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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:
Augustma · 02/10/2018 18:16

Ridiculous story. With friends like these, who needs enemies? As for blood round mouth of kitten - ever heard of planting evidence?

LonginesPrime · 02/10/2018 18:18

Also, if the story is true (which I don't believe), what about the trauma your sister's kitten must have experienced in being put in a situation where it felt so threatened as to cause a fatal injury to another cat?

Beautifulblue · 02/10/2018 18:24

I have never heard of a cat killing another cat in my life Confused BUT that being said if I truly believed that had happened I would pay - because I would feel awful. But I really can't believe a 6 month old cat killed a cat?! How?!

thethoughtfox · 02/10/2018 18:25

This is bullshit. A pedigree cat costs between £450-750

thethoughtfox · 02/10/2018 18:27

And any pedigree cat will be insured. Mine is and get the the full price of the cat back if something awful happens.

Lillithxxx · 02/10/2018 18:28

Total bs.

MoonageDaydreamz · 02/10/2018 18:44

Your sister was irresponsible giving her car to be to looked after without checking the situation, everyone with a cat should know that you can't just out two (or ten) random cats together and expect them to get on.

Unless they live in a mansion they were never going to be suitable people to look after her cat.

Obviously she shouldn't pay them, there is no case. The friendship is over anyway so why would she bother.

You or your sister should report them to the rspca, they are cat hourding and clearly are not responsible owners.

Dieu · 02/10/2018 18:49

What a horrible and very stressful situation for your sister to put her kitten in. I don't know who was more stupid for assuming it would all go smoothly; your sister or her friend. Confused

Passenger42 · 02/10/2018 19:03

It's more likely that the cat got attacked by a dog or a fox and came back into the house to die and kitten has tried to comfort it hence blood on its mouth face. Bit sad for the cats

onegiftedgal · 02/10/2018 19:27

YANBU, shit happens and if they have that many, they can't be taking care of them properly anyway.
Sounds very suspicious that she offered to look after the kitten and then her cat suddenly dies. Me thinks they were looking for a gullible scapegoat to get some free cash. I'd go back and ask for an autopsy to confirm how long kitty has been dead 😉

PolarBearkshire · 02/10/2018 19:41

It was under the care of that friend. She is responsible herself! Any lawyer will tell her that.
If she is such a cat lady she should know if one of her cars is fragile and expensive and not intriduce to some wild tigers- sorry i will never believe a kitten can kill other kitten- it doesnt work like that only maybe if that other kitten was pre dead anyway.
Ridiculous. Should go to the police for blackmail anyway.

manicmij · 02/10/2018 19:41

£80 an expensuve cat! I've seen adds for farm cat kittens at that price. May be valuable in the "really liked" sense but certainly not valuable Anyone who knows cats would k ow not to just throw a strange cat into other's territory and then leave them to their own devices. Wouldn't pay, should have known better as owner of 10 cats.

allanaw929 · 02/10/2018 20:02

As others have said, your sister was very naive to hand over the kitten to someone who owns 10 cats, cats should ideally be looked after in their own home but certainly never in a crowded cat house. But legally, this woman took responsibility for your sisters cat and if anything had happened to it, your sister could have sued her! Your sister is in no way legally liable here and should never agree to pay. Both parties were silly but someone taking responsibility for so many animals should know better. Also, as others have mentioned, an "expensive breed" does not cost £80 lol, if they'd said £800 they'd be closer, my neighbors cat was £1400 and the family round the corner from me recently paid £750 for a pedigree cat. A stray kitty from the Cats Protection costs £50 to put it into context and you pay around 40-80 on gumtree etc just for a bog standard kitty. I also don't think your sister's kitty was at fault even if it did kill the cat, in its eyes it was probably fighting for its life, poor thing, it must have been petrified being taken into a house full of strange cats, I still can't believe anyone would be so stupid, and to then leave them alone, wow....

