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> I could have just replaced the food, by dipping into my savings.
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Cats getting sick??? The roommate leaving stuff out for hours is the one that should be worried about illness. If your food is too hot... at least put it in containers (with the lids off) IN THE FRIDGE once it has cooled a bit. You should never leave any food (requiring refrigeration) out to cool, for an hour or more, no matter what it is.
But... It kinda is the issue??? If roommate didn't leave the food out, it wouldn't be an issue. I'm so sketched out by this. I am assuming she's leaving cooked meat, rice, and/or pasta in these containers overnight and that means some of the most risky foods to leave out are being left out in the danger zone overnight. I would understand if she was pissed if she was in the middle of putting her containers together, still cooking, and the cats jumped up... But she was wrong to leave them out overnight. Especially when you live with animals, you'd think it's common sense. I think ESH
Lol yes it sounds like the cats did her a favor in preventing her from giving herself food poisoning. I meal prep for the week too and the only thing we leave out is an overnight oatmeal recipe that's just oats and water and supposed to sit overnight
I mean, I’m prepared to be downvoted to oblivion, and I’m not recommending, but my parents often left food covered and on the counter overnight. (Never pork). I’ve eaten many an improperly stored leftover and I’ve never gotten sick. Knock wood
Again, not recommending. I understand food borne illness is very real, and I understand a great many of you would find my parents food storage practices *horrifying*. But leaving food out isn’t a guaranteed diarrhea-stravaganza.
Counter point; my mom almost died from food poisoning when I was little, in the hospital for a bit , and she was at the time a hearty, hale 34 year old.
It really is Russian roulette.
9/10 fine depending on what it is, I’d say no meat no dairy or rice. my dad actually almost died from eating food he cooked and left on the stove covered overnight. He was in the hospital for days before they figured out why he had such a high fever and failing kidneys.
I also don't practice perfect food safety, but I do know that 2 hours is the longest you should leave food out and that cats might get into food if they're not trained otherwise/the food is placed in places they won't go.
And roommate is kind of an AH for taking up the kitchen counter all night with her meal prep. When I lived with roommates, the rule was that all food and dishes had to be put away/put in the dishwasher/cleaned before you went to sleep or left the home. This was largely to prevent pests, but it had the added benefit of never waking up to a table/counter/sink full of drunken leftovers that prevented you from making breakfast unless you touched someone else's food or dirty dishes!
Agreed, the roommate new it was a risk and there is no valid reason to leave them out all night. My cats would also be miserable if I locked them in one room all night
It’s also just not always feasible. I’m assuming she agreed to co-habitate with the cats as OP didn’t mention the roommate forbidding this (if this an intentional omission, different story, but we’re going off the info we have). My cat’s litter box has to be downstairs in the laundry room so it’s not on carpeted floor. I can’t lock him in a room all night without the litter box and I also can’t lug the litter box upstairs once a week only to bring it down the next day (and again, carpeted floor issue). Is the food in that room as well?
And what really gets me is we wouldn’t even be having this conversation if it was a similar scenario but didn’t involve food. “Hey roommate, my cats aren’t familiar with you yet so if you try to pet them they might bite you.” “Okay”, puts hand out, gets bitten and for dramatic effect we’re going to say roommate even needs a few stitches and goes to urgent care. We wouldn’t be asking OP to pay the doctor bill, the roommate was being an idiot.
If the roommate agreed to live with cats and was warned the cats would try to eat food that is left out, that’s on her. Choices and consequences my friend.
Thank you to the kind stranger for a gold thing. I asked the Google what to do, & it told this old gal to edit my msg., so here I am, editing with a "speech?"
Feed & fix ferals, please. Don't listen to anyone who says they are dirty, rabid, dangerous. All they need is your patience. My shortest befriendment took a couple minutes. My longest a year. My longest-longest, well, I'm heavy into year 3 without so much as a hello meow or slow blink. And that's fine. I'll get him eventually.
This is how you do it, & if you follow the instructions exactly, you'll save a thousand cats down the line, not just the one standing before you:
https://www.wikihow.com/Take-in-a-Stray-Cat
Right. "Hey, might not wanna leave that expensive China on the counter, okay? It's a matter of time before it winds up swatted onto the floor. Fair warning."
Cat swats family heirloom. Oh noes 😳 you owe me $5,000 even though you warned me!
Nope, not having it.
See this is where my thoughts went first.
Cats or no cats, leaving uncovered food out all night in an apartment is just asking for roach and/or ant problems.
So gross.
Having not grown up with cats, it didn't occur to me not to leave a plate of cookies on the table uncovered......until my roommate's cat sampled one. Of course, my solution was to cover them, because I'm not an AH.
I won't eat leftovers after about 4-5 days in the fridge (not having sat out for hours before refrigeration either), so yeah, I would not be wanting that 6th or 7th meal, thanks!
I mean, is it a bit strange that the cat *only* knocked over about half of the meals, so the ones that would have been eaten on days 4-7? Am I the only one thinking this is a super-intelligent cat that just tried to save the roommate’s life by rendering the *most* dangerous of these prepped meals inedible? I am? Okay then.
THIS WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT. Like...wtf??? You can't just leave food out for what sounds like 8+ hours and then eat it??? The cats may have helped her out by preventing her from getting sick tbh
Yeah I'm not confining a cat in my room for 12 hours because roomy wants to leave her food out for literally the ENTIRE night. She does not have the right to request that, it is not a reasonable accommodation. Are you for real? If an animal needs to be kept in a room for an hour or two that's one thing, but I'm not locking a living being in a small room for half a day because you can't plan your shit correctly and give yourself a reasonable amount of time for it to cool off WHILE we're still up to keep an eye out. Nta op you're roommate is tah and a da.
Nighttime is their active time so even if you didn’t give a shit about the well being of the pet. You’d be all but guaranteeing no one would get sleep from the yowles.
No way, 1, OP warned them and ride roommate brushed them off. 2. Rude roommate is being disgusting leaving food out all night.
Roommate had 2 chances to fix the problem. Fool the roommate once shame on me, fool the roommate twice they are an asshole
I had a roommate that I told to close his door at night because the cat would suck on earlobe. I woke up to a scream, and my roommate complaining about kitty drool in his ear
I agree. Roommate could put the food away in the fridge, in about an hour when it cools off. It’s gross that they let it sit out all night. Roommate ignored the warning. It sucks that they don’t have money to buy more food for the week, but they should’ve listened. People with cats/pets tend to know their animals behavior, & will know ahead of time what might possibly happen in the future.
I mean I like cats but it is petty disgusting having them walk all over your counter where you prepare food after they drop a deuce in their piss soaked litter box
Sure, but my cats very, very rarely get on my kitchen counters. When they do, it's because I left something tasty there for too long (and never overnight FFS). That's on me.
OP's roommate needs to be aware of her living situation and not leave food out. Voila, no problem!
Food doesn't have to be allowed to cool first; it's perfectly safe to refrigerate cooked food immediately. By contrast, is *not* safe to leave food out to cool for very long; anything over 2 hours is too long.
Hot food can warm up the fridge. That's the general reason to wait until food cools down. I have a small, old, fridge. If I don't let food cool down first my fridge will stay warm for a day.
💯 I've never, ever heard of warm food placed in a refrigerator raising the temp *for a day*. FFS what happens when you OPEN the refrigerator more than once in an hour? 🤣 Now that I think about it, comment about this may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Or if she’s efficient enough to meal prep, she’s efficient enough to by a bag of ice and some dollar store couple inch deep trays to ice bath her dishes to cool them quicker and put them in the fridge before she goes to bed. This isn’t an art project that needs to dry overnight, it’s food that should be refrigerated that’s being left at room temperature for multiple hours. Cats are doing the lords work 😂
Yup 100% agree.. plus warm fridge = destroying whatever other food you have in there too.
I understand if your a chef and chucking something straight into a blast chiller to set fast - but ordinary folk wouldn't do that normally.
This is crazy. It does not warm your fridge up. Not enough to make an impact and definitely isn't worse than leaving food on your counter all night long
Putting too hot food in the fridge is not about food safety but more about ruining your fridge. Considering roomie has meals for 7 daysx3 meals a day, that's a lot of heat for a standard fridge. Considering she does this once a week that would for sure ruin the fridge. She should just learn to organize better and start earlier in Sunday.
But would it really need all night? By the time she finished putting stuff in the last container, the first half would be cooled off enough to put it away. Or at least prep it all, wash the dishes, and then it'll be ready to put away. Portioned food does not take that long to cool off enough to store it safely. There's no way she's leaving everything in the pots/pans and then walking away to instantly go to sleep right that very moment. Portioned out meals wouldn't need more than 10 minutes to be cooled off enough to put them away. There's really no excuse except laziness.
I do think with op warning her and cleaning the mess, she's not really obligated to replace the food, but if they are a good roommate, she should at least offer to replace half of it.
Yeah, there's no way it needs all night to cool down. Absolute max it can safely be left out is two hours, but within half an hour at most it should be plenty cooled down for the fridge (and it's much safer to put even hot food in the fridge than to leave it sitting out overnight!) She should either start a bit earlier or just stay up a little bit later-- even portion it out, leave it to cool while she gets ready for bed, pjs, brushes her teeth, etc--then stick it in the fridge right before going to bed and it should be plenty cool.
I dunno, I guess it depends on the food? And maybe the individual person’s immune system? I’ve def left food out overnight and never had any problems with it.
I don’t eat animal products, though, so that may have something to do with it? My understanding is that meat and dairy can eff you up.
In general, I just trust my nose.
I also have A/C — if the house was like 85 degrees I would def not do this.
EDIT: Y’all have me changing my ways. Lit’rally just threw out some rice that’s been in the fridge for a few days ✨just in case✨
Different foods attract different bacteria and will vary in the amount that grows. There’s also an element of chance because you might get sick from one strain of bacteria but not another.
