Friend Fails Pet-Sitting Test: AITA for Leaving Aggressive Cat with Negligent Pal?

AITA for leaving my friend stranded with my aggressive cat during pet sitting? Discover the debate over responsibility and urgency in this challenging situation.

Damjan

Published in Interesting
1 Apr 2026

Friend Fails Pet-Sitting Test: AITA for Leaving Aggressive Cat with Negligent Pal?

A week-long business trip turned into a pet-sitting disaster when one cat, one open door, and one very unhelpful friend collided.

In this Reddit story, a 28-year-old man left his aggressive cat, Whiskers, with his friend Sarah, who insisted she could handle the job because she loves animals and volunteers at shelters. Instead, Whiskers scratched her, then escaped after Sarah left the door open, and things got worse when she said she had other plans instead of helping search.

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Now he is wondering whether cutting his trip short was an overreaction, or whether Sarah’s negligence crossed the line. Read on.

Original Post

I (28M) recently went on a week-long business trip and asked my friend, let's call her Sarah, to pet-sit my cat, Whiskers. Whiskers is an aggressive cat due to past trauma and doesn't get along with strangers.

However, Sarah insisted she could handle it since she loves cats. For background, Sarah is a huge animal lover and often volunteers at shelters.

She always posts about animals on social media and seemed excited to help me out. I gave Sarah detailed instructions on how to care for Whiskers, including not approaching her too quickly and letting her come to you first.

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I emphasized the importance of giving her space. A few days into my trip, Sarah messaged me saying that Whiskers scratched her when she tried to pet her.

She asked if she could bring her friend over to help, but I knew that would stress Whiskers out even more. Later, Sarah sent another message saying she accidentally left the door open, and Whiskers escaped.

I was panicking since Whiskers has never been outside. I immediately asked Sarah to search for Whiskers, but she said she had plans and couldn't at that moment.

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Feeling helpless and worried about my cat, I decided to cut my trip short and rushed back home to search for Whiskers. Turns out, Whiskers had only gone a few houses down and a neighbor found her.

When I confronted Sarah about the door incident and her lack of urgency, she got defensive and said accidents happen. So, AITA for leaving my friend stranded with my aggressive cat during pet sitting?

I honestly don't know if I overreacted or if Sarah was truly negligent.