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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To tell my sister not to pay for a dead cat?

242 replies

Pecano · 01/10/2018 18:04

My sister went away and her friend offered to look after her kitten for the weekend (my sister didn’t ask, the friend offered). The kitten is very friendly, puts up with her kids wanting to play all the time etc, and the friend has several cats (like over 10!) herself so said it wasn’t any trouble for her to look after an extra one for a few days.

On the first day, her friends partner stopped my sisters ex in the playground when collecting the DC from school and gave him the cat, stating that it had to go back as it had killed one of their cats. He said their cat was a very expensive breed and she now owed them £80.

My sisters cat has never been vicious or anything, but presumably being around lots of new cats could have led to some fighting over territory etc -apparently the friend/her partner took my sisters cat home and then promptly left for the day, returning at the end of day to find her own cat dead with a neck wound, and my sisters cat with some blood on the fur near his mouth.

Surely if introducing a new cat, you’d supervise them for a while first, or keep them in separate roles to avoid this sort of thing? Obviously they should have arranged some visits or something beforehand but it was a bit last minute and my sister assumed someone who owned several cats would know how to handle this.

AIBU in telling my sister not to pay? She doesn’t have a spare £80 and I think that if you have an expensive cat then you must have insurance surely?? I appreciate that they have lost a beloved pet but it’s not as if it was intentional!

OP posts:
SirB0bby · 01/10/2018 18:49

Cat"s don't just lie there and let other cats kill them. There would have been a vicious and savage scrap and your sisters cat would also had injuries. It's a load of nonsense!

KarrisWhiteOak · 01/10/2018 18:52

I second @Whatsthisbear
She’s being taken for a ride.
She need to tell them where to go, if she pays they’ll do something similar to get more £ from her.

AnalUnicorn · 01/10/2018 18:53

Between not wanting to fall out again and hating confrontation, I think my sister is thinking she needs to pay just to avoid the drama!

Sounds like your sis would be better off letting the fallout happen. The partner will not see through the threats about court action.

mumsastudent · 01/10/2018 18:53

wonder if both cats were attacked by a fox - hence blood?

Rudi44 · 01/10/2018 18:53

I don’t believe this one bit. I would be asking for a vets report. I have never heard of a cat killing another cat. Even the very worst cat fight usually results in scratches and maybe a puncture wound but not death! I think they are trying it on

Vinorosso74 · 01/10/2018 18:55

Bollocks! A kitten couldn't kill a cat!! I've witnessed my cat have a fight with another (both neutered males) and it is pretty vicious but not likely to kill each other.
This person with 10 cats sounds irresponsible and am guessing isn't taking care of them so should be reported to RSPCA.
Sounds like someone just wants £80 off your sister.

Rafflesway · 01/10/2018 18:56

Utter rubbish!

OP, I used to show pedigree cats back in the 80's and even in 1981 i was paying £200 - £300 for a pedigree kitten of good lineage. £80 - expensive cat! Hmm

This guy sounds charming NOT! Let them proceed with court action. They haven't got a leg to stand on and it would cost nearly as much to take your dsis to the Small Claims Court.

Also, someone keeping 10 cats in a home sounds somewhat unhealthy to me unless she has proper runs and cattery type facilities.

I would strongly suggest your dsis tells this idiot to take a running jump but in the meantime looks for either a good quality cattery or finds a reliable and caring cat sitter - who doesn't have 10 others - to care for her kitten during her absences in the future.

Oliversmumsarmy · 01/10/2018 18:56

Unless your sisters kitten was a baby lion I very much doubt a 6 month old kitten actually killed a grown cat.

As no one was there to see what happened there is some massive leaps of the imagination happening.

Just because the kitten had blood on her doesn’t mean anything. The kitten could have just been near the cat sniffing or licking the cat.

I have owned cats all my life and never heard of a kitten killing a cat.

Huge BS with knobs on

category12 · 01/10/2018 18:57

Rubbish. Cats simply don't kill each other like that.

MemoryOfSleep · 01/10/2018 18:59

She shouldn't pay even to keep the peace, they don't sound like very good friends to me! Better off out of it.

Rafflesway · 01/10/2018 18:59

And, forgot to add, no way on God's earth could a young kitten kill a full grown cat. (Unless your dsis has a baby leopard or similar.Grin)

NC4Now · 01/10/2018 19:00

A kitten couldn’t kill a grown cat. They could scrap (but they should have been kept separate) but they wouldn’t kill.
Also - I paid £400 for my pedigree kitten, and that is at the lower end for his breed.