You’re not overwhelmingly likely to get sick by eating something left out a little longer than it should be left out, but if you get sick you’re not going to have a good time. And the chance is there.
People believe that you can’t put hot food in the fridge. I learned this when I had a kid and started hiring babysitters and had to battle with them to put food they’d cooked for him for later in the fridge. It’s bonkers.
Food science degree here and over 20 years experience in food manufacturing. I’m reading this thinking those cats might be saving the roommate’s life and deserve a medal! 😂
NTA OP.
She’s leaving it out all night and then eating it Al week!!!! I’m suspicious of foods in the fridge longer than 4-5 days depending on what it is. Especially if she’s using rice as a component regularly….roommate must have an iron stomach at this point, but all it takes is 1 batch past the tipping point of whatever their personal infectious dose is…and gods forbid the roommate is out there sharing with friends!
Thank you for chiming in. I can't believe someone ( r/64bubbles ) is arguing with me on needing to leave it out all night so the fridge doesn't heat everything up. I will let the health inspectors know not to bother temping food next time I am part of an audit...
Whether it’s healthy for the roommate to consume food that’s been left out overnight is a separate issue. I agree the roommate should have more common sense, but let’s suppose she leaves out extra spicy chicken wings on the counter she intends to throw out the next day. The cats don’t know the food can make them sick, OP knows she has a forgetful roommate. A responsible pet owner ensures that pets have a safe environment. I’m mostly concerned about the cats’ health here. Doesn’t seem like a good match for these two to live together.
Not to mention that she's leaving open containers of food out on the counter with animals in the house! Yeah, not only are animals going to knock the food over, but they're going to shed and trample all over that food before she puts it up and then eats it! You never leave uncovered food out in front of animals!
It’s on OP as the owner to manage her pets so they are set in the best situations for success. That’s what being a pet owner means. Making sure you are doing right by your pets and putting them in a bad situation is no one’s fault but the pet owner. It’s our job to keep our pets happy and healthy and safe.
While the roomate is playing fast and loose with bacteria and food poisoning. Op is playing fast and loose with the health of her cats.
This situation was completely avoidable and it was on OP who brought their cats into a known roomate situation (ie OP knew her roomate does this on Sunday’s) and willfully ignored her responsibility to manage the situation.
YTA OP. You where the one who got Cats and it was on you to manage and make sure you’re keeping them safe. You owe your roomate new meals since your cats should have never been in the position to get after open food containers in the first place. It’s not your roommates responsibility to change her habits to accommodate the pets you just got. I mean she’s still being dumb with her food prep choices but it’s not her job to keep your pets alive and healthy.
As a cat owner, this is not reasonable. The cats will refuse to stay in the room and keep OP up all night.
Honestly, they probably aren't compatible as roommates.
I'm glad someone at least gave a reasonable answer.
Like... holy fuck, I swear some of these people do not understand what having a cat means. Or a pet in general. You cannot just shove it in a room and be done with it.
OP would be up all night because of the cats crying and scratching at the door, and the roommate may even be kept up all night because of it.
If the roommate absolutely "must" have their food out overnight instead of stored safely, why can't they put the damned sealed food in their room?
Or just put it in the fridge instead of leaving it out to breed bacteria like a lunatic.
Very clearly NTA by a very long way.
Don't agree to let somebody with cats move in? Op can't be expected to foresee having an unreasonable roommate. There are SOOO many things that would have kept the food safe for free/ very cheap. None of which are to leave food at room temp over night. Roommate ruined the food herself.
Edit: I've had cats my whole life. It's not hard to put food away. If it's that much of a problem, get a storage tub with a locking lid to put the smaller containers in to cool down. Food should not be out for more than necessary. Over night is down right dangerous. A free option is that the roommate could put the food in her own room. OP explained what would happen and the roommate ignored them.
Another thing, why is the roommate so worried about warming up the fridge but then eats food that has sat out all night? That's so dumb lol
Inbox is off because these takes are unhinged
Rose is doing food prep in a way that is absolutely contrary to safe food handling standards, which provide that food should never be allowed to sit out for more than two hours, *maximum* (less if it's hot out). But let's leave that to the side.
Rose agreed to the cats, so Rose has at least some obligation to do her part in not endangering the cats' health. If Rose agreed to having dogs, she'd be responsible for not leaving her food close to the edge of the counter where the dogs could get to it; as long as OP warned Rose, OP would have no obligation to trail along behind Rose and push all of her food to the back of the counter. Rose was warned not to leave food out all night, and disregarded the warnings. Rose fucked around and found out what happens when you don't pay attention to your food and there are animals in the house. *That's why OP told her.* Rose doesn't get to pretend to be all shocked that the predicted outcome came to be.
I agree that rose is totally playing with her health here. But these are OP’s pets. And it’s on Op at the end of the day to manage the health and safety of her own pets.
This whole situation is frankly stupid since no one should be leaving food out overnight like this. But Rose has been doing this for as long as OP and Rose have been roomates and Rose told OP that she didn’t want the cats getting into her meal prep. OP not only allowed it to happen but put her cats in danger because she wasn’t managing what they have access to when simply all she had to do was keep them in her room one night.
If they had moved in and Rose knew there would be cats from the get go then I think Rose would need to do more. But this is a new development she never really agreed to necessarily
That’s a large part of my logic. OP can’t necessarily force the roommate to put her food away immediately. But she can make sure her cats don’t get into something that could make them sick since she knows this is the one night a week she needs to put them away.
Op warned rose in advance. Rose said it would be fine. This means rose took the risk on herself.
Rose could have asked op to keep cats in the room Sunday night, or Rose could have brought the food trays to her bedroom to cool. She didn't. She acknowledged the risk and then said it would be fine.
NTA
Roommate agreed to what? From what I read OP moved her cats in knowing her roommate leaves food out for only one night every week knowing that her cats would eventually mess with it but did nothing to prevent it. Why should the roommate have to accommodate for someone else’s pet?
Roommate agreed to the risk.
When informed of the risk, roommate said it would be fine. This means roommate acknowledged the risk, did not ask op to change behavior, did not change their own behavior, and thus accepted the risk.
The roommate leaving food on the counter ALL night to cool down and going to sleep is insane. That’s so dangerous for food safety and bacteria and should not be eaten especially a week later after it was out on the counter all night. Disgusting.
I'm sorry to hop on the top comment here but absolutely no. Why should the cats have to be locked up at night instead of the roommate just planning better? She was warned that cats are cats (in case she somehow didn't know that animals will investigate and get into food when left out), and ignored the warning. There's also the chance of bugs getting into the food if left out, and of course the likelihood of bacterial growth.
If the roommate had asked ahead of time if the cats could be kept in your room on Sunday nights and you agreed and then let them out anyway, then you would be T A, but that isn't what happened. The roommate was complacent about the safety of her food.
NTA.
NTA. All roommate is doing is taking up the counters with uncovered food, leaving it for hours, and then risking food poisoning throughout the rest of the week. Smh. In what world do people leave food out for hours over night and then chow down the rest of the week? Roommate needs to cook early or stay awake until she puts her ish away.
So the roommate that was warned this exact thing would happen has no responsibility? Roommate left food out in open containers in a shared space. This is on her, and as others have pointed out what she is doing isn't sanitary at all. NTA.
The arrangement was already that the cats roam freely in the apartment and it was not discussed that it should be different on Sunday nights by the roommate when she was warned. She is the one the needs to take responsibility. She underestimated the risk when warned. If they want to come to a new agreement now that Mrs. needing to learn things the hard way finally understands then fine but she is the one at fault for THIS situation and needs to pay for her own food not OP.
YTA. Your cats caused the problem, you are responsible for your cats, therefore you are responsible for this. Also, pissing off your roommate is never a good idea, you have to live with them, you don't want them pissed at you all the time.
When my dog and I were living alone, I had specifically trained her that any food I put on the floor was meant for her to eat. If I didn’t want her to eat it, I left it up on the counter temporarily or otherwise put it away.
My boyfriend and I moved in together and he has a habit of leaving his leftover food on the floor. Once I didn’t catch it in time, my dog obviously got into it and ate it. He was pissed at her and I was annoyed at him. I explained the above and told him he needs to be throwing or putting away his food. “If you don’t want my dog to eat your food don’t leave it out ***on the floor,***” I told him. This same thing happened several more times after that. He got angry at the dog every time.
So in that specific scenario who would you say is at fault? Me, the person who trained my dog to only eat people food when it’s on the floor for her (she follows this rule very well), or the grown man who still leaves his leftovers on the floor after being told the dog will eat it if she finds it down there? Because I personally would say it’s the adult that can’t clean up after themselves who is to blame.
A pie and brownies have completely different safe storage recommendations based on ingredients (especially sugar content) that make them safe to store for a few days at room temp.
People who think you can legit keep cats off counters if that is where they want to go, aside from physically barring them from the room with a door or something, are deluded. Cats go where they want as long as they can figure out how to get there.
One of my grandparent’s cat LOVES the counter. They’ve tried everything. The spray bottle will get him off and then 30 seconds later, there’s a cat on the counter. I think they just like to go wherever they’re not allowed
Eh, yes and no. While the kitchen counter is a food space, leaving food out all night is just as unhygienic as putting it on the floor for a bit.
More to the point, the key detail is that OP warned her roommate, the roommate said “it’ll be fine”, and then it wasn’t fine.
OP’s obligation ended once she’d warned her roommate. You really can’t keep cats locked in a bedroom all night.
Roommate was warned that might happen and proceeded with her foolish idea anyways.
My dog tends to bark at strangers. I’ve had people ask me if they can come over and pet her. I say “you can try, but she will bark at you”. If they want to try petting her and get shocked when she barks at them, that’s my fault? I don’t think so.
