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

[Pecano]

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!

This is odd. There are ten cats - how one earth can she isolate this kitten as the culprit. The blood could have been from the kitten licking the wound.

Or he kitten might have killed in self defence. Your little kitten needs checked over by the vet if the poor thing has been in a fight to the death.

Your sister need to ask what the £80 is for. Do either parties have insurance? My insurance covers damage caused by my cat - however I am not sure the insurance company would buy this story!!

This lady sounds a bit bonkers - steer clear

I've got an expensive cat, he was £650. £80 is a cheap cat.

A 6 month kitten just couldn't kill an adult cat. No chance. I've only once in many years known a cat kill another cat, he was an enormous, adult, verging on feral beast. He'd regularly take on dogs and foxes.

Your sister should tell them to do one. It's all shite and she's a fool if she hands over £80 to them. Let them threaten her with court, fuck all will come of it.

Firstly your sister needs to fall out with this friend because the friend is not a friend.

Secondly, there does not have to be any confrontation. Sister can send one message saying she is appalled at this attempt to con her and telling them not to contact her again. Then she blocks them on every form of communication. No audience, no drama.

My arse did this kitten kill an adult cat.
And to further agree with others most pedigree cats cost much more that £80

Total rubbish, your sister is being taken for a soft touch. Firstly, I dont leave my own 5 month old kitten with our 4 year old cat yet because my kitten would come off the worst of it and end up seriously hurt (older cat hates not being an only child anymore lol) and secondly, there is no way my kitten could kill our adult cat, just no.

I would ask for proof from the vet and proof from the vet that her kitten could have made those wounds (and not after it had already died)

Ridiculous.

There is no way this cat was a beloved pet. Nor will they be pedigree cats. Are the selling moggies over gumtree or something?

Cats are territorial and putting a strange cat in with 10 others will cause a fight BUT they don’t fight to their death and there is no way that in such a scenario one of the cats would be dead and the other have no injuries at all. Your sister should call the RSPCA or even police if she suspects that these people have killed their own cat as a way of making money.

I actually don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility. A cat taken from it's own home and placed in a home with 10 strange cats would have been utterly petrified so who knows although yes I'd expect both cats to be covered in injuries, I suppose it could have gone straight for the jugular but I've never heard of anything like it tbh. Doesn't sound like your Dsis or her friend have the first clue about cats or that situation wouldn't have arisen in the first place. What an utterly insane thing to do.

I dont think she should be paying the £80

Totally bonkers, this doesn't add up at all.

£80 is not an expensive cat.

Cats do not kill other cats like this - a cat fight would have resulted in a house covered in clumps of fur, and lots of injuries to both cats.

Accidental death is possible, they could be playing and one has a heart attack.

Even if your cat is in fact the psycho-killer ultimate death warrior cat, and has orchestrated his catty friends demise maliciously...

They offered to take in the cat.
They determined it was safe to leave hte cats together, unattended.
It is therefore, they who are responsible for what happens, they were the adult humans in sole charge of the situation.

Any court would determine that, HAD they proof that one cat had in fact killed the other -w hich they do not, because it simply didn't happen!

Growing up, one of our cats loathed the cat next door, they used to fight a lot. There was always loads of fur, but no actual injuries. I really don't think a 6 month old kitten could kill a full grown cat, especially with no fluff all over the place.

I thought the same as mustshowDH. Their cat was already dead and this is a frame up job.

I don't think a court case has a hope in hell. IF the cat was killed by another cat, which seems unlikely, there is no way of proving which among 10 cats was responsible. Plus the friend was in control and therefore has to take full responsibility. If the friend goes to solicitors she will certainly be advised on that basis, and if she takes it to court on her own the judge will have no difficulty throwing it out.

Agree with posts above.

No way would a 6 month kitten kill a full grown cat.

