Cautious senior cat gets spooked by a handsy 5-year-old at the vet waiting room, prompting owner to raise his voice at the child to protect his pet: ‘Her kid has no right to touch my cat!’

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Oct 4, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Vet waiting rooms are oddly tense liminal spaces. They're not quite like a doctor's office, where anxiety tends to be more hooman-centered. But they're also not as casual as, say, waiting at the groomer. Everyone sitting there has a creature that they cherish in their arms, and the air always hangs with a weird mix of emotions, emphasized by the awkward the silence between strangers. Some pets are calm, others are visibly terrified, and others just want to sniff everything. For pet pawrents, the only real rules in this space are simple: keep your own animal safe, respect others' space, and wait your turn!

But that etiquette doesn't always translate when there are kids involved, as was the case here. When one pet pawrent took her 14-year-old cat, Patches, to the vet for a routine appointment, a small child spotted the cat and rushed over to pet her. When poor Patches panicked, the owner snapped in defense and shouted at the kid not to touch her cat, making the kid cry. Seems like cats and dogs aren't the only ones hissing and scratching at the vet's office.
 

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  • 01

    [Am I wrong] for yelling at a kid not to touch my cat?

    Cheezburger Image 10559944704
    via pixelshot

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

  • 02
    My cat Patches just turned 14 recently and was diagnosed with asthma earlier this year. I take her to the vet every few months for
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  • 03
    an antibiotic shot that seems to help her breathe better and avoid making her have to go through being on an inhaler.
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  • 04
    Anyway, the last time I took her to the vet I had her out of the carrier in my arms. The staff was fine
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  • 05
    with this since there was no one else in the room. If a dog came in, I would put her back in and zip her up.
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    via pixelprof from Getty Images Signature

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

  • 07
    So, I'm waiting for the vet to come out to get us when all of a sudden the door swings open. It's a mom and kid who is about 5. They don't have a pet with them so I'm
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  • 08
    guessing they're there to pick something up. Patches is startled but doesn't go back to the carrier so I just continue holding and petting her.
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  • 09
    While the mom is at the counter talking to the receptionist, the kid looks my way and immediately shouts "KITTY" and starts to run over to me. That makes Patches
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  • 10
    jump back in her carrier because she doesn't like small children because of some bad experiences when she was younger.
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  • When you’re sitting in a vet waiting room, you have to be responsible for your small creatures. Make sure your dog isn’t jumping up to greet people with unsolicited licks, that your cat isn’t randomly trying to climb up a stranger’s leg, and that your child isn’t off trying to per every creature in the room without permission. 

  • 11
    I'm starting to zip up the carrier when the kid tries to pet her. Without thinking, I yell out:
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  • 12
    "DON'T TOUCH HER!" The kid backs up and starts crying cause I yelled, but I'm more focused on zipping my cat in.
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  • 13
    At this point, the mom turns around and STOMPS over to me fuming. How could I yell at her kid
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  • 14
    and make her cry, it's just a cat, she's only a child, I should just let her pet the cat.
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  • 15
    I tell the mom that her kid has no right to touch my cat, shouldn't be running over to people's pets and expecting to pet them
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  • 16
    without permission because that's just asking to get a scratch or a bite mark, and she needs to teach her kid how to approach animals the right way, etc.
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  • 17
    The mom doesn't say anything back and just takes her crying kid and picks up her stuff and gives me a major stink face when leaving. I got through my
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  • 18
    appointment without any other interruptions and no one in reception really have any comments on it.
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    via Africa images

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

  • 20
    I later told a friend about it and was told I was too harsh on the kid and shouldn't have made them cry. That I could've
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  • 21
    approached it more delicately. I don't think I did anything wrong because I was protecting my cat because a lot of kids don't know how to handle and treat animals in my experience.
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  • 22
    monkey_trumpets It does not sound like the smartest idea to take the cat out of the carrier in a vet waiting room. You have no idea if a
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  • 23
    reactive dog comes in or something. And yes, you put the cat back in, but it does seem like you're courting disaster.
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  • 24
    hot_throwaway_2006 NT . Your yell seems to have been a panicked reaction and not because you're this evil hag that hates kids, as a lot of posters seem to think. The child will live.
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  • 25
    If the child is old enough to run over, talk and want to pet a stranger's pet, they're old enough to either 1- be taught by their parents not to do that or 2- be taught by the rest of the world how to act right.
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  • 26
    eholierthanthou NT... Perfectly handled. Sounds like the mother is more to blame than the child excited about the cat.
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    via halfpoint

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

  • 28
    coffeestarsbooks NT - the kid needs to learn, and it's better they do so with an adult snapping at them instead of an animal being cornered. But,
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  • 29
    possibly not the best idea to have your cat out of her carrier in the vets. Lots of people coming and going, and it's too easy for a child or another animal to startle your cat.
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cat cat mom pets parenting cat story cat dad feline pet entitled vet Reddit raising kids Cats entitled people
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