I'm a college student (20F) and one of my roommates (19F) bought a kitten this fall. We live in a house with 7 people, and another one of them has a well cared for cat, so I know what healthy cat behavior looks like. The kitten has grown to be about 8 months old and after living with her and the owner I'm noticing some serious problems in the cats treatment and behavior.
To start, the kitten was constantly locked in my roommates bedroom for entire days at a time. Throughout her whole kittenhood it was very common to come home and hear her yowling from the basement bedroom where she would be alone for 12+ hours sometimes. As she's gotten older, we convinced the roommate to let the cat in common spaces, so she's not as often left alone but I think the effects on her personality are still present. My roommate is constantly complaining about not having money. She refuses to get the cat spayed, microchipped, taken to the vet or even to buy her a collar. If she ever gets outside there is no chance in hell we will ever find her, she'll become a breeding feral cat. The cat is constantly eating food out of the trash which causes her to throw up and also leaves a mess in the kitchen, and when she doesn't do that she is eating the other cats food, my roommate just laughs and thinks its funny and never cleans up the messes the cat makes. She does a poor job cleaning its litter box, so the cat is always using the other cats litter box instead. She often jumps on the stovetop while we're cooking and there are open flames and we've told our roommate that this behavior will get the cat hurt and that she needs to be trained but my roommate just says she can't train her. The cat is constantly drinking out of our water cups when we leave them on the table which makes me doubt my roommate gives her fresh water everyday like she says she does. She hasn't cut her claws in 6 months, so the cat has scratched everyone on many occasions, and she doesn't do anything when we ask her to cut them. The cat has started getting heat every month and my roommate thinks its hilarious and won't get her spayed, again because she's "broke" even though she has enough money for new clothes, drugs and boba whenever she wants. The cat also gets thrown around and kicked constantly, but always in the guise of it being funny. I've noticed that she shrinks away from everyone who tries to pet her and when she walks by a foot she arches her back and sprints away from fear. She also has really bizarre behavior sometimes where she'll sprint throughout the house and run into walls or just jump in the air in panic even though nothing is happening. The cat is treated like an accessory by my roommate, shell pick her up and cuddle her when she feels like it but usually just ignores her entirely and doesn't take responsibility. Whats more, the cat is extremely small, probably the size of a healthy 4 month old at 8 months, I think her growth is stunted from the neglect.
To give an idea of what my roommate is like she pretty much can't even take care of herself. She usually cooks food and leaves all her dishes and trash sitting around for the rest of us to clean up. I covered her rent once last May and she still hasn't paid me back even though I mention it constantly and its been 9 months. She lies compulsively and whenever we confront her about her behavior she denies it entirely or doesn't do anything. That brings me back to the cat. I really have two choices, I could mind my own business and wish the cat luck, or I could take it and bring it to a shelter by my house. Talking to her directly isn't really an option just because I know 100% that she will not do anything differently and then I definitely couldn't take it to the shelter because she would know that it was me. The shelter is one that I volunteer at, so I know that they take really good care all their cats. They spay and microchip them and then perform background checks and interviews with all adopters, so I trust that the cat would be put in a better home. However, I still feel slimy about the idea of secretly taking her cat to the shelter, I just feel like its not my place. I really can't tell if I should just leave the situation alone, because I'm fearful that she'll find out I brought it to the shelter and call the cops or something, or maybe I'm overthinking everything. I'm just a really non confrontational person so I'd love someone else's opinions on what to do. Thanks for reading
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/f6fugw/roommate_is_neglecting_and_abusing_cat_do_i_take/
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