JuJu2017 · 02/10/2018 20:11

This is so bizarre. Do cats usually fight to the death? I have quite an unfriendly cat and have cat-sat and although he’s had a go at them, he’s never killed them ... I struggle to see how a kitten could kill something with just one neck wound? The kitten could have investigated the dead cat and got blood in his coat that way. The 80 figure is a bit odd, too. Expensive cat breeds are usually hundreds of pounds, not 80 quid. Why have they decided 80? It all sounds mental and your sister shouldn’t pay.

Turquoise123 · 02/10/2018 20:26

All very upsetting for your sister. Not sure what section of the law the partner thinking of but there is no contract here and in law cats ( unlike dogs) are wild animals .

LovelyGirlNOT · 02/10/2018 20:32

This is a blatant scam. A shit scam that the not very bright would concoct... because none of it adds up.

A strange kitten + 10 adult cats on their own territory = kitten kills one of the adult cats with a single bite to the neck....?

As if!

Your DSIS's mate sounds like she's been led down the path by her chancer of a DP and now has to just go along with it. But she knows it's not right, which is why she's staying silent.

madeyemoodysmum · 02/10/2018 20:35

Cats don't kill each other normally. They avoid fighting as much as possible. . It's not the bloody jungle. I smell a pile of cat poo too.

inquiquotiokixul · 02/10/2018 20:41

Cats simply don't kill each other. Cat fights are to establish dominance. Once one cat is proven stronger the other backs down.

The dead cat was killed by something else. The partner is trying it on.

Even if it were true that this 6 month old kitten was a vicious killer, in law cat owners cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of their pet because cats are acknowledged to be untrainable.

Even if this legal position wasn't true, the friend was supposed to be looking after the cat at the time.

She certainly should not pay a penny.

Ngaio2 · 02/10/2018 20:42

Cats avoid open confrontation, especially if not on their home territory. A kitten put into this environment would have hidden itself away and would not have been aggressive towards the other cats.
In not sure £80 would even cover the cost of a rescue cat from a shelter, certainly not the cost of a pedigree.
This is a scam and your Dsis should not pay.
(Cat breeder for 20+ years, owner for 40+)

theOtherPamAyres · 02/10/2018 20:43

If the boyfriend wants to go to court then he'll need proper evidence.

Like an autopsy on the cat, by a vet.

If he has already disposed of the dead cat, and hasn't had a post mortem, then it's a non starter.

Call his bluff.

Poodletip · 02/10/2018 20:43

It doesn't sound like your sister or the "friend" know the first thing about cats. Randomly putting a strange cat in with 10 established cats was never going to end well! It was a crazy thing to do. As so many have said already it's seriously unlikely that a 6-month-old kitten could kill an adult cat even if it wanted to. The whole situation just sounds beyond odd.

Sounds like they need Judge Rinder!

SinkGirl · 02/10/2018 21:02

When my cats were six or seven months old, a big cat in the neighbourhood attacked her and sliced her abdomen open. It was horrific. There is no way on earth those kittens would have been able to kill an adult cat.

There’s a new kitten in my neighborhood - she is about 1/3 of the size of my cats and there’s just no way she could kill one of my cats (and one of mine is pretty small for an adult).

TommyJoesMummy · 02/10/2018 21:06

Scam.
They asked for the kitten, locked it in a room full of cats, walked away and then returned the kitten... sounds orchestrated!
Plus, when I bought my pedigree she was £300 and normal moggies were £20-50. That was in 2005.

Sounds like a friendship she was better off not fixing and getting back out of now. Ignoring her ignorant 'mate' (cuz he's doing all the talking) -it is a bit sinister and bordering on harassment. Keep the messages and report the issue.

Ellie56 · 02/10/2018 21:07

Nah didn't happen. Hmm

ravenmum · 02/10/2018 21:10

Pop over to the friend's neighbours when the friend is out, and ask if they know when they'll be back, as you want to talk to them about their cat being killed. Maybe they know the true story ...