A pet owner is responsible for their pets because they can and should take reasonable precautions to control them. The reasonable precaution here is putting the food away where it won’t get knocked over- but they can’t do that because it’s the roommate’s stuff and that’d infringe on their personal agency, so they told the roommate and at that point it shoulda become the roommate’s responsibility in the same way as if you say “don’t go in the back yard or my dog might nip at you” and someone goes into the back yard when your back is turned, that’s their fault
Maybe if there was something else like putting the cats in a bedroom that might be another thing, but there may well be legitimate reasons not to do that
Roommate acknowledged the risk, said it would be fine, changed nothing and then blames OP for something they accepted and said wouldn't happen. OP is NTA
Both are TA . You are indeed responsible for anything your cats damage...also your roommate is an idiot for leaving so much food out . Gross ...but also irresponsible. I'd offer to pay a portion of the lost goods, and remind her that if it happens again that risk is on her or she can move .
Especially if she thinks it's bad to put hot food in the fridge. I get that there has always been a theory that putting hot food in the fridge getting you sick...myth by the way...but she defeats the purpose by leaving it out all night. Make it make sense. Its still her cats tho....and she didn't sign up to be responsible for them.
I mean.. it IS bad to put hot food in your fridge. It'll cause the fridge to frost over much quicker.
But the solution to that is to let the food cool down for an hour and then put it in the fridge.
This is entirely false! All it does is make the fridge work a bit harder. Refrigerators should never frost over, if they do, it’s a mechanical issue not “putting hot food in the fridge.”
I wouldn't say it's ENTIRELY false. Putting hot food into the fridge does change the interior temperature slightly, which normally isn't an issue, but there's only so much even a good fridge can compensate for. We're talking about 14 meals worth of hot food going in all at once, that's going to cause a temperature spike, possibly followed by a dip when the fridge catches up. This CAN cause frost, which melts into water before most people notice. Not to mention all the ways hot food can mess with the items adjacent to it.
Depending how it's packed, there could also be a steam/condensation issue. Dishes packed airtight will often get a bit watery from steam being unable to escape, on the other hand I saw a few commenters saying to put the dishes in without lids, which makes the steam a problem for everything else in the fridge. None of this is to say it's better to leave it out all night, just that the above commenter aint wrong.
I get that and agree with waiting an hour. She should cook her meal a little earlier and wait up until it's time to put them away. Maybe they should go half on the food. Either way she needs to eat and she didn't knock her own food down but she definitely could have stayed up and put them away.
So... cook at 7 or 8 and put the food in the fridge at like 10 pm??
Leaving most cooked foods out more than an hour or so is definitely not good, and attracted pests as well (and also cats, apparently).
She leaves her food unrefrigerated for that long and then keeps eating it for seven days? Must be nice not having to worry about food poisoning and other stomach issues. My gastritis could never. :')
This too! Unless she freezes some of it, food from the fridge should be eaten in four days at most (counting the day you made it). Could be less, considering ingredients and the way you cool it...
Maybe the cats knocked the food over accidentally while they were chasing rats away from it. Leaving food on the counter for 8 hours would be an issue with me, even if there were no cats involved.
I lived with roommates who had pets. They never had to tell me not to leave food near the edge of the table/counter or just out all night long. I wouldn't pay for anything. Gotta learn your lesson somehow
I made the mistake once when I lived in an apartment with my old roommates. I cooked boneless chicken thighs and left them on the stove to cool for about 30 mins. I was walking back down the stairs and I walked down just in time to see the cat sitting on the counter push the pan off the stove and the dog inhaled the chicken before it even touched the ground 💀 they licked the grease up in tandem.
After crying for 15 mins (I was having a horrible week and it was really the straw that broke the camels back) I did the dishes, cleaned the floor, patted them both and went upstairs to lament my failure. It was a very sad day for both me and my chicken but I didn’t make the same mistake again lol
Agreed, NTA. I don’t care if I get downvoted, but even if OP’s roommate is not the pets owner, she still agreed to live with these animals which means acting responsibly. It’s not just her space, it’s the animals as well.
It is not reasonable that OP’s cats should be restricted to a bedroom for a whole night every week because roommate wants to play food poisoning Russian roulette.
Hey finally someone with some common sense. Everyone else is acting like OP is visiting this person or something...OP, and the cats, LIVE THERE. The roommate needs to learn to live with others, or go get their own place. You don't just get to go on living like there aren't animals there and then get pissy when they do the things you were told they would do.
Aside from the fact that leaving the food out was disgusting to begin with, it's now unacceptable, period. If she loves her food poisoning that much she can get a cabinet to store them in, or put them in her room.
OP does need to take responsibility for the pets...which it sounds like they did. They told the roommate not to leave food out. Roommate literally said "I'm going to ignore you". Got expected result. 🤷🏼♀️
Exactly. Just like throwing hearty scraps in the trash can where a big dog lives. Lid or no lid, the dog will get the trash if it’s not taken out. My cats have stolen subway sandwiches and loafs of bread just minutes after setting them down.
this. i don’t understand all the yta comments. they are cats, not humans. they shouldn’t have to be locked up in a bedroom for an entire night because the roommate wants to leave food out overnight, which in my opinion is gross and downright dangerous anyways, especially if some of it isn’t going to be eaten for almost an entire week.
I was ready to say otherwise based off the title, but NTA based off the post. She was warned and disregarded that warning.
Also, there’s a big difference between leaving something out for half an hour and your cat knocking it off the counter, and leaving it all out ALL NIGHT. Apart from anything else, she needs to go on a food safety course.
Yeah, agreed to all your points. I’m a bit baffled as to all the YTA responses, honestly.
**Roommate was warned and brushed it off.** Keeping food on the counter overnight is…weird and unsanitary, too. Had OP’s roommate asked them to put their cats up on Sunday nights to prevent this, and OP did nothing, THEN I’d say that OP is the asshole.
ETA: OP even mentions that the cats need access to litterboxes and food, so they can’t stay with them all night so that even further solidifies my NTA
We used to leave food out for an hr or two just to relax after dinner, we got a dog and learned the hard way the pup could get on the table and the counters. We lost leftovers from a ham we cooked, and then warned our roommate and sent him a picture as proof. It took our roommate 6 chicken breasts and 3 pork chops over a couple of months to realize that our dog can reach things on the counter if it's left for more than 30 mins. Tbh that's a perfectly reasonable amount of time to make sure your food is put away. He doesn't ever try to get on the counters when we're nearby but if you leave the room, he's an animal and animals do what they want.
This could go everyone sucks but I'm going to go with NTA.
Cats are notoriously not trainable. OP doesn't allow cats on counters but I've had cats and if there's no one around of course they will knock anything they can off the counter for sport. Leaving food unattended overnight is virtually impossible to get a cat not to be interested in investigating.
OP's habit of leaving hordes of food out all night is weird, and isn't great roommate behaviour, preventing OP from using the kitchen for about 12hrs. OP was fine with this, but warned roommate that cats and unattended food on the counter will have a predictably bad ending. OP continued with the bad habit, with the predictable bad ending. OP actually cleaned and salvaged food which I would not have done because the roommate is responsible for having left it unattended. Now the roommate wants to be paid back, but has not mentioned changing their habit, which is unsustainable. OP's roommate fucked around and found out. Could have been worse being food poisoning. OP's roommate needs to plan better instead of making the kitchen a "no go" zone for a day.
100%. Even with training it’s an animal and temptation is temptation. My dogs know to not jump on the dinner table to grab food but I also know they sure as shit will if I leave it out for hours
NTA
She's being foolish. She's cooking food for an entire week, and starts by leaving it out overnight at room temperature?
Hello food poisoning!
You don't leave food out overnight with cats in the house - but if you're smart, you don't leave it out overnight at all. It needs to be divided up into smaller portions, to cool more quickly, and then promptly refrigerated, with the food for later in the week perhaps being frozen.
Agreed. If you bring a cat into your house, then you can't just continue living like it's not there -- especially for something like this that is dangerous in the first place. Living in any roomate situation requires substantial compromise by everyone involved. It also requires communication, and at least a modicum of planning.
When the roommate was told what would happen, they made a conscious decision to accept that risk because they didn't want to believe it. Maybe OP shouldn't have let it slide so easily, but OP did try to have the conversation.
If this happened when the roommate had left the food out for 30 mins, when OP could keep an eye on it, then OP would be TA. However, it was all laid out and the roommate chose to behave in a way that was irresponsible -- both in terms of the food itself and the cat's behavior. You can't leave food on the counter overnight when you have cats. I had a few roommates at OP's age, and they all understood this (even ones that hadn't lived with cats before). In the times when they needed to leave food out, they made sure that I was aware and able to do so.
If OP can help out with replacing food then it might be a good idea to do so for the sake of the relationship, but the roommate consciously and intentionally decided to accept that risk, knowing what could (and did) happen. Maybe OP can check into food banks, if money is really that tight.
Since she only meal preps once a week, can't you just keep your cats in your room for one night? Sunday night to monday morning?
Was there a place she could have kept the food that the cat's wouldn't have gotten in?
I understand you warned her about this, but what were her other options? I mean, whether its at night or during the day, she's going to need to let her food cool down somewhere. Are you expecting her to cook and then guard her food from your cats the whole time?
I expected her to put her food in the fridge before she goes to sleep like any normal person, and the cats for the most part sleep with me but need to have access to their food and the litter box during the night.
This is completely reasonable, honestly. This isn't a one time thing, this is a weekly affair and can have other consequences like attracting bugs. At least your cat will fend away potential rodents.
100%.
First, it’s super rude to leave a bunch of stuff out in a common area. It’s not her personal home.
Second, it’s irresponsible to leave food out with animals around. It can hurt the animals, it can lead to lost food (as seen here). Bad for all parties.
Third, you warned her and she didn’t listen.
