Mom demands 7-year-old son apologize to their cat after yelling at it for stealing his food from his plate, dad claims she took it too far: ‘I’m teaching him empathy’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Sep 23, 2025 4:00 AM EDT

When it comes to educating and training your pets, you reap what you sow. If you don't work hard to teach your beloved furriends wrong from right, nothing will stop them from doing anything they please.

We all know that when it comes to cats, they will do whatever they want, whether you like it or not. But that doesn't necessarily mean you should let them. At our household, we do everything from preventing our cats from destroying the furniture or eating our food, even when it feels like nothing we do gets through to the one brain cell they share.

When the mother in the story below allowed their cat to eat food out of her own plate, she set herself up for failure in training the little rascal. Why wouldn't the cat seize every opportunity they can to take food from whatever plate is available? Especially the east target, which is the 7-year-old son.

That leads to the question: Was it justified for Mom to demand her son apologize to the cat after yelling at it for stealing his food? Or was it her fault to begin with? Keep scrolling to read the full tale.

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  • 01
    "I thought it was cute at first"
    via Katya_Kani

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for making my son apologize to the cats for yelling at them for stealing his food?

    So my son (7) has been feeding our cats from his plate for a while, which I thought was cute at first.
    via Thin-Ad5300
  • 03
    The problem is... now he gets mad whenever they actually take bites without asking. Yesterday, he yelled at one of them for nibbling on his chicken, which, honestly, is partly his fault.
    via Thin-Ad5300
  • 04
    I decided he needed to take responsibility for the situation. I made him apologize to the cats, explaining that they were just doing what he encouraged and that yelling at them isn't acceptable behavior.
    via Thin-Ad5300
  • 05
    He cried, stomped his feet, and called me ridiculous. My partner says I'm overreacting and that making him apologize to animals is a little much.
    via Thin-Ad5300
  • 06
    I feel like I'm teaching him empathy, accountability, and that actions have consequences even if it's with cats.
    via Thin-Ad5300
  • 07
    So... AITA?
    via Thin-Ad5300
  • 08
    nicholaiia Um... I'm 44 and I apologize to animals if I do something wrong to them... They're living creatures.
    via nicholaiia
  • 09
    nikki_redGND NTA. He started feeding them. They are only doing what was taught to them. Now, that should make him stop feeding them!
    via nikki_redGND
  • 10
    Hopeful-Artichoke449 YTA for letting this start in the first place. Also, are they walking on your kitchen table around your dinner plates tracking all the sh they just dug through in the litter box?
    via Hopeful-Artichoke449
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10556897536
    via nicholaiia

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 12
    Ok-Opening5727 Even tho they can't understand him, it's a great lesson to be taught
    via Ok-Opening5727
  • 13
    Jenlag It's not cute feeding animals from your plate, and they should never be on the table amongst food. YTA.
    via Jenlag
  • 14
    BeachinLife1 Yes, your son did start the expectation of the cats to eat off his plate, but are cats doing on the table? Or wherever your son is eating? Cats CAN be taught certain manners...mine know if they wait politely they will get a tasty tidbit, but "people food" is usually not good for them, so I limit that pretty strictly. Your son does not need to have his plate where the cats can get into it, and the cats don't need to be on a table or kitchen counter or anywhere else where they can get
    via BeachinLife1
  • 15
    meno-pause Your kid is only 7 and obviously has very little life experience. Therefore, when he started feeding the cats, he was not able to predict that they would become aggressive. I don't know if you should've made him apologize or not. But I do think you shouldn't "blame' him for not understanding the consequences of his decisions at 7 years old.
    via meno-pause
  • 16
    SeaBass 1898 Might be ridiculous if he was 17 But at 7? Silly things like apologizing to the cat is a totally acceptable thing to do. NTA bruh, you're parenting in an age appropriate way
    via SeaBass1898
  • 17
    TootsNYC I'd say you're an a hle for not stepping in and insisting your son not feed the cats from his plate. And I'd say that apologizing to the cats verbally is one of the ways he acknowledges that his actions have not been appropriate.
    via TootsNYC
  • 18
    2_old_for_this_spit NTA Teaching manners begins at home with close family, and that includes our pets. Apologies to pets encourages awareness of behavior. I always had my kids apologize to our dogs.
    via 2_old_for_this_spit
  • 19
    ChrisInBliss NTA for making him apologize and respect the cats but YTA for letting him feed the cats from his plate in the first place. You're putting the cats health at risk. Cats can't eat so many different foods its not like dogs that can eat a big variety of foods.
    via ChrisInBliss
  • 20
    skoalreaver NTA YELLING AT A CAT IS NEVER acceptable. They're not human beings and don't process and do things the way we are used to Plus he pretty much trained them to expect his food
    via skoalreaver

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family drama aita kids mother reddit story parenting family Reddit mom cattos Cats son parents children Father
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