is a crazy lady

One of my cats injured herself really badly this way. She disappeared for a couple of days and when I found her she had somehow or other got her front leg right through her collar and it had dug into her flesh and cut her badly. The vet bill was a couple of hundred pounds. None of my cats has ever worn a collar since then. Tell your neighbour she is lucky you found her cat in time to prevent the injury being worse.

YADNBU

Our cat does not have a collar due to the fact that when he adopted us, he was in a right state. He was an abandoned cat / runaway who had obviously caught his leg in his collar at some point and before it snapped it had managed to give him a really nasty wound under his front leg (or armpit as i call it). He had to have surgery to the tune of £500 as it was quite a complex operation involving the re-arrangement of some of his skin (he looked like a frankenstein's monster with all the stitching!).

Tell her £60 is getting off lightly

YANBU, and your neighbour is bonkers.

damn, you beat me to it Kladdkaka