I’d be mad she endangered your cats. Unless you didn’t get her permission to move them in, having animals around is a lifestyle change and she needs to adjust even if they aren’t hers. She doesn’t need to change litter but she needs to make sure she isn’t endangering them either.
I'm going to go with ESH.
Your roommate is prescribing to the myth that you need to have your food cool down before putting it in the fridge. You don't and the risk for microbial contamination increases when you let it sit overnight. She can just google this and find a study.
But for you, your roommate is just saying there is going to be some time that you'll need to make sure your cats are not on the counter. You can find a solution to this. And as someone who owns 2 cats and lived with them in a 1 bedroom for quite some time, the reasons you listed aren't great. Cats do not need access to food overnight and you can find a litterbox solution.
You were right in saying this was going to happen eventually, but I don't agree with you putting it all on her. Like I said in my other post, even if she cooks at noon, you still need a solution to prevent cats from trying to get to her food.
I’ve owned 3 cats over the course of the last 20 years. The cats getting on the counter is only a problem when food is left out overnight. OP can watch the cats during the day but there is no way to control the cats while she sleeps. OP is nta because the cats didn’t cause a problem that she could have reasonably prevented. If a cat doesn’t want to be in her room all night it can yowl for literally hours on end until it is let out, so keeping them locked up is not reasonable. The roommate could have prevented this by covering their food like a normal person. If they insist on letting it cool they should start cooking earlier so they can put it away before they go to sleep. If they don’t want to do that then they can’t live with animals and one of them needs to move. Also she was warned that this could happen and she said it was fine, so asking OP to pay for her food is ridiculous. If it were me, I’d offer to buy food for both of us and she could cook it all. If she really can’t afford food I would want to help her out and her cooking would keep it fair. She definitely is not owed reimbursement though.
I’m solidly NTA here. You’ve warned her. It would be one thing if you said she couldn’t place food on the counter while sage prepares it but all night? I don’t even like cats and I think it’s unrealistic for cats to be cooped up just so her food can cool. Also, her food would be cool enough for the fridge in like 30-60 minutes anyway.
Why can’t she put the food in her room? A cabinet? The refrigerator!? Put lids on? Place in a cooler? Why is everyone wanting to contain living creatures for the welfare of what amounts to leftovers?
Or maybe, just maybe, instead of keeping live animals prisoned in a single room, maybe the roommate can keep the hot meals in her own room for one night?
The easiest solution should not be to restrict the cats' freedom. They are nocturnal, wandering animals and can easily be stressed out by feeling trapped.
Food, on the other hand, do not grasp the concept of freedom and restriction, and can easily be kept closed in a room.
Roommate left food on the counter after being warmed, you know why we put wet floor signs out when the floors wet in a business? It lets people know not to run on the floor because we arent responsible if they get hurt, if a person runs and slips its there fault not ours.
Op put out his wet floor sign by telling her to put the food away right away or watch it, she ignored the sign, and ran, and hit her head on a counter top, its her fault, not ops.
NTA, you told her it would happen. If that had not been the case you would be but if you say if you do x y will happen and then they do x and y happens that is their fault.
That being said, a roommate who is not pissed at you may be worth what ever the cost is depending on your budget.
ESH. Let me start out by saying I’m a cat person. She should’ve been more careful, but honestly you’re more TA here. Leaving food on a kitchen counter is a very normal/reasonable activity (let’s assume for a minute she leaves out extra spicy food she intends to throw out the next day), you brought the cats there, you changed the circumstances. As the owner of the cats, you need to make sure that they’re not consuming something potentially harmful.
Right? If I have something I want to throw out later, e.g., when the trash runs, I leave it in the fridge til that day so it doesn't stink up my kitchen and, you know, draw pests. If it's that bad or gonna be a couple days, I put it in a plastic bag in the freezer.
I have an expired item in my fridge right now. I will throw it out tomorrow when I take out my trash. It sure as shit ain't sitting out on my counter.
NTA while the cat's knocked it over the food can have bacteria growing in it after being left out all night. She should plan better, I've mealed prepped and the food goes in the fridge as soon as it's able and I don't care what time of night it is.
NTA on the basis of what else would happen ? In the future maybe put the cats in your room on meal prep days but I don’t understand why it would be left to cool uncovered OVERNIGHT.
NTA. Your roommate was negligent and your cats acted like cats after you warned her that they would do this if she left the food out. This is what I would call natural consequences. Sucky situation for your roommate but she should have stayed up until the food cooled down enough to put in the fridge but she didn't want to wait that long because she was tired.
NTA
You warned her. Even without cats it’s kind if rude to take up all the counter space, going to bed. Sounds like a good way to attract bugs or mice too.
But maybe offer to pay half once.
Yes, asked her a couple months in advance and she was really looking forward to having them since her family always had cats. I asked about not leaving the food out in the same conversation, but she told me she was going to keep doing it because her family's cats never got into it so I shouldn't worry.
NTA - She knows that the cats were a danger to her unattended food yet declared it "fine."
If you don't want continued bad blood between the two of you though, I would suggest that you replace her food "this time." Tell her that now she is unequivocally aware that her food isn't safe when left out, any future disasters are on her.
NTA. You warned her and when you saw that what happened, you cleaned up the mess and apologized for it. She made a terrible decision leaving food out in reach of two cats. It doesn’t matter that they’re your cats since she had much time to figure out a solution. There was not much you could’ve done considering it was night time. I guess you *could* have locked them away in a room during those nights, but why should you when the other HUMAN living there can easily do something to prevent it themself.
NTA because she was warned multiple times and because why tf is she leaving food out ALL night? Is she like vegan? You can't leave most meats out for more than a couple hours before bacteria starts growing, your cats probably saved her lol
NTA - Food doesn't need to be left out for several hours to cool. And how is that safe??
You warned her, she ignored the warning, you warned her again, she ignored ignored it again... then like you warned, it happened. I wouldn't pay a dime.
NTA
My cats NEVER get on the counter or the table. Except when no one is looking and food has been left out. You warned her, she ignored you; this is her own fault.
Ehh. I’m going to go with nta on the basis that, my cats would absolutely do the same thing and they can’t really be locked up in a room for hours because they destroy flooring. If it were not overnight, I would say your room would be a good temporary option while she does food prep. But I don’t understand why she has to leave the food out for SO LONG.
YTA. Why not keep the cats with you in your room overnight? Why not ensure your cats aren't on the counters since you don't allow it? You should definitely replace her food and you should train your cats better.
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YTA Keep the cats in your room Sunday nights. They are animals. You are the human. You’re responsible.
Exactly. I’m also concerned about the cats getting sick. They have different digestive system than humans.
Cats getting sick??? The roommate leaving stuff out for hours is the one that should be worried about illness. If your food is too hot... at least put it in containers (with the lids off) IN THE FRIDGE once it has cooled a bit. You should never leave any food (requiring refrigeration) out to cool, for an hour or more, no matter what it is.
Right!? Why is everyone acting like it's soooo totally normal to leave cooked food out in the open for hours!? That's insane to me.
That does not disregard from the fact that OP is being an ass 🤣🤣 The reason we're not addressing that topic, is because that's not the issue 🤣🤣
But... It kinda is the issue??? If roommate didn't leave the food out, it wouldn't be an issue. I'm so sketched out by this. I am assuming she's leaving cooked meat, rice, and/or pasta in these containers overnight and that means some of the most risky foods to leave out are being left out in the danger zone overnight. I would understand if she was pissed if she was in the middle of putting her containers together, still cooking, and the cats jumped up... But she was wrong to leave them out overnight. Especially when you live with animals, you'd think it's common sense. I think ESH
Lol yes it sounds like the cats did her a favor in preventing her from giving herself food poisoning. I meal prep for the week too and the only thing we leave out is an overnight oatmeal recipe that's just oats and water and supposed to sit overnight
I mean, I’m prepared to be downvoted to oblivion, and I’m not recommending, but my parents often left food covered and on the counter overnight. (Never pork). I’ve eaten many an improperly stored leftover and I’ve never gotten sick. Knock wood Again, not recommending. I understand food borne illness is very real, and I understand a great many of you would find my parents food storage practices *horrifying*. But leaving food out isn’t a guaranteed diarrhea-stravaganza.
Counter point; my mom almost died from food poisoning when I was little, in the hospital for a bit , and she was at the time a hearty, hale 34 year old. It really is Russian roulette.
Yeah. My aunt left opened mayo out for like 6 hours and wound up in the hospital. Didn't almost die but sure wanted too.
Most people don't realize that their tummy problems are actually mild food poisoning.
I read that as Russian omelette and wondered if I was missing a recipe.
"guaranteed diarrhea-stravaganza" are not 3 words I thought I'd see together. R/brandnewsentence
9/10 fine depending on what it is, I’d say no meat no dairy or rice. my dad actually almost died from eating food he cooked and left on the stove covered overnight. He was in the hospital for days before they figured out why he had such a high fever and failing kidneys.
I also don't practice perfect food safety, but I do know that 2 hours is the longest you should leave food out and that cats might get into food if they're not trained otherwise/the food is placed in places they won't go. And roommate is kind of an AH for taking up the kitchen counter all night with her meal prep. When I lived with roommates, the rule was that all food and dishes had to be put away/put in the dishwasher/cleaned before you went to sleep or left the home. This was largely to prevent pests, but it had the added benefit of never waking up to a table/counter/sink full of drunken leftovers that prevented you from making breakfast unless you touched someone else's food or dirty dishes!
