He has bought one bag of food for them the entire time that we ve had them (8 months), refuses to clean out the litter box (he s even gone as far as demanding his cat stay outside [they re inside/outside] so he can say that his cat doesn t use the litter box therefore he shouldn t have to buy litter or help clean it out), and just plain refuses to pay for basic necessities for his cat.
My other roommate and I, of course, aren t going to let his cat use a dirty litter box and risk an infection nor are we going to let him starve so we ve been paying for and taking care of everything, but it can get expensive with three growing cats.
When confronted about it the roommate just gets angry and yells and/or makes empty promises to do better. I m running out of patience but I have no idea what to do. Any advice?
Answer:
Science Time: There is no such thing as an "inside/outside" cat. That's called a neglectful/abusive owner. Please find three homes for these poor things.
If you are having trouble paying for three cat's litter and food between two of you, what will you do when they come in from outside, after being hit by a car, mauled by a racoon, or ill from FeLV or the myriad of other diseases they will get outdoors? You shorten their lives by many years, unfairly because you decided they "want" to be outside. Cats don't just get sick because they go outside, either.
They can get injured or an illness at any time - and vet bills are a lot more than the cost of food and litter. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford a cat, and it's not fair to the cat. (I'm assuming you already paid the cost of neuter/spaying?)
Call the local rescue organizations. Perhaps one of them will let you two be "fosters" and let you take the cats to adoption fairs, where people must prove adequate income to take care of a cat, plus sign a pledge never to let the cat outside.
busterwaymycat: this is a human problem. you have a roommate who is refusing to see things from another viewpoint. My conclusion is that he is not a good roommate, so you either have to get a new roommate, or live with it, or create a huge fight which likely will end up with one or the other of the first two options when all is said and done. roommates can be difficult.
Anonymous: If you or your other roommate own the place, kick him out! You could
put the litter box on his bed and make him clean up after them. You
could call animal control on him and you could keep the cat.
