Hello internet. I came to tell a story that is getting on my nerves since december 2025.
So, I stayed 4 years living in another city to study and graduate college. When I moved, I was about 18 years old and had my mom helping me to find a place to stay. It had to be close to the campus (it didnt have dorms) and with furniture. Thats how we met this real estate company.
My first months living by myself werent so bad, but when october 2022 came, I decided to adopt a pet to keep me company. Thats when I adopted Gigi, a tuxedo female cat. Her mother abandoned her due to her brothers who kept her from being fed, and thats an important info because thats what caused her some abandon issues. Anyways, she grew up healthy with her malnutrition treatments and today shes a healthy fluffy cat.
After some more months, I started to work on projects that demanded me to stay the whole day out, which means Gigi was all alone most of the time. That, along with her abandon issues, made her develop the habit of peeing on the couch. The vet said she started doing that because every time she did it, I appeared to be mad at her. In her tiny head, if she peed on the couch, I would appear. I paid some companies to sanitize the couch a few times during my stay.
After graduation, I decided to move to another city – the one Im currently living. By december 2025, me and my mom had contact with the real estate to end the contract and leave. They gave us two options: pay december’s rent and leave the same month or pay december’s rent and leave in january with the condition of paying for the extra days of staying there. Obviously we chose the first one. So there we were, doing the survey again and checking everything. A few things were damaged, like the bed with scratches from my cat and the peed couch, since i havent contacted the sanitizing company before ending the contract. They asked us to pay for the repairings – **including sanitizing the couch** \- and we agreed, after all it was our responsability. Instead of recommending our companies, we decided to make them choose so the service would be the way they wanted.
The repairs were done by january, when I had left already, and guess what: they asked us to pay for the days the repairings were being made. I was furious. That wasnt what we had agreed, but we paid anyway to avoid headaches. Fast forward, YESTERDAY, they sent my mom a video of the current renter claiming that the couch was all peed and we had to pay for it to be sanitized. DETAIL: we had already paid for it when I left the apartment. Me and my dad dont want to pay them because we think its not our responsability anymore, its the sanitizing company **THEY** hired back then who is responsable. I believe they only want money from us. My mom wants to pay to avoid headaches.
I guess its more like an "are we the assholes" in this case, but anyways: am I the asshole?
NAH. Honestly, the problem is that cat pee is incredibly difficult to get out of stuff. Even if it’s cleaned immediately and repeatedly, cat pee has such a potent smell and it will linger.
True, but doesn’t that mean it’s OP’s fault? And responsibility?
It sounds like OP doesn’t understand that their cat actually ruined the couch, and the landlord did agree to the payments they already made, so I don’t consider them the asshole in this situation. Just misinformed. But yeah, replacing the couch is their responsibility, the repeated cleanings have not worked.
NTA. If you already paid your December rent, were out by the end of December as agreed, and paid money to cover the damages and the couch cleaning per the agreement, you’ve done your part. You have already paid for the damages. They can’t charge you AGAIN for something you already paid. If they picked a company that did a bad job and it needs to be done again, that’s their fault.
YTA for neglecting your cat and allowing it to ruin the furniture in the apartment.
The animal you are responsible for destroyed the couch you were responsible for.
I know people who had to rip up wood floors because of cat pee. It can be almost impossible to remove and you KNEW it was an issue and didn’t address it when it happened, like by buying additional litter boxes and enzyme cleaner for cat urine.
Honestly, the landlords tried to make it work by hiring a professional cleaner, but it sounds like your cat destroyed the couch to the point its unusable by others.
I think paying again isn’t out of line.
YTAH.
You are responsible for a new couch to replace the old couch. Your cat pissed all over it. Cat piss stinks.