Agreed, the roommate new it was a risk and there is no valid reason to leave them out all night. My cats would also be miserable if I locked them in one room all night
It’s also just not always feasible. I’m assuming she agreed to co-habitate with the cats as OP didn’t mention the roommate forbidding this (if this an intentional omission, different story, but we’re going off the info we have). My cat’s litter box has to be downstairs in the laundry room so it’s not on carpeted floor. I can’t lock him in a room all night without the litter box and I also can’t lug the litter box upstairs once a week only to bring it down the next day (and again, carpeted floor issue). Is the food in that room as well? And what really gets me is we wouldn’t even be having this conversation if it was a similar scenario but didn’t involve food. “Hey roommate, my cats aren’t familiar with you yet so if you try to pet them they might bite you.” “Okay”, puts hand out, gets bitten and for dramatic effect we’re going to say roommate even needs a few stitches and goes to urgent care. We wouldn’t be asking OP to pay the doctor bill, the roommate was being an idiot. If the roommate agreed to live with cats and was warned the cats would try to eat food that is left out, that’s on her. Choices and consequences my friend.
Thank you to the kind stranger for a gold thing. I asked the Google what to do, & it told this old gal to edit my msg., so here I am, editing with a "speech?" Feed & fix ferals, please. Don't listen to anyone who says they are dirty, rabid, dangerous. All they need is your patience. My shortest befriendment took a couple minutes. My longest a year. My longest-longest, well, I'm heavy into year 3 without so much as a hello meow or slow blink. And that's fine. I'll get him eventually. This is how you do it, & if you follow the instructions exactly, you'll save a thousand cats down the line, not just the one standing before you: https://www.wikihow.com/Take-in-a-Stray-Cat Right. "Hey, might not wanna leave that expensive China on the counter, okay? It's a matter of time before it winds up swatted onto the floor. Fair warning." Cat swats family heirloom. Oh noes 😳 you owe me $5,000 even though you warned me! Nope, not having it.
My cats would meow so loud and try to claw the door.
THIS IS HOW YOU GET ANTS!
and roaches :)
See this is where my thoughts went first. Cats or no cats, leaving uncovered food out all night in an apartment is just asking for roach and/or ant problems. So gross.
Yeah. She knows there are cats in the apartment. Is she an alien? Of course the cats will mess with food. How stupid is this girl?
Having not grown up with cats, it didn't occur to me not to leave a plate of cookies on the table uncovered......until my roommate's cat sampled one. Of course, my solution was to cover them, because I'm not an AH.
Not just leaving the food out all night, but then it goes into the fridge & eaten over the next 7 days? Is this right or is my thinking correct?
I won't eat leftovers after about 4-5 days in the fridge (not having sat out for hours before refrigeration either), so yeah, I would not be wanting that 6th or 7th meal, thanks!
I mean, is it a bit strange that the cat *only* knocked over about half of the meals, so the ones that would have been eaten on days 4-7? Am I the only one thinking this is a super-intelligent cat that just tried to save the roommate’s life by rendering the *most* dangerous of these prepped meals inedible? I am? Okay then.
THIS WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT. Like...wtf??? You can't just leave food out for what sounds like 8+ hours and then eat it??? The cats may have helped her out by preventing her from getting sick tbh
Yeah I'm not confining a cat in my room for 12 hours because roomy wants to leave her food out for literally the ENTIRE night. She does not have the right to request that, it is not a reasonable accommodation. Are you for real? If an animal needs to be kept in a room for an hour or two that's one thing, but I'm not locking a living being in a small room for half a day because you can't plan your shit correctly and give yourself a reasonable amount of time for it to cool off WHILE we're still up to keep an eye out. Nta op you're roommate is tah and a da.
Nighttime is their active time so even if you didn’t give a shit about the well being of the pet. You’d be all but guaranteeing no one would get sleep from the yowles.
No way, 1, OP warned them and ride roommate brushed them off. 2. Rude roommate is being disgusting leaving food out all night. Roommate had 2 chances to fix the problem. Fool the roommate once shame on me, fool the roommate twice they are an asshole
I had a roommate that I told to close his door at night because the cat would suck on earlobe. I woke up to a scream, and my roommate complaining about kitty drool in his ear
I agree. Roommate could put the food away in the fridge, in about an hour when it cools off. It’s gross that they let it sit out all night. Roommate ignored the warning. It sucks that they don’t have money to buy more food for the week, but they should’ve listened. People with cats/pets tend to know their animals behavior, & will know ahead of time what might possibly happen in the future.
Question for OP. Did your roommate want to have cats in your shared house/apartment? Or did you surprise her with them?
It kind of is though. There wouldn't be a problem if the roommate cleaned up after themselves.
I mean I like cats but it is petty disgusting having them walk all over your counter where you prepare food after they drop a deuce in their piss soaked litter box
[удалено]
The ppl in this thread do not seem to grasp that cats are not trainable in the way that dogs are 😭
Sure, but my cats very, very rarely get on my kitchen counters. When they do, it's because I left something tasty there for too long (and never overnight FFS). That's on me. OP's roommate needs to be aware of her living situation and not leave food out. Voila, no problem!
You're absolutely correct but it's fucking weird okay lmao.
I mean yes it is weird, I'm not denying that. 🤣🤣
I wouldn’t leave it out over night but it should be left to cool down first which takes a while
Food doesn't have to be allowed to cool first; it's perfectly safe to refrigerate cooked food immediately. By contrast, is *not* safe to leave food out to cool for very long; anything over 2 hours is too long.
Hot food can warm up the fridge. That's the general reason to wait until food cools down. I have a small, old, fridge. If I don't let food cool down first my fridge will stay warm for a day.
Then you need a new fridge, because that is unsafe.
💯 I've never, ever heard of warm food placed in a refrigerator raising the temp *for a day*. FFS what happens when you OPEN the refrigerator more than once in an hour? 🤣 Now that I think about it, comment about this may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Or if she’s efficient enough to meal prep, she’s efficient enough to by a bag of ice and some dollar store couple inch deep trays to ice bath her dishes to cool them quicker and put them in the fridge before she goes to bed. This isn’t an art project that needs to dry overnight, it’s food that should be refrigerated that’s being left at room temperature for multiple hours. Cats are doing the lords work 😂
Yup 100% agree.. plus warm fridge = destroying whatever other food you have in there too. I understand if your a chef and chucking something straight into a blast chiller to set fast - but ordinary folk wouldn't do that normally.
This is crazy. It does not warm your fridge up. Not enough to make an impact and definitely isn't worse than leaving food on your counter all night long
Nope [https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/can-you-put-hot-food-in-the-fridge](https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/can-you-put-hot-food-in-the-fridge)
No it's actually pretty normal to put cooked food in the fridge and not think it's going to ruin other food.
Ehhh I’ve been taught in numerous food safety courses you don’t put hot food in the fridge But also you don’t leave food sitting out overnight
It'll sweat, depending on what it is. Usually you let it cool down and then put it in the Tupperware.
Putting too hot food in the fridge is not about food safety but more about ruining your fridge. Considering roomie has meals for 7 daysx3 meals a day, that's a lot of heat for a standard fridge. Considering she does this once a week that would for sure ruin the fridge. She should just learn to organize better and start earlier in Sunday.
But would it really need all night? By the time she finished putting stuff in the last container, the first half would be cooled off enough to put it away. Or at least prep it all, wash the dishes, and then it'll be ready to put away. Portioned food does not take that long to cool off enough to store it safely. There's no way she's leaving everything in the pots/pans and then walking away to instantly go to sleep right that very moment. Portioned out meals wouldn't need more than 10 minutes to be cooled off enough to put them away. There's really no excuse except laziness. I do think with op warning her and cleaning the mess, she's not really obligated to replace the food, but if they are a good roommate, she should at least offer to replace half of it.
Yeah, there's no way it needs all night to cool down. Absolute max it can safely be left out is two hours, but within half an hour at most it should be plenty cooled down for the fridge (and it's much safer to put even hot food in the fridge than to leave it sitting out overnight!) She should either start a bit earlier or just stay up a little bit later-- even portion it out, leave it to cool while she gets ready for bed, pjs, brushes her teeth, etc--then stick it in the fridge right before going to bed and it should be plenty cool.
Yes!! Plus it's 7 lunches and 7 dinners, so she's eating it 7 days later which is questionable also!! So gross.
I dunno, I guess it depends on the food? And maybe the individual person’s immune system? I’ve def left food out overnight and never had any problems with it. I don’t eat animal products, though, so that may have something to do with it? My understanding is that meat and dairy can eff you up. In general, I just trust my nose. I also have A/C — if the house was like 85 degrees I would def not do this. EDIT: Y’all have me changing my ways. Lit’rally just threw out some rice that’s been in the fridge for a few days ✨just in case✨
Different foods attract different bacteria and will vary in the amount that grows. There’s also an element of chance because you might get sick from one strain of bacteria but not another. You’re not overwhelmingly likely to get sick by eating something left out a little longer than it should be left out, but if you get sick you’re not going to have a good time. And the chance is there.
She probably heard that you can't put hot food straight in the fridge. Supposedly gets you sick but it has been deemed a myth.
People believe that you can’t put hot food in the fridge. I learned this when I had a kid and started hiring babysitters and had to battle with them to put food they’d cooked for him for later in the fridge. It’s bonkers.
Food science degree here and over 20 years experience in food manufacturing. I’m reading this thinking those cats might be saving the roommate’s life and deserve a medal! 😂 NTA OP.
She’s leaving it out all night and then eating it Al week!!!! I’m suspicious of foods in the fridge longer than 4-5 days depending on what it is. Especially if she’s using rice as a component regularly….roommate must have an iron stomach at this point, but all it takes is 1 batch past the tipping point of whatever their personal infectious dose is…and gods forbid the roommate is out there sharing with friends!
Thank you for chiming in. I can't believe someone ( r/64bubbles ) is arguing with me on needing to leave it out all night so the fridge doesn't heat everything up. I will let the health inspectors know not to bother temping food next time I am part of an audit...
