Dear Lisi: My neighbour asked me to watch her cat while she went to see an aunt overseas for 10 days. The deal was that I would go into her apartment in the morning, give the cat fresh food, water and milk from her fridge, and just let the cat know that someone was caring for it. She has a special cat door to her ground floor patio, so the cat can come and go as it pleases.
She also asked me to check on the cat before I went to bed for the night, no matter what time, again just to let the cat know someone was around.
Everything was fine for the first five days. On the sixth morning, the cat wasn’t home when I went to check on her. I put out fresh food and water, called her name, but had to get to work. I went straight over after work and noticed that the food hadn’t been touched and the cat was still missing. I sent my neighbour a message via WhatsApp, but she didn’t reply. The same thing happened on day seven — still no cat and no word from the neighbour. The next morning, when I went into the apartment, I found the cat in a terrible state, barely conscious and bleeding from several wounds. I took it straight to the emergency vet care and explained the situation.
They kept the cat overnight, but now want me to come get her and pay a large sum of money. My neighbour still hasn’t responded and won’t be home until tomorrow. But the vet is insisting I pick up the cat today. What do I do?
Cat-sitting
I wasn’t able to respond to this person in time, though she did what I would have suggested. She is obviously a good person, accepting to care for a neighbour’s pet for a long period of time. And though she says she’s not a cat person, she is a caring, loving human, which was obvious in her care and concern for this animal.
She managed to explain the situation to the emergency vet, who have record of the cat’s owner. She agreed to give the vet some of the money in good faith that the owner would both reimburse her AND pay off the rest of her bill. I think she was lucky that they agreed.
The owner did return a day later than expected (a travel mishap on her end) and was beyond grateful to the vet and the neighbour for taking care of her pet. She has reimbursed everyone, and this story has a happy ending.
FEEDBACK Regarding the parents with seven properties and six kids (April 19):
Reader — “I was disappointed and surprised by your response to these parents. Your response was ‘you’re alive, children are greedy.’ The parents have gifted their children properties of significantly different value, one child inherited two properties worth the same as four properties divided between four children, which means they’re each getting 25 per cent of the value of the one ‘chosen sibling.’
“Of course they’re upset! The parents are clearly favouring one child over the other five! If they wanted to gift the properties, they could make it even by gifting something else of comparable value or a dollar amount, but the approach should be an equal amount for each child, I would think. Based on the article all six children have done well and been good kids, so why are some getting the (relative) shaft?
“Is it ‘greedy children’ or are the parents a little out to lunch to think that this would not cause a rift? My thoughts are the latter.”
Lisi – I believe the parents explained themselves clearly as to why each child received what they received. Let’s be clear – EACH child received a fully paid for property. As a gift! What difference does it make how much it’s worth? It’s a gift! That’s a lot more than many people receive from their deceased parents, and these parents are alive and well.
I still think these adult children are greedy and ungrateful.
FEEDBACK Regarding the woman allergic to her friend’s dogs (May 1):
Reader — “I am severely allergic to animals, and like this woman in the column, it affects my breathing. The method you recommended wouldn’t work for me. The allergens get into crevices, furniture and cannot be thoroughly removed even with an in-depth cleaning and open windows. I am older and have concluded that unless someone has a severe allergy or has a family member that deals with this daily, they cannot fully understand the ramifications.”
Lisi Tesher is an advice columnist based in Toronto. Send your questions to [email protected]