I’d let them take her to court.

Sounds like a job for Judge Rinder.

DingDongDenny · 01/10/2018 19:02

This did not happen

Please let him take her to court with the tale of the fictional killer kitten

sarahC40 · 01/10/2018 19:04

I too, call bullshit. If your sister’s friend was happy to take on the responsibility of looking after the pet, then tbh she’s responsible for what goes on in her house and I can’t see why your sister is liable. Call their bluff, or pay, but know that the relationship will probably end either way...in which case I’d go to court.

TheSpottedZebra · 01/10/2018 19:04

Is the £80 the vets fee?

Theworldwentwhite · 01/10/2018 19:05

There’s no way a six month old kitten could kill a grown cat. Even if they fought the kitten would be covered in puncture wounds and scratches. The kitten could have picked up the blood after sniffing/licking the dead cat. Unfortunately cats can just drop dead. There’s often an undiagnosed heart condition or they could have been poisoned. Cats are very good at masking pain/illness so you often don’t know that anything is wrong until they die.

£80 is what it costs to get a moggy from a rescue centre. It is not expensive. Pedigree cats cost upwards of £400.

I think the boyfriend is just bullshitting you unfortunately. Do not pay, stand your ground xx

Fluffycloudland77 · 01/10/2018 19:06

Expensive cats are £500+ plus for one that's no good for breeding, a breeders £1200 easily.

load of codswallop.

Beamur · 01/10/2018 19:06

Adult cats can kill other cats. It's not common, but it can happen. Seems less likely with a kitten tbh. But who in their right mind would put a strange kitten in with a group of unknown adults cats - irresponsible on both sides.
A rescue moggie might cost you £80 (and the rescue loses money on that price) but a pedigree would cost you much more than that.
This whole scenario seems off. Either way, these people are not good friends.

MustShowDH · 01/10/2018 19:13

Boyfriend pulling a fast one?

Boyfriend killed cat and is trying to cover up?

Cat was already dead and they offered to look after your sisters to frame her?

ALL of these more likely than a kitten killing an adult cat in its own home.

Your sister is better of without these 'friends' and she should could herself lucky her kitten is okay after being put in that situation.

Sheldonoscopy · 01/10/2018 19:13

Just for reference, this is my 6month old kitten.
My other cat, fully grown about 1 and a half, go at it like you’d not believe. And this one is absolutely on the receiving end of some proper full on territory fights with the other.

There is categorically no way in my (non professional) opinion, having owned cats for half my life, that a kitten this size could kill a fully grown and healthy cat. Never heard of the likes.

Also, the only one financially responsible is the ‘friend’ who wanted to look after the kitten. She took responsibility and wasn’t being paid (presumably).

And pure breed cats costs hundreds. £80 is such a random figure

ButchyRestingFace · 01/10/2018 19:17

apparently the friend/her partner took my sisters cat home and then promptly left for the day, returning at the end of day to find her own cat dead with a neck wound, and my sisters cat with some blood on the fur near his mouth.

Not exactly definitive, is it? Poor kitty might just has licked all the tasty blood after the cat had deceased (at the hands of whatever).

whatashower · 01/10/2018 19:19

Not sure what I would advise op, apart from checking the facts, but I am very sure that, if your account is accurate, none of the parties involved in this should be allowed to own a cat. 😡

Chocolala · 01/10/2018 19:19

The partner and friend are talking crap. Tell her to block and ignore.

toxic44 · 01/10/2018 19:20

Pecano the average price for an expensive cat (say a Maine Coon) is about £800. Cats might fight and a weaker cat might die from its injuries but I've never known a cat kill another cat outright. The cat who is losing runs away. A kitten doesn't have the killer drive or the strength to take on and defeat a fully grown cat. Something cockeyed here.

Lindy2 · 01/10/2018 19:23

If 2 cats were in a fight that actually led to a death both cats would be covered in scratches and there would be bits of fur pulled out everywhere. Is the kitten injured?Cats scrap noisily and messily. They don't kill each other and cut throats. It really just doesn't add up at all.
I'm afraid I would be very suspicious of what is being said here. I would stay well clear of this friend and her partner and would not have them near any pet again.