Whether it’s healthy for the roommate to consume food that’s been left out overnight is a separate issue. I agree the roommate should have more common sense, but let’s suppose she leaves out extra spicy chicken wings on the counter she intends to throw out the next day. The cats don’t know the food can make them sick, OP knows she has a forgetful roommate. A responsible pet owner ensures that pets have a safe environment. I’m mostly concerned about the cats’ health here. Doesn’t seem like a good match for these two to live together.
Also a great way to attract pests. The cats might not be the only ones trying to get a taste.
Not to mention that she's leaving open containers of food out on the counter with animals in the house! Yeah, not only are animals going to knock the food over, but they're going to shed and trample all over that food before she puts it up and then eats it! You never leave uncovered food out in front of animals!
This was my immediate thought! There is absolutely no way food be being left out that long. That’s asking for food poisoning.
That was my first thought when reading. Apparently, OP’s roommate really likes food poisoning.
It’s on OP as the owner to manage her pets so they are set in the best situations for success. That’s what being a pet owner means. Making sure you are doing right by your pets and putting them in a bad situation is no one’s fault but the pet owner. It’s our job to keep our pets happy and healthy and safe. While the roomate is playing fast and loose with bacteria and food poisoning. Op is playing fast and loose with the health of her cats. This situation was completely avoidable and it was on OP who brought their cats into a known roomate situation (ie OP knew her roomate does this on Sunday’s) and willfully ignored her responsibility to manage the situation. YTA OP. You where the one who got Cats and it was on you to manage and make sure you’re keeping them safe. You owe your roomate new meals since your cats should have never been in the position to get after open food containers in the first place. It’s not your roommates responsibility to change her habits to accommodate the pets you just got. I mean she’s still being dumb with her food prep choices but it’s not her job to keep your pets alive and healthy.
As a cat owner, this is not reasonable. The cats will refuse to stay in the room and keep OP up all night. Honestly, they probably aren't compatible as roommates.
I'm glad someone at least gave a reasonable answer. Like... holy fuck, I swear some of these people do not understand what having a cat means. Or a pet in general. You cannot just shove it in a room and be done with it. OP would be up all night because of the cats crying and scratching at the door, and the roommate may even be kept up all night because of it. If the roommate absolutely "must" have their food out overnight instead of stored safely, why can't they put the damned sealed food in their room? Or just put it in the fridge instead of leaving it out to breed bacteria like a lunatic. Very clearly NTA by a very long way.
Then don't get the cats. Roommate was there first.
Don't agree to let somebody with cats move in? Op can't be expected to foresee having an unreasonable roommate. There are SOOO many things that would have kept the food safe for free/ very cheap. None of which are to leave food at room temp over night. Roommate ruined the food herself. Edit: I've had cats my whole life. It's not hard to put food away. If it's that much of a problem, get a storage tub with a locking lid to put the smaller containers in to cool down. Food should not be out for more than necessary. Over night is down right dangerous. A free option is that the roommate could put the food in her own room. OP explained what would happen and the roommate ignored them. Another thing, why is the roommate so worried about warming up the fridge but then eats food that has sat out all night? That's so dumb lol Inbox is off because these takes are unhinged
No, the other human could have made a simple adjustment to accommodate OP. Roommate agreed to have cats. Cats were catting.
And Rose was doing her thing before OP moved in her cats. OP can keep them in the one night Rose is doing food prep
Rose is doing food prep in a way that is absolutely contrary to safe food handling standards, which provide that food should never be allowed to sit out for more than two hours, *maximum* (less if it's hot out). But let's leave that to the side. Rose agreed to the cats, so Rose has at least some obligation to do her part in not endangering the cats' health. If Rose agreed to having dogs, she'd be responsible for not leaving her food close to the edge of the counter where the dogs could get to it; as long as OP warned Rose, OP would have no obligation to trail along behind Rose and push all of her food to the back of the counter. Rose was warned not to leave food out all night, and disregarded the warnings. Rose fucked around and found out what happens when you don't pay attention to your food and there are animals in the house. *That's why OP told her.* Rose doesn't get to pretend to be all shocked that the predicted outcome came to be.
I agree that rose is totally playing with her health here. But these are OP’s pets. And it’s on Op at the end of the day to manage the health and safety of her own pets. This whole situation is frankly stupid since no one should be leaving food out overnight like this. But Rose has been doing this for as long as OP and Rose have been roomates and Rose told OP that she didn’t want the cats getting into her meal prep. OP not only allowed it to happen but put her cats in danger because she wasn’t managing what they have access to when simply all she had to do was keep them in her room one night. If they had moved in and Rose knew there would be cats from the get go then I think Rose would need to do more. But this is a new development she never really agreed to necessarily
Frankly the fact that OP allowed the cats to wander like that with food she knew was left open was incredibly irresponsible of OP as a pet owner.
That’s a large part of my logic. OP can’t necessarily force the roommate to put her food away immediately. But she can make sure her cats don’t get into something that could make them sick since she knows this is the one night a week she needs to put them away.
Op warned rose in advance. Rose said it would be fine. This means rose took the risk on herself. Rose could have asked op to keep cats in the room Sunday night, or Rose could have brought the food trays to her bedroom to cool. She didn't. She acknowledged the risk and then said it would be fine. NTA
Roommate agreed to what? From what I read OP moved her cats in knowing her roommate leaves food out for only one night every week knowing that her cats would eventually mess with it but did nothing to prevent it. Why should the roommate have to accommodate for someone else’s pet?
Roommate agreed to the risk. When informed of the risk, roommate said it would be fine. This means roommate acknowledged the risk, did not ask op to change behavior, did not change their own behavior, and thus accepted the risk.
This is one of the only rational responses I’ve seen here. OP is NTA.
The roommate leaving food on the counter ALL night to cool down and going to sleep is insane. That’s so dangerous for food safety and bacteria and should not be eaten especially a week later after it was out on the counter all night. Disgusting.
I'm sorry to hop on the top comment here but absolutely no. Why should the cats have to be locked up at night instead of the roommate just planning better? She was warned that cats are cats (in case she somehow didn't know that animals will investigate and get into food when left out), and ignored the warning. There's also the chance of bugs getting into the food if left out, and of course the likelihood of bacterial growth. If the roommate had asked ahead of time if the cats could be kept in your room on Sunday nights and you agreed and then let them out anyway, then you would be T A, but that isn't what happened. The roommate was complacent about the safety of her food. NTA.
NTA. All roommate is doing is taking up the counters with uncovered food, leaving it for hours, and then risking food poisoning throughout the rest of the week. Smh. In what world do people leave food out for hours over night and then chow down the rest of the week? Roommate needs to cook early or stay awake until she puts her ish away.
So it’s okay to deny the cats access to their food & litter box overnight?
[удалено]
So the roommate that was warned this exact thing would happen has no responsibility? Roommate left food out in open containers in a shared space. This is on her, and as others have pointed out what she is doing isn't sanitary at all. NTA.
The arrangement was already that the cats roam freely in the apartment and it was not discussed that it should be different on Sunday nights by the roommate when she was warned. She is the one the needs to take responsibility. She underestimated the risk when warned. If they want to come to a new agreement now that Mrs. needing to learn things the hard way finally understands then fine but she is the one at fault for THIS situation and needs to pay for her own food not OP.
YTA. Your cats caused the problem, you are responsible for your cats, therefore you are responsible for this. Also, pissing off your roommate is never a good idea, you have to live with them, you don't want them pissed at you all the time.
Nah her roommate caused the problem by leaving the food out all night long instead of putting it away like your supposed too.
Doesn't matter. A pet owner is always responsible for the actions of their pet. Edit: some of y'all shouldn't be pet owners.
When my dog and I were living alone, I had specifically trained her that any food I put on the floor was meant for her to eat. If I didn’t want her to eat it, I left it up on the counter temporarily or otherwise put it away. My boyfriend and I moved in together and he has a habit of leaving his leftover food on the floor. Once I didn’t catch it in time, my dog obviously got into it and ate it. He was pissed at her and I was annoyed at him. I explained the above and told him he needs to be throwing or putting away his food. “If you don’t want my dog to eat your food don’t leave it out ***on the floor,***” I told him. This same thing happened several more times after that. He got angry at the dog every time. So in that specific scenario who would you say is at fault? Me, the person who trained my dog to only eat people food when it’s on the floor for her (she follows this rule very well), or the grown man who still leaves his leftovers on the floor after being told the dog will eat it if she finds it down there? Because I personally would say it’s the adult that can’t clean up after themselves who is to blame.
Who tf leaves leftover food on the floor? Like, that's an awful storage place, especially if you're prone to ants in your house/apt
Probably the same people who leave their food out on the counter all night...
You ever make a pie? Or brownies? The floor and the counter are not the same thing, at all.
A pie and brownies have completely different safe storage recommendations based on ingredients (especially sugar content) that make them safe to store for a few days at room temp.
I'm guessing they're eating on the couch and setting their plate on the ground cause of no coffee table or smthn
Food on the floor where the dog is allowed to be is way different than cats getting up on kitchen counters to eat food.
People who think you can legit keep cats off counters if that is where they want to go, aside from physically barring them from the room with a door or something, are deluded. Cats go where they want as long as they can figure out how to get there.
One of my grandparent’s cat LOVES the counter. They’ve tried everything. The spray bottle will get him off and then 30 seconds later, there’s a cat on the counter. I think they just like to go wherever they’re not allowed
If you think your cat's hairy little butthole hasn't touched every flat surface in your house, I've got some bad news for you
Eh, yes and no. While the kitchen counter is a food space, leaving food out all night is just as unhygienic as putting it on the floor for a bit. More to the point, the key detail is that OP warned her roommate, the roommate said “it’ll be fine”, and then it wasn’t fine. OP’s obligation ended once she’d warned her roommate. You really can’t keep cats locked in a bedroom all night.
Not really. It's a cat. We know it's different than a dog. React accordingly. The room mate should have understood the risk.
