Okay so I live in a small house with 3 bedrooms. I used to have two roommates (so we each used a room) but now I only have one. My roommate has a cat and when we had 3 people living here, my roommate kept the cats litterbox in her room. When our other roommate left we turned the extra room into an office/guest room/bonus room. My desk and computer and rug and some clothes are in that room and her daybed, records/record player, walking pad, and some of her clothes are also in that room. Since having this bonus room I’ve really enjoyed it! I sit in the room regularly to read and use my desk/computer to do all of my schoolwork which has been nice having a separate space for. A couple weeks ago, her cat ate a toy and had to get abdominal surgery done to remove it and during that time period she moved his food and litter box to the bonus room (because her room was upstairs) and I was all about it! It was a stressful time and I did all that I could to help. Fast forward to now, the cat has totally healed and goes up to her room with ease all the time. I wanted to be a good friend/roommate and just let the litter box be but it stinks so bad 😭 I’ve never known a cat that could make such stinky poops. My BF at one point had two cats living in his small apartment and they never smelled even close to as bad as this cats poops do. When he poops it stinks up the hallway and carries through the living room. The bonus room that I was using regularly is honestly unusable. I hate going in there to even get or put away clothes because it smells so bad. I think she tried to use some sort of spray to help but it honestly just makes it worse to me. So I’m now trying to figure out if I would be an asshole for asking her to move it back? On one hand it’s her cat/her responsibility but on the other hand it is a bonus room and she’s had to live with it in her room for years so I feel bad. Idk why but it’s consuming my thoughts and irritating me every time I walk past the room. What do you guys think? Should I ask her to move it or just suck it up? I feel really guilty because she has a lot of stuff going on with her family too, she’s just going through a hard time and I don’t want to add anything else to her plate. Any advice would be helpful!
I would say NTA. It’s her cat. If you don’t want the smell in the shared space I don’t think you should have to have it
YWNBTA to ask. It was the previous set up anyway so should hopefully be fine.
NTA. She needs to check her cat’s diet and see if there’s a better food that makes it less stinky. Is there a laundry room/utility room/extra bathroom that the box could be moved to?
Definitely check the food. High quality food can work wonders. Sure, poop always stinks but the cheap food usually makes it worse.
The bonus room is for both of you to use. The cat’s smelly poop is preventing you from using it. The cat’s not paying rent and it has recovered from its surgery so it can go back to dropping a deuce in its owner’s room. You haven’t even asked your roommate yet so they aren’t being an asshole. You wouldn’t be one for asking. NAH.
INFO: Do you two share this bonus room equally? Because from what you describe, before the cat’s litter box moved in, your roomie didn’t get much use out of this room at all, beyond storing some of her things.
You are both paying for half of this room, right?
I don’t know what the answer is with the litter box — stinky litter boxes are disgusting — but I wonder if you were sort of taking over the room as your home office, when it is a shared room.
We split the rent equally for the whole house so yes the bonus room is equally ours. There was a period of time where she would walk on her walking pad every day in there but she hasn’t done that in a while.
As long as the room is just as available to your roommate and you haven’t in any way taken over, then NTA. It’s her cat — the smelly litter box shouldn’t be in the shared room.
Owning a cat with roommates is often tricky because of the damn litter box. No one wants a litter box in their bedroom, but the non-pet owners shouldn’t have to deal with the smell. The situation, well, stinks.
May I ask you a serious question? Why is the box not in the bathroom? That’s where poops go. <3
Why don’t y’all use a random closet? That’s what I’ve always done. Never once have I smelt it or other people. My partner was shocked when I showed him where I kept the litter box before we moved in together because he never smelled it. You just tuck it in a closet, try to avoid fabrics and other degradable materials that will soak up the scent being in there, and bada bing bada boom. Smell free, happy roommates.
NTA. It’s your shared space, and it smells awful, that’s a valid reason. Just tell her nicely that since her cat’s recovered, you’d like the litter box back in her room because the smell makes the bonus room unusable.
Soo theres the alternative where you can say, “hey Ive really enjoyed us both having this extra space, I’m glad that (cat name) has recovered but the litter box smell is sooo strong. Can you please make sure you are cleaning it every day? Or you could move it back into your room?” Often when ppl have cats they become immune to the stink in not even kidding so if shes been used to it in her room she probably doesnt realize how bad it is. You could also make it a problem you both solve together ie: “What can we do about this?” New litter, new litter box or location. Again it doesn’t sound like she has ill intentions so try to be neutral when you talk to her about it. No one is TA
Covered litter boxes help with odor
NTA
It can’t hurt to ask.
However, it’s possible that the cat’s food is causing the stink. I found from experience that canned food makes it worse, while kibble keeps the smell to a minimum. If the cat requires moist food, water can be added to the kibble to soften it.
It’s also possible that one of more ingredients in the cat’s food are causing the problem. Ask your roommate to look up the ingredients and do a browser search on whether any of them are problematic. For example, we discovered that corn in dog food gave one of our pups terrible diarrhea.