dead chin, lost chin, very mad owner...

[Danikat]

I personally think that in this case, I have every right to be as livid as I am. If anyone disagrees with me, I would like to hear why because I am too mad to even think of the other side of the argument right now and too upset to even sit down and talk about it. If I started from the beginning, I would have to go back almost a year and a half. We didn't have the chinchillas back then, just the two cats. My fiance and I decided to go home for a weekend and instead of packing the cats up and hauling them 15 hours to Jersey, we asked our roommate to take care of them in exchange for a certain beer that is only available up north. Now, we have a self feed and watering system, so the only thing that he's responsible for is scooping the cat litter and giving them a can of wet food a day. Not the most pleasant jobs in the world, but it's not too much to ask. When we got home, the litter was unscooped and it was sooo bad that the cats had actually refused to use it. One of them, in protest, peed all over my $600 down comforter that I had gotton from my trip to Germany. I was upset, sure, but I got over it. A few months ago, my one cat got sick and started peeing in bathrooms for some reason. We warned my roommate to keep his bathroom door closed so that she couldn't get in there, but does he listen to us? No. I still have to hear about the $10 bathmat that she ruined. Alright, so a few weeks ago we asked him to watch the animals while we went to visit a friend. While under his care, Cheat broke out of his cage and somehow got into the garage and ate rat poisoning. It was a freak accident, so it was hard to blame anyone. Now, I'm finding it easier and easier. We went home for spring break this past week and got a frantic phone call half-way through. Our little escape artists Astin and Martin had broke a bar on their cage and had gotton out. Instead of fixing it, my roommate just left the hole there and put the cage on the floor (have no idea why he did this). Well, once they know they can get out there, they will continue to get out, so you can almost guess what happened. A few nights later, Martin jimmied the venting tube off of the back of the dryer and escaped outside. My little Martin is lost forever and I braced myself for that sinking feeling when you see that half empty cage. What I didn't brace myself for was the other stuff. My roommate had completely cleaned the house. Great. What wasn't so great was that he just threw our stuff in our rooms. We spent an hour last night (after a 15 hour drive home) getting stuff off our bed so we could go to sleep. The cats' litter box had 3 days worth of goodies in it and one of them had pooped right next to their food dish. They usually get a can of wet food a day, but by the looks of the remaining cans, we estimate that they only got 3 out of the 9 days he watched them. The pedigrees for Astin and Martin, which I left on our kitchen table, were thrown on the floor of my room. When I tried to go on my computer this morning, it wouldn’t load past the welcome page. When you turn your computer on and blue screen comes up saying welcome…. Yeah, it was forever stuck on that page. When we finally got past it, we found that he had downloaded something while we were gone and gotten some sort of virus. On top of all this, we got our phone bill today. Usually it costs about $40 including all the fees… not this month. Fiance and I had made only a few calls, but our bill was over $80!!! Another one of my pet peeves, and I want to know if this would bother any one else, is that whenever we’re gone, he’ll invite his friends over for parties. Where do they sleep? In our beds. Yeah… they have every opportunity to go through my drawers, play with my things, wear my fiance’s slippers (we’ve caught them on several occasions). I just don’t like it at all. And get this, when we came in last night, he had the nerve to yell at us because the house was a mess and we didn’t respect him. We don’t respect him, yet he throws our stuff around, breaks it, loses it, allows other people sleep in it… So what would you do if you were in our situation? We’re thinking about telling him to pack his things and get lost. I mean, it’s my fiance’s parent’s house and he stays here for practically free (we share utilities) so do we really need to put up with his crap? If we pay him to watch our animals, we shouldn't have to worry if any will be dead or missing while we're gone, right? I need opinions.

[equus_peduus]

Tell him to pack up and get lost :P

Especially if he's not paying much rent, and the houes belongs to your (well, fiance's, but close enough) family, you have every right to tell him to scat. He's unlikely to find another place to live for "practically free," and especially if he's throwing parties (have you asked him at least not to have parties, and if he does to not allow people into your rooms?), breaking or allowing your things to be broken, using your things without permission, not doing much to care for your pets when you've asked him to (especially when it leads to things that can be very difficult behavioural problems with the cats, and death with the chins) - even when you're there (the kitty peeing in the bathroom)... Tell him to get lost. If you need the financial help of another roommate, I'm sure you can find someone who's more respectful of you and your animals. If you don't, stay with just the two of you and find a petsitter (professional or a friend) to care for your animals when you leave. Letting the current roommate stay and watch your animals, even if paid for it, will not likely help - he's already shown how much care he will give the animals, and if you pay him, it might improve, but I wouldn't bet on it I'd spend your money paying someone who knows what they're doing and will actually do it, even if he's going to be there in the interim. As for the parties, I do not go into my roommate's room except to reset the dsl modem (it's in her room). I definately do not go through her stuff, and would not let any of my guests do the same. I would certainly not allow them to sleep in her room. It is common courtesy, respecting her privacy, and her things. I wouldn't mind if she threw a party while I was gone, but I would mind if in the process, they, say, slept in my bed, let my chins out, broke the tank my snake's in, and/or dumped alcohol in my fishtank. I would also take it amiss if they downloaded virii onto my computer, threw my books on the floor, invaded my closet... it's not that I have anything of particular value on computer, or in closet, or that many of my books are valuable (I've a couple signed books, but that's it)... it's that it's my stuff, and I would like it respected, just as I respect my roommate's things.