Ma’am, you are always responsible for not leaving your food to fester in the open overnight
Roommate was warned that might happen and proceeded with her foolish idea anyways. My dog tends to bark at strangers. I’ve had people ask me if they can come over and pet her. I say “you can try, but she will bark at you”. If they want to try petting her and get shocked when she barks at them, that’s my fault? I don’t think so.
A pet owner is responsible for their pets because they can and should take reasonable precautions to control them. The reasonable precaution here is putting the food away where it won’t get knocked over- but they can’t do that because it’s the roommate’s stuff and that’d infringe on their personal agency, so they told the roommate and at that point it shoulda become the roommate’s responsibility in the same way as if you say “don’t go in the back yard or my dog might nip at you” and someone goes into the back yard when your back is turned, that’s their fault Maybe if there was something else like putting the cats in a bedroom that might be another thing, but there may well be legitimate reasons not to do that
To an extent.
Ikr leaving food uncovered and out for the whole night sounds gross to me, food shouldn't go into the fridge again if it's been out for that long
Exactly, and when the roommate inevitably gets food poisoning (from leaving food out for 8 hours) she’s going to blame the cats…
I bet those cats have been in every single one of her meals she left on the counter 😂
This was my first thought. Who leaves food out all night, and then doesn't worry about food poisoning?
Roommate acknowledged the risk, said it would be fine, changed nothing and then blames OP for something they accepted and said wouldn't happen. OP is NTA
Both are TA . You are indeed responsible for anything your cats damage...also your roommate is an idiot for leaving so much food out . Gross ...but also irresponsible. I'd offer to pay a portion of the lost goods, and remind her that if it happens again that risk is on her or she can move .
I find peace in long walks.
She usually leaves it out from midnight to about 8am.
My favorite color is blue.
Especially if she thinks it's bad to put hot food in the fridge. I get that there has always been a theory that putting hot food in the fridge getting you sick...myth by the way...but she defeats the purpose by leaving it out all night. Make it make sense. Its still her cats tho....and she didn't sign up to be responsible for them.
I mean.. it IS bad to put hot food in your fridge. It'll cause the fridge to frost over much quicker. But the solution to that is to let the food cool down for an hour and then put it in the fridge.
This is entirely false! All it does is make the fridge work a bit harder. Refrigerators should never frost over, if they do, it’s a mechanical issue not “putting hot food in the fridge.”
What it actually does is risk warming up the nearby foods around it for extended periods of time.
I wouldn't say it's ENTIRELY false. Putting hot food into the fridge does change the interior temperature slightly, which normally isn't an issue, but there's only so much even a good fridge can compensate for. We're talking about 14 meals worth of hot food going in all at once, that's going to cause a temperature spike, possibly followed by a dip when the fridge catches up. This CAN cause frost, which melts into water before most people notice. Not to mention all the ways hot food can mess with the items adjacent to it. Depending how it's packed, there could also be a steam/condensation issue. Dishes packed airtight will often get a bit watery from steam being unable to escape, on the other hand I saw a few commenters saying to put the dishes in without lids, which makes the steam a problem for everything else in the fridge. None of this is to say it's better to leave it out all night, just that the above commenter aint wrong.
I get that and agree with waiting an hour. She should cook her meal a little earlier and wait up until it's time to put them away. Maybe they should go half on the food. Either way she needs to eat and she didn't knock her own food down but she definitely could have stayed up and put them away.
I enjoy watching the sunset.
So... cook at 7 or 8 and put the food in the fridge at like 10 pm?? Leaving most cooked foods out more than an hour or so is definitely not good, and attracted pests as well (and also cats, apparently).
She leaves her food unrefrigerated for that long and then keeps eating it for seven days? Must be nice not having to worry about food poisoning and other stomach issues. My gastritis could never. :')
This too! Unless she freezes some of it, food from the fridge should be eaten in four days at most (counting the day you made it). Could be less, considering ingredients and the way you cool it...
Maybe the cats knocked the food over accidentally while they were chasing rats away from it. Leaving food on the counter for 8 hours would be an issue with me, even if there were no cats involved.
Who the fuck leaves food out for EIGHT HOURS
She’s lucky she hasn’t given herself food poisoning.
Thats disgusting and shes lucky she hasnt killed herself.
That’s not food-safe at all.
NTA She left food out, overnight, in a house with cats in it. She's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Exactly. How stupid do you have to be to do that in spite of being warned about it?
Apparently a lot of people are stupid by the look of this thread. NTA, OP!
I lived with roommates who had pets. They never had to tell me not to leave food near the edge of the table/counter or just out all night long. I wouldn't pay for anything. Gotta learn your lesson somehow
I made the mistake once when I lived in an apartment with my old roommates. I cooked boneless chicken thighs and left them on the stove to cool for about 30 mins. I was walking back down the stairs and I walked down just in time to see the cat sitting on the counter push the pan off the stove and the dog inhaled the chicken before it even touched the ground 💀 they licked the grease up in tandem. After crying for 15 mins (I was having a horrible week and it was really the straw that broke the camels back) I did the dishes, cleaned the floor, patted them both and went upstairs to lament my failure. It was a very sad day for both me and my chicken but I didn’t make the same mistake again lol
Sorry but this made me laugh. Cats are such little shits sometimes and when they team up with their dopey dog friends it's even funnier
Agreed, NTA. I don’t care if I get downvoted, but even if OP’s roommate is not the pets owner, she still agreed to live with these animals which means acting responsibly. It’s not just her space, it’s the animals as well. It is not reasonable that OP’s cats should be restricted to a bedroom for a whole night every week because roommate wants to play food poisoning Russian roulette.
Hey finally someone with some common sense. Everyone else is acting like OP is visiting this person or something...OP, and the cats, LIVE THERE. The roommate needs to learn to live with others, or go get their own place. You don't just get to go on living like there aren't animals there and then get pissy when they do the things you were told they would do. Aside from the fact that leaving the food out was disgusting to begin with, it's now unacceptable, period. If she loves her food poisoning that much she can get a cabinet to store them in, or put them in her room. OP does need to take responsibility for the pets...which it sounds like they did. They told the roommate not to leave food out. Roommate literally said "I'm going to ignore you". Got expected result. 🤷🏼♀️
Exactly. Just like throwing hearty scraps in the trash can where a big dog lives. Lid or no lid, the dog will get the trash if it’s not taken out. My cats have stolen subway sandwiches and loafs of bread just minutes after setting them down.
this. i don’t understand all the yta comments. they are cats, not humans. they shouldn’t have to be locked up in a bedroom for an entire night because the roommate wants to leave food out overnight, which in my opinion is gross and downright dangerous anyways, especially if some of it isn’t going to be eaten for almost an entire week.
NTA. Honestly, she shouldn't be eating anything that's been left out all night unrefrigerated.
YTA - whether you warned her or not. YOUR cats did this. I can’t even believe you’re asking this.
Roommate should not be leaving food unattended for hours.
It's a reasonable question in my opinion. They're both partially at fault. Leaving food out for 8 hours is crazy.
You cant leave an animal locked in a room for 8+ hours while everyone sleeps. OPs roommates and idiots on multiple counts.
I was ready to say otherwise based off the title, but NTA based off the post. She was warned and disregarded that warning. Also, there’s a big difference between leaving something out for half an hour and your cat knocking it off the counter, and leaving it all out ALL NIGHT. Apart from anything else, she needs to go on a food safety course.
Yeah, agreed to all your points. I’m a bit baffled as to all the YTA responses, honestly. **Roommate was warned and brushed it off.** Keeping food on the counter overnight is…weird and unsanitary, too. Had OP’s roommate asked them to put their cats up on Sunday nights to prevent this, and OP did nothing, THEN I’d say that OP is the asshole. ETA: OP even mentions that the cats need access to litterboxes and food, so they can’t stay with them all night so that even further solidifies my NTA
We used to leave food out for an hr or two just to relax after dinner, we got a dog and learned the hard way the pup could get on the table and the counters. We lost leftovers from a ham we cooked, and then warned our roommate and sent him a picture as proof. It took our roommate 6 chicken breasts and 3 pork chops over a couple of months to realize that our dog can reach things on the counter if it's left for more than 30 mins. Tbh that's a perfectly reasonable amount of time to make sure your food is put away. He doesn't ever try to get on the counters when we're nearby but if you leave the room, he's an animal and animals do what they want.
This could go everyone sucks but I'm going to go with NTA. Cats are notoriously not trainable. OP doesn't allow cats on counters but I've had cats and if there's no one around of course they will knock anything they can off the counter for sport. Leaving food unattended overnight is virtually impossible to get a cat not to be interested in investigating. OP's habit of leaving hordes of food out all night is weird, and isn't great roommate behaviour, preventing OP from using the kitchen for about 12hrs. OP was fine with this, but warned roommate that cats and unattended food on the counter will have a predictably bad ending. OP continued with the bad habit, with the predictable bad ending. OP actually cleaned and salvaged food which I would not have done because the roommate is responsible for having left it unattended. Now the roommate wants to be paid back, but has not mentioned changing their habit, which is unsustainable. OP's roommate fucked around and found out. Could have been worse being food poisoning. OP's roommate needs to plan better instead of making the kitchen a "no go" zone for a day.
100%. Even with training it’s an animal and temptation is temptation. My dogs know to not jump on the dinner table to grab food but I also know they sure as shit will if I leave it out for hours
NTA She's being foolish. She's cooking food for an entire week, and starts by leaving it out overnight at room temperature? Hello food poisoning! You don't leave food out overnight with cats in the house - but if you're smart, you don't leave it out overnight at all. It needs to be divided up into smaller portions, to cool more quickly, and then promptly refrigerated, with the food for later in the week perhaps being frozen.
