Dog owner demands her sister-in-law pay her $50 a day to watch her cat, even after asking her many times to take care of her dog for free, never offering to pay her for anything: ‘We’re family, family doesn’t charge each other’

Author image for Giuliana Tiscioni
Giuliana Tiscioni • Writer
Nov 1, 2026 5:15 PM EST

A dog owner who travels frequently leaves her dog with her sister-in-law to watch him for her, never offering to pay her for it, saying that 'family doesn't charge each other.' When she tries to ask her to watch her cat for once, the other demands she be paid $50 a day. 

What's worse than a cheap person? A cheap person who's also a hypocrite. 

There's a big difference between asking your family members for a favor and taking advantage of their generosity and goodwill. We all need help sometimes, and it's okay to ask our close relatives to help us when we have issues we can't solve on our own. That's all good, and it's what family's for, but there needs to be some kind of boundary or reciprocity. We can't expect them to come running for us all the time without us being willing to help them when they need it. Relationships and family bonds are reciprocated, not one-sided. Otherwise, it's completely unfair for the person who does the helping. 

When it comes to a big favour, like babysitting our pets, it's important that we consult with them in advance. Taking care of an animal is a lot of work and a big responsibility, especially if it's someone else's animal. Their usual lifestyle might not agree with having a pet, and we have to respect that. 

In my case, I've had friends babysit my pets, and I've done the same with them, but we always agree on the terms beforehand. Each of us drops by the pet with their food and all the necessary things, and we never ask the other to take charge of things that aren't their responsibility. We buy all the expensive things in advance nd we leave them there. We've never demanded the other give us money for something we are both willing to do as a favor, and that's the difference between us and the sister-in-law who likes to have favors done for her but is not willing to reciprocate. 

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  • AITA for sending my SIL a $700 dog sitting invoice after she tried to charge me $50 a day to watch my cat?

  • 01
    My brother's wife has been dropping her dog off at my apartment since February every time she travels for work or goes
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  • 02
    on a girls weekend. It happens about once a month and it's usually a night or 2, sometimes 3 days if she's going somewhere farther. I
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  • 03
    don't mind the dog honestly, he's sweet, but I'm still the one walking him twice a day and rearranging my whole schedule around making
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  • 04
    sure he doesn't tear up my apartment when I leave for work in the morning.
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  • 05
    Cheezburger Image 10674154496
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+

    The sister-in-law walking the dog. 

    Licensed media provided as editorial context.

  • 06
    Every single time I've asked about covering even just the food she tells me "we're family, family doesn't charge each other" and that's always been the end of it.
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  • 07
    Last week I asked if she could watch my cat for one weekend while I visited a friend upstate. She said sure but she'd need $50 a day
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  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10674154752
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The cat owner hugging her pet. 

    Representative only.

  • 09
    because she has to come by my place twice for feeding and the litter box and she called it "a whole production."
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  • She says that watching the cat is a ‘whole production', and that's why she wants the money. But apparently she doesn't realize that taking care of a dog is as much work, or even more, than taking care of the cat. It takes 5 minutes at most to feed them and clean their litter box, whilst with a dog (depending on the sise9 needs some time to walk and exercise, which takes considerably longer. 

  • 10
    I told her that felt pretty unfair considering I've been watching her dog for free since February. She said dogs are different because
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  • 11
    they just hang out with you but cats are "actual work" since you have to go to someone else's apartment. That literally makes ZERO sense but I just said ok.
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  • 12
    I went through my texts with my brother that night and counted up every trip. It came out to 14 days
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  • 13
    going back to February. I made a list with each date and $50 next to it. The total came to $700 and I sent the whole thing to her.
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  • 14
    She went to my brother about it and told him I was being petty and ridiculous over a din cat He
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  • 15
    texted me saying I took it way too far and that I know she didn't mean it like that. I told him she's the one who set the rate.
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  • What strikes me as odd is the fact that the woman leaves her dog with her sister-in-law at all! She travels for work and for some girls' weekend, which means that her husband stays at home and doesn't go with her. Why isn't it an option for him to take care of the dog? After all, if they live together, beyond the fact that they may call it 'her dog,' the pet lives and belongs to both of them. If he's so offended with his sister and wants her to apologize, he could step in and take care of the dog himself, since, you know, the pet lives with him. I, for one, would never ask another person to watch my pets and leave them at their house if there's already someone at home who can take care of feeding them and making sure they are okay. It strikes me as a completely selfish attitude, both from the brother and his wife. If it were me, I would do the same as she did: demand to be paid for all the previous favors, and let them figure out how to take care of their own animals. After all, if they can't take care of them, they shouldn't have pets at all. 

  • 16
    Now she won't talk to me and my brother thinks I should just apologize and drop the whole thing. AITA?
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  • 17
    Cheezburger Image 10674154240
    via SoyBreno for Unsplash+

    Sisters-in-law.

    Not actual story subjects.

  • 18
    Adept_Event_9905 NTA. You walk her dog two times a day and change your whole morning for him. Feeding a cat is way easier and she knows it. Shes not confused, shes just cheap.
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  • 19
    ArrivalFantastic4324 Tell your brother that this is between you and SIL and I'd stop helping with her dog immediately since your brother can presumably help. Let her find out how much it costs to board it. NTA
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  • 20
    Proper_Layer3363 NTA. Your brother says she didnt mean it like that, so how exactly did she mean $50 a day? Dont apologize. Bright side, if shes not talking to you, she cant drop the dog off either.
    via Proper_Layer3363

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family drama AITAH brother dog sitting reddit story cheapskate sister in law family Reddit cheap brother's wife animals
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