AITA for not paying roommates vet bill?

A Reddit user shares a dilemma involving their roommate’s cat eating their dog’s medication, leading to a hefty vet bill. The user initially paid $200 but hesitates to cover the full cost of $3,000-$5,000,

as they believe the situation partially stems from the roommate’s lack of control over the cat. Now, they question if offering $500 is a fair compromise. Read the full story below and decide for yourself.

‘ AITA for not paying roommates vet bill?’

I moved in with my roommate about a year ago. We were friends for a couple years prior. I moved in with my dog and she got a cat after a few months of living together. To paint a picture, she allows the cat to get on the stove, walk on the counter.

It’s known to be food driven and will chew through bags of food, she allows it to jump on the dining table etc. sometimes she’ll keep the cat in her room while we’re eating or when she’s cooking so it doesn’t jump up on the table/counters.

My dog got neutered recently and was on anti-inflammatory medication. Tonight, she had the cat in her room while she was cooking dinner. I placed my dog’s medication on the table (being conscious that the cat is in the room) with the intention to give it to him after he eats his dinner.

I give my dog his bowl then went to answer a phone call in my room. My roommate opens her room door and the cat gets out and eats the medication. I did not realize this until I went back out and couldn’t find the pill.

She took the cat to urgent care and I gave her my credit card to pay for the bill ($200) because I felt pretty horrible. The vet couldn’t induce her to vomit so the cat had to be hospitalized (3k-5k). My roommate expects me to pay for some, maybe half of the bill but I am only willing to pay $500. Should I be the one paying for the whole bill?

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

piqueboo369 −  NTA. If you have a pet, the pet is your responsibility, and IMO the only time somone else should pay the bill is if they did something knowingly or did something really really stupid. I grew up with cats and a dog, and I have a dog right now.

Training a dog not to steal food is hard, but I have no idea how I would even start to try to train a cat not to do it, they’re not exactly easy to train, so I wouldn’t say someone “allows” their cat to do something.

Like yeah, you can take the cat down every time you see it, but they’ll probably keep doing it anyway, especially if they’re able to snatch some food every now and then. That said it’s on your roomate to find away around this, like making something to hinder the cat from jumping up, making a “safe place” you can put stuff etc.

And you should offcourse try your best to avoid putting harmfull things where the cat could get to it. But even if a cat were stealing food, I wouldn’t have assumed he would steal medication, because it’s not food, and for me it has always been hard to get my cats to take their own medication, they would spit it out because it tastes bad

forte6320 −  INFO did roommate know the medication was on the table? Did you verbally tell her that there was a pill on the table?
Knowing that the cat will eat anything, why would leave a pill out in the open?

Why not put the pill bottle on the table as a reminder? Yes, the cat should be better trained, but knowing this cat, that was a little negligent on your part. Yes, she put her in the other room, but animals slip out…especially if you walk away from the pill.

DubiousPeoplePleaser −  If the cat is usually free to roam the apartment, and you gave your roommate no prior warning that she should keep her cat in her room while you were giving the medication, then this all happened because you were reckless.

You knew the cat jumps on counters. You knew it eats everything. You knew the pill was flavored to encourage eating. You left the pill out when you could have waited til it was time to give it. It also sounds like the cat is usually free roaming.

So if you didn’t warn your roommate, then her only asking for half is generous, considering it all happened because of you. Y if you didn’t warn your roommate. N if you did and she let the cat out anyway.

Witch-for-hire −  YTA. \- you know that the cat is free roaming (saying that the cat *sometimes* is kept in the room means that you knew that they are also let out.) \- you haven’t t warned your roommate about the pill, and you have left the pill on the table where the cat can get it.. You were negligent.

How would you feel if someone would leave a harmful substance where your dog can eat it? Grapes? Chocolate? Pills? With no warnings so you can at least stop your dog from entering that room?

snarkness_monster −  I think you were nice enough to pay $200. It seems she has done nothing to ensure the safety of her cat. If it wasn’t dog medicine, it could have been human medicine, household cleaning products, or [insert dangerous items]. It sounds like you were trying to be careful, but so does she. NTA

JustHerefortheAwww −  So you left flavored, chewable pills completely unattended when you know you live with a highly food motivated animal? And you didn’t tell the owner the pill was there?

And now you don’t want to pay her vet bills because she SHOULD HAVE KNOWN the pill was there and she SHOULD HAVE KNOWN her cat would eat it and she COULD HAVE CHOSEN A CHEAPER OPTION . YTA 

wiserTyou −  YTA – it’s never okay to leave medications out. There’s a reason they come in childproof containers. The fact that the cat jumps on things and eats stuff is a separate issue. You took the medication out for no reason, you could have done it later. No matter how you slice it, that was negligent.

theothergotoguy −  Who would be responsible if your roommate left chicken bones lying around and your dog ate them and choked?

Bunniiqi −  Uh. YTA. As someone with cats who also takes meds that are highly toxic to said cats, I would never ever leave meds just out where they could possibly be gotten, and my cats are trained to not jump on counters.

I really need to know the thought process of leaving meds just on the counter instead of put away in the bottle until you need them

WhatIsSoyReallyAbout −  YTA – WHY the hell would you leave medication in the open… you best look into vetpay then if you don’t have e the cash you should be paying the whole bill you’re a monster.

Do you think the Redditor’s offer to pay $500 is reasonable, or should they take more responsibility given the circumstances? How would you handle this kind of financial and pet-related conflict with a roommate? Share your thoughts in the comments below!