22-year-old cat owner refuses to pay $800 for a new laptop screen for her roommate after her cat bit the screen and broke it: 'My roommate says it is not her fault because she told me her cat likes devices'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Sep 23, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

Any good pet owner knows you must take responsibility for your pet's actions. If you're Aiden Shaw and your dog Pete chews up Carrie's $380 designer shoes, you should pay her back for them, even if you find that purchase a little extravagant. Animals cannot have real jobs, only volunteer gigs where they don't get paid, so they can't pay you back for the damage they do to your belongings; therefore, it is your responsibility as a pet owner to pay your dog's or cat's debts and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, your roommate tells you, "My cat loves oil paintings." I would assume that means the cat enjoys looking at them but not that it would scratch and destroy them. And let's say months after your roommate acknowledged that love, their cat destroyed your oil painting worth $800. Would they be at fault, or would you be? Switch out oil painting with devices, and that's the situation at hand.

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  • 01
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    via Transly Translation Agency

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    AITA for asking my (22F) roommate (22f) to pay for the $800 damage her cat caused to my laptop?
    via u/tortillaandcheddar
  • 03
    Hi all, Last week my roommates cat bit my laptop screen while I was in the living room doing my schoolwork. One second it was working, the next the display went completely black. There are tiny bite marks on my laptop. I am a law student and my computer is highly necessary to getting my assignments done and studying. My roommate claims she told me her cat "likes those devices". Personally I do not remember this conversation with her and I honestly dont think that conversation ever took place and
    via u/tortillaandcheddar
  • 04
    responsibility. The damage to my laptop is going to be $800. My roommate says it is not her responsibility or fault because she told me her cat likes devices (also as a reminder I am not confident this conversation ever took place). She has shown zero remorse and even said I was overreacting when I went to buy a new laptop temporarily while my other one was getting fixed (I can not go a day in law school without my laptop) Any advice on how to approach this? 1
    via u/tortillaandcheddar
  • 05
    Unique-Assumption619 NTA, even if she "warned" you that doesn't her negate her responsibility as the pet parent to train her cat to not bite expensive things....but especially tech. If she had a dog and warned a parent "he doesn't like kids" but then let the dog roam free...she'd still be liable if the dog attacked a kid. Pet owners are fully responsible for ensuring their pets are properly trained and socialized.
    via u/Unique-Assumption619
  • 06
    Also, as a tenant, you are fully allowed to have your laptop and other items in the living room, if the cat really has a problem, the roommate needs to confine the cat to their room only so the cat isn't destroying communal property. You are paying to live there, you are entitled to studying in the living room without fear of someone else's pet ruining your laptop. And for what it's worth, I LOVE cats and own two so I am pro-cat, just not pro-letting them destroy things without accepting respons
    via u/Unique-Assumption619
  • 07
    kirroth How do you train an animal to not bite a specific thing? If you KNOW the animal bites that thing, why would you leave it available to bite?
    via u/kirroth
  • 08
    NessieHousie Okay if she even said it, "my cat likes these devices" would not translate at all to me as "this cat will BITE THE SCREEN and everything will go black." In my mind it would mean oh, put the cord away and don't have liquid around it. And I adore cats; we had two good little cats. So as a cat mama, she needed to be much more explicit and responsible. She is at fault, not the owner of the computer.
    via u/NessieHousie
  • 09
    bofh When my cat 'likes' things, that usually means she'll sleep on top of or inside them. Not bite the fork out of them. She typically reserves that for things she dislikes.
    via u/bofh
  • 10
    Dali_Laa_Laa My roommate's loved to chew wires. That little beast destroyed over $1000 worth of electronics over the years. Roommate replaced the stuff every time, because it was her cat. We hired a petsitter recently, and since we know about kitten's destructive tendencies, we bought the sitter a chew-proof cord for her to use whole staying over, because we don't know if the cat still chews (our house is as wireless as we can make it), or if she's outgrown it. Either way, we felt it was our res
    via u/Dali_Laa_Laa
  • 11
    pogjii NTA. since you're both grown women, i would assume your roommate knows that she is fully responsible for the actions of her pet. the pet isn't a human being and can't fully understand the consequences of their actions. she has fully responsibility for her cat, her 'warning' you doesn't mean anything. btw you were not overreacting, if you NEED the laptop to do schoolwork then it is totally reasonable to be upset
    via u/pogjii
  • 12
    iheartwords NTA I suggest changing your living arrangements as soon as possible and looking at taking her to small claims court. Her possible comment that her pet likes devices doesn't absolve her of making sure her property doesn't damage your property. It would be one thing if her cat knocked over a cup of coffee onto your sofa, but she bit a laptop; which isn't a reasonable pet accident.
    via u/iheartwords
  • 13
    Difficult Ad1474 NTA. You should check your roommates renter insurance (it may be one policy for both of you, I have never had a roommate) to see if pet damage is covered.
    via u/Difficult_Ad1474
  • 14
    tinysydneh NTA. Time to take it from an ask to a demand. It doesn't matter if this conversation took place. That's her cat, and it's not as though you were doing something unreasonable. She could have told you "I won't pay for damage she causes" and she would still be responsible.
    via u/tinysydneh
  • 15
    ImpossibleSecond9669 YTA, There is no proof the cat biting your laptop caused the damage. From what it sounds like, at some point the cat bit your screen (since you have noticed the tooth marks) and then later the screen went black. How long ago did the cat bite your screen? Did you see it happen? Have you ever dropped your laptop? How old is the laptop? I think your laptop screen just went dead as tech tends to do and you are assuming it was the cat that caused the damage. YTA for assuming and
    via u/ImpossibleSecond9669
  • 16
    Falkenmond79 NTA but if it's only the screen that's damaged, whoever quoted you 800 is scamming you. Depending on the laptop, a screen replacement isn't the end of the world and is more like 60-120 for the screen and 1-2 hours of work. I'd get a quote from a repair place.
    via u/Falkenmond79

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laptops computer repair cat computers roommate bad roommates psycho roommate computer cat owners broken roommates laptop Cats money screen
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