Your kitten would be covered in scratches, puncture wounds and missing a lot of fur from the cat attacking her. I would take the kitten to the vets explaining the situation so the vet can confirm that your kitten has no wounds (I.e. 3rd party evidence your kitten hasn’t been in a fight).

I would text back the person demanding money and your friend to say you’ve had it confirmed your kitten hasn’t been in a fight, that potentially there were 9 other cats who could have attack their cat if a vet has determined it was another cat (not a fox if there’s a cat flap) and that you will not be paying out any money.

Unless they are going to take your sister on judge rinder then the cost of a small claims court would give them a profit of £20 IF ruled in their favour.
With 10 cats in the house and no evidence other than blood on the kitten who could have gone to investigate etc then hell would probably freeze over quicker....

Like others have said £80 is not a pedigree cat cost and it sounds like he is just wanting money!

I also think this is total bullshit. I also think that if your sister pays, they will suddenly find that the kitten also damaged the lino, that will now need replacing, or similar.

They are at it. Your sister needs to cut these people off.

Bizarre. Who cat sits by taking the cat to their house?

And I’ve had pedigree cats -a Burmese costing £350 and an Aby at £450. £80 is nonsense.

The whole arrangement is weird, like some sort of pet version of Jeremy Kyle.

Your sister should breed from the kitten. I mean a six month old kitten that can take on a full grown cat on its own territory.in the presence of nine other cat and rip the bigger cat's throat out in one go without suffering a single injury itself and then doesn't even bother to clean its fur, just parades round with a blood stained mouth all day like some kind of scumbag mafia cat. Wow. What a kitten!

Actually, screw breeding fighting cats. You need to sign MegaKitten up for some kind of medical investigations of her super ninja skills.

Ask that boyfriend to send more details because you are going to the press about this amazing super skillz fighting kitten the likes of which the world has never seen. Find out if he knows how the previously unseen ninja skills of the kitten were unleashed. Is there a code word? A magical jewel? A chant? A special cape? What cat food did they feed the kitten? Buzzfeed and the Guiness Book will need these facts. Your sis will earn more than £80. She could offer to split the income with the poor friend.

Agree with pretty much everyone else. This is bollocks.

The blood also means zip; like many cat owners I've had some die and IME the others do have a tendency to come and sniff around the dead one and will sometimes nudge, nuzzle etc. Blood could easily transfer in that situation.

What kind of person demands the price of the cat, when their cat dies, anyway? That’s such a weird and heartless way to respond to your own pet’s death!

If the cats were in her care, surely the friend is responsible for anything that happens. I'm not an expert, but I don't see how your sister would be liable if she wasn't there and the cat has no history of violence, even if they could prove their ridiculous story. I would be taking the kitten to the vet to be checked over and asking the vet whether the story is likely in their professional opinion. I certainly wouldn't just pay the money. I suspect the partner is trying it on.

I've lived with cats for over sixty years and have never known a cat kill another cat.

I have two cats and the eldest (slightly older) has always hated the youngest. There are irregular spats which are mostly her hissing at him, rowling and hitting out. Funnily enough he's not dead. She's an anti-social little madam, so the fact that she's not a killer makes it hard to believe that a six month old happily socialised kitten would suddenly become a murderer.

I just don't believe this happened. At all. They can take her to court if they like, but I doubt they'll get very car. Also, if their cat is such an expensive breed then you're looking at anywhere from about £200-£1,000. £80 would just about pay for the costs of getting a cat from a shelter which just screams more bullshit on his claim.

This is odd. There are ten cats - how one earth can she isolate this kitten as the culprit. The blood could have been from the kitten licking the wound.

Or he kitten might have killed in self defence. Your little kitten needs checked over by the vet if the poor thing has been in a fight to the death.

Your sister need to ask what the £89 is for. Do either parties have insurance? My insurance covers damage caused by my cat - however I am not sure the insurance company would buy this story!!

Yeah this is total bullshit. I’m just placemarking really to see how this turns out. I hope she doesn’t pay.