[shirleytx]

I hope you find your chinchilla. I agree ditch the roomie.

[KatyJ]

Find someone responsible to watch your beloved animals! Just because he's your roommate doesn't mean he's automatically qualified. However, if he does agree he should do a good job and there is no excuse for carelessness. I mean, it isn't as though he had to GO anywhere for the pet care - it was in his residence! Some people just don't give a poop.

I boarded my pets with The Dust Bath (not local to you) but I knew they would be well cared for, fed, watered and talked to! And they (well, he at the time) get to stay in their own cage not in some vet's kennel.

I'm so sorry about your escapee. Did you talk to the neighbors? Maybe put a cage outside with some hay or treats? How awful.

[Danikat]

Well, I assure you that this is the end of him watching my animals. A few "freak accidents" and you really start to wonder if they could ave been avoided with a little attention. We're going to sit down with him tonight and go over everything.... we do all the grocery shopping and he just eats all the food (he does, in all fairness, give us money, but in this case where he ate everything in the house while we gone and then didn't go shopping.... just waited for us to come back so that he didn't have to pay as much... he also eats more than I can). The parties are also, not like raving parties. He invites his friends over and they drink and go to bed. I don't mind the parties. I just don't like how everyone sleeps in my bed without asking me. I never go in his room, let alone let someone play around in there. I'm just really tired of him demanding respect and then not giving us any. I'm done... I want him out. As far as the lost chinchilla goes, he's gone. Roomie finally called me 3 days after Martin got out to tell me and I was 1,000 miles away. He's been gone for about a week now. I still owe money on him, too. I'm at least going to get that much out of my roomie. I was considering (and everyone I've talked to agrees) demanding the money for the lost chinchilla and then money to buy a new one. I think after killing Cheat and losing Martin, he owes me that much. We've already discussed what we're going to do with the animals. The chinchillas are easier to pack up then the cats, so we might just bring them along whereever we go. The cats we'll bring along for long trips and ask our neighbor (my fiance's cousins) to take care of them on short trips. I am just so pissed right now... when it rains it pours.

[KatyJ]

Did he even look for Martin? Or he probably didn't notice anything missing for three days. I think I need to stop posting - I'm getting pretty pissed off at your roommate, too!

And if someone was sleeping in my bed I would expect clean sheets when I got home.

[Danikat]

he put suppliment on the laundry room floor, from what he told me. He left me a voice mail saying that he hadn't seen him in 3 days and that he believed he got outside. He told me to imagine Martin hopping around outside, living a better life than in the cage.... um yeah... because he could survive in the Kentucky weather and all the stray dogs and cats running around...

[Kev Rob]

I am really sorry to hear about your lost pets.

I have had some pretty lazy/rude roomies in the past too. None of my pets ever died from the experiences though.

Bottom line for me was, they were my animals, and my repsonsibilty. No matter what. He offered to take care of them when you were gone. They are not his pets. If you owed money for the lost chin, I do not think you can ask him for money back.

I am very sorry to hear you have lost two chins. If I lost a chin, I do not think any amout of money would make me feel better.

[Nel]

I agree with you totally! And I am very sorry for your loss!!

My old room mate was very bad for letting my cat out. He would come home drunk with his drunken buddies at 3am and she would get out. I told him MANY times that she used to be an outside cat and wants out so you have to becareful. One night I heard him and his friend come home. My boyfriend went up stairs to see who it was and came right back downstairs. I asked him if he saw my Cleo .... nope but he was only up there for a couple seconds....I had a bad feeling but thought I was being a worry wart like always. Finaly 30 mins later i couldnt take it anymore. I searched around the house like a crazy woman and couldnt find my Cleo anywhere... Finally out of desperation I opened the front door to call her name... it was about -25*C outside....Here my baby came running out form under a bush so scared. I was SUPER P!$$ED Now the cat is a dumbass for running outside when it was so cold! But she wont do that unless someone leaves the door wide open with tons for time for her to weigh her options and make a run for it...I was SOOO mad. This happened a few times. One morning after a smiliar situation my boyfriend got up early to mow the lawn. He opened the front door and who was sitting on the door step..my Cleo.. thank goodness she is a smart cat.. I wanted to kill my room mate!

I never felt safe to leave the cats with him when we went away. I would take them with me everywhere. When we started taking the bus that became a problem. I decided that someone else looking after them was the only way to go!

There are many many many reasons to kick your room mate out! I was lucky and ours didnt pay rent for four months (the house also belongs to my bf's family) We finally made him realise he cant stay here and not pay!! He left and we still havent seen any money! Some people are just mooches and lazy losers... what are you gonna do... kick them out! :laugh:

[Danikat]

Nel, my roommate has a bad habit of doing that as well. My fiance's parents almost threw him out this summer when they came down from NJ and found the front door of the KY house wide open. Roomie had left a week earlier and left the whole house not only unlocked, but completely open. They were super pissed.
Kev Rob, I'm not asking, I'm demanding. This is just the straw that broke the camel's back for us. He owes us money everywhere else, so I think I have every right to demand the money for an animal he lost while watching it. The animals might be mine, but he assumed responsibility when he agreed to care for them. Money will not make me happy or magically bring Cheat or Martin back, but it will help clean up the mess that he has gotten us into.