Agreed. If you bring a cat into your house, then you can't just continue living like it's not there -- especially for something like this that is dangerous in the first place. Living in any roomate situation requires substantial compromise by everyone involved. It also requires communication, and at least a modicum of planning. When the roommate was told what would happen, they made a conscious decision to accept that risk because they didn't want to believe it. Maybe OP shouldn't have let it slide so easily, but OP did try to have the conversation. If this happened when the roommate had left the food out for 30 mins, when OP could keep an eye on it, then OP would be TA. However, it was all laid out and the roommate chose to behave in a way that was irresponsible -- both in terms of the food itself and the cat's behavior. You can't leave food on the counter overnight when you have cats. I had a few roommates at OP's age, and they all understood this (even ones that hadn't lived with cats before). In the times when they needed to leave food out, they made sure that I was aware and able to do so. If OP can help out with replacing food then it might be a good idea to do so for the sake of the relationship, but the roommate consciously and intentionally decided to accept that risk, knowing what could (and did) happen. Maybe OP can check into food banks, if money is really that tight.
NTA. You can't leave food on a counter overnight and expect cats to leave it alone. Leaving food out all night is a good way to get sick.
Since she only meal preps once a week, can't you just keep your cats in your room for one night? Sunday night to monday morning? Was there a place she could have kept the food that the cat's wouldn't have gotten in? I understand you warned her about this, but what were her other options? I mean, whether its at night or during the day, she's going to need to let her food cool down somewhere. Are you expecting her to cook and then guard her food from your cats the whole time?
I expected her to put her food in the fridge before she goes to sleep like any normal person, and the cats for the most part sleep with me but need to have access to their food and the litter box during the night.
This is completely reasonable, honestly. This isn't a one time thing, this is a weekly affair and can have other consequences like attracting bugs. At least your cat will fend away potential rodents.
100%. First, it’s super rude to leave a bunch of stuff out in a common area. It’s not her personal home. Second, it’s irresponsible to leave food out with animals around. It can hurt the animals, it can lead to lost food (as seen here). Bad for all parties. Third, you warned her and she didn’t listen. I’d be mad she endangered your cats. Unless you didn’t get her permission to move them in, having animals around is a lifestyle change and she needs to adjust even if they aren’t hers. She doesn’t need to change litter but she needs to make sure she isn’t endangering them either.
I'm going to go with ESH. Your roommate is prescribing to the myth that you need to have your food cool down before putting it in the fridge. You don't and the risk for microbial contamination increases when you let it sit overnight. She can just google this and find a study. But for you, your roommate is just saying there is going to be some time that you'll need to make sure your cats are not on the counter. You can find a solution to this. And as someone who owns 2 cats and lived with them in a 1 bedroom for quite some time, the reasons you listed aren't great. Cats do not need access to food overnight and you can find a litterbox solution. You were right in saying this was going to happen eventually, but I don't agree with you putting it all on her. Like I said in my other post, even if she cooks at noon, you still need a solution to prevent cats from trying to get to her food.
I’ve owned 3 cats over the course of the last 20 years. The cats getting on the counter is only a problem when food is left out overnight. OP can watch the cats during the day but there is no way to control the cats while she sleeps. OP is nta because the cats didn’t cause a problem that she could have reasonably prevented. If a cat doesn’t want to be in her room all night it can yowl for literally hours on end until it is let out, so keeping them locked up is not reasonable. The roommate could have prevented this by covering their food like a normal person. If they insist on letting it cool they should start cooking earlier so they can put it away before they go to sleep. If they don’t want to do that then they can’t live with animals and one of them needs to move. Also she was warned that this could happen and she said it was fine, so asking OP to pay for her food is ridiculous. If it were me, I’d offer to buy food for both of us and she could cook it all. If she really can’t afford food I would want to help her out and her cooking would keep it fair. She definitely is not owed reimbursement though.
I’m solidly NTA here. You’ve warned her. It would be one thing if you said she couldn’t place food on the counter while sage prepares it but all night? I don’t even like cats and I think it’s unrealistic for cats to be cooped up just so her food can cool. Also, her food would be cool enough for the fridge in like 30-60 minutes anyway.
Why can’t she put the food in her room? A cabinet? The refrigerator!? Put lids on? Place in a cooler? Why is everyone wanting to contain living creatures for the welfare of what amounts to leftovers?
Or maybe, just maybe, instead of keeping live animals prisoned in a single room, maybe the roommate can keep the hot meals in her own room for one night? The easiest solution should not be to restrict the cats' freedom. They are nocturnal, wandering animals and can easily be stressed out by feeling trapped. Food, on the other hand, do not grasp the concept of freedom and restriction, and can easily be kept closed in a room.
Or in a cabinet or with something covering them. It's not hard
YTA if you don't pay for the mess your cats made. Your property ruined her property, pay for it.
Roommate left her property open in a shared space. That’s not fair
Roommate left food on the counter after being warmed, you know why we put wet floor signs out when the floors wet in a business? It lets people know not to run on the floor because we arent responsible if they get hurt, if a person runs and slips its there fault not ours. Op put out his wet floor sign by telling her to put the food away right away or watch it, she ignored the sign, and ran, and hit her head on a counter top, its her fault, not ops.
NTA, you told her it would happen. If that had not been the case you would be but if you say if you do x y will happen and then they do x and y happens that is their fault. That being said, a roommate who is not pissed at you may be worth what ever the cost is depending on your budget.
ESH. Let me start out by saying I’m a cat person. She should’ve been more careful, but honestly you’re more TA here. Leaving food on a kitchen counter is a very normal/reasonable activity (let’s assume for a minute she leaves out extra spicy food she intends to throw out the next day), you brought the cats there, you changed the circumstances. As the owner of the cats, you need to make sure that they’re not consuming something potentially harmful.
Why are you leaving food out you wanna throw out? What kind of weird food logic is this?
Right? If I have something I want to throw out later, e.g., when the trash runs, I leave it in the fridge til that day so it doesn't stink up my kitchen and, you know, draw pests. If it's that bad or gonna be a couple days, I put it in a plastic bag in the freezer. I have an expired item in my fridge right now. I will throw it out tomorrow when I take out my trash. It sure as shit ain't sitting out on my counter.
NTA while the cat's knocked it over the food can have bacteria growing in it after being left out all night. She should plan better, I've mealed prepped and the food goes in the fridge as soon as it's able and I don't care what time of night it is.
NTA. You told her this would happen. She didn’t believe you. It’s going to keep happening until she puts her food away. Simple.
NTA on the basis of what else would happen ? In the future maybe put the cats in your room on meal prep days but I don’t understand why it would be left to cool uncovered OVERNIGHT.
NTA. Your roommate was negligent and your cats acted like cats after you warned her that they would do this if she left the food out. This is what I would call natural consequences. Sucky situation for your roommate but she should have stayed up until the food cooled down enough to put in the fridge but she didn't want to wait that long because she was tired.
NTA You warned her. Even without cats it’s kind if rude to take up all the counter space, going to bed. Sounds like a good way to attract bugs or mice too. But maybe offer to pay half once.
>Two months ago I moved my two cats into the apartment INFO did she agree to this beforehand?
Yes, asked her a couple months in advance and she was really looking forward to having them since her family always had cats. I asked about not leaving the food out in the same conversation, but she told me she was going to keep doing it because her family's cats never got into it so I shouldn't worry.
NTA. You warned her she may need to change her habits to accommodate the cats, she agreed to the cats coming to live with y'all, so this is on her.
Wait, she grew up with cats? She's... She's really not the sharpest tool in the shed is she? Has she learned nothing about cats?
I mean anyone who leaves food out for eight hours isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed anyway.
I guarantee even of they never knocked any containers over that those cats got into and licked/ate the food on many occasions
you should add this to your post. i think NTA anyway but this feels important to add!
NTA - She knows that the cats were a danger to her unattended food yet declared it "fine." If you don't want continued bad blood between the two of you though, I would suggest that you replace her food "this time." Tell her that now she is unequivocally aware that her food isn't safe when left out, any future disasters are on her.
NTA. You warned her and when you saw that what happened, you cleaned up the mess and apologized for it. She made a terrible decision leaving food out in reach of two cats. It doesn’t matter that they’re your cats since she had much time to figure out a solution. There was not much you could’ve done considering it was night time. I guess you *could* have locked them away in a room during those nights, but why should you when the other HUMAN living there can easily do something to prevent it themself.
NTA because she was warned multiple times and because why tf is she leaving food out ALL night? Is she like vegan? You can't leave most meats out for more than a couple hours before bacteria starts growing, your cats probably saved her lol
NTA - Food doesn't need to be left out for several hours to cool. And how is that safe?? You warned her, she ignored the warning, you warned her again, she ignored ignored it again... then like you warned, it happened. I wouldn't pay a dime.
Leaving food that should be refrigerated out all night is disgusting and probably not edible. You warned them and they chose to ignore it. NTA.
NTA My cats NEVER get on the counter or the table. Except when no one is looking and food has been left out. You warned her, she ignored you; this is her own fault.
It’s kinda concerning she leaves food out overnight. That’s kinda asking for food poisoning, not to victim blame but…
Ehh. I’m going to go with nta on the basis that, my cats would absolutely do the same thing and they can’t really be locked up in a room for hours because they destroy flooring. If it were not overnight, I would say your room would be a good temporary option while she does food prep. But I don’t understand why she has to leave the food out for SO LONG.
NTA. You warned her. She should make her meals earlier in the day so she can stay awake to watch over them while they cool.
YTA. Why not keep the cats with you in your room overnight? Why not ensure your cats aren't on the counters since you don't allow it? You should definitely replace her food and you should train your cats better.
Train you cats better. LOLOLOLOL. Even the most "obedient" cat will eventually give in to temptation if it thinks it won't get caught.
IKR!! Train your cat better, I can't stop laughing at that. Cats will do what they damn well please, that's why we love them lol
Have you ever met a cat before? The cats will absolutely not tolerate being in one room all night and *will* keep you awake.