Last week my roommates cat accidentally got into my room while we were both at work and ended up really fucking up a pair of my shoes....TY in advance for reading!!! Hoping that this reaches an audience of shoe lovers who understand my pain lol.

They were a pair of leather heels/platforms that I typically wear for work (if you know Dr Martens the style name is Eviee). They were almost brand new, I've had them for 4 months, no visible wear before this incident.

Basically her cat really scratched the outsides, ripped some of the stitches and tore the insoles out and destroyed those too. My roommate was very apologetic when it first happened, she offered to replace the insoles and buy any other supplies I needed to get them back in good condition/undo all the damage her cat did. To her credit she did do this.

I was initially pretty confident that all the scratches could be buffed out with shoe polish and wax and that they'd be pretty much good as new but that ended up not being the case. I spent over 2 hours working in them (polishing, applying dubbin wax, adding leather conditioner to fill everything in) and they are still so scratched to the point that they aren't wearable in a professional setting or formal event at all.

At this point I brought this up to my roommate and asked that she replace them. I explained the context and said that I felt it was appropriate for her to replace them. So much of the stitching was also ripped out by her cat that I doubt that they'll last for more than a few more months without falling apart. I mentioned this as well.

She said quote "all they needed was some professional care and they'd be good as new". She asked for my permission to take them to a local shoe repair/cobbler place and said she would pay for them to be professionally shined and repaired. She said she thought there would be no need to replace them after that. I agreed to this ON THE CONDITION that she would replace them if the cobbler couldn't get them back to normal or close. She agreed.

Well, we heard back from the cobbler and they look exactly the same as before. He said that there is nothing he can really do as the outside of the shoes were scratched so much that it removed the top layer of leather in a lot of places and that it just wasn't really possible to get them in any better condition.

I told my roommate what the cobbler said and asked her to pay to replace them. I included a link to the shoes (similar pair, the exact style is discontinued) and a copy of my receipt. She was shocked to find that the shoes were 196$ and she's now refusing to pay saying that the shoes "are fine to wear, it's just an aesthetic issue" so she doesn't feel that it's fair of me to ask her to replace them.

Couple other things:

-I genuinely do not really have another pair of comfortable work shoes. I own one other pair of high heels but they're not comfortable enough to wear every day to work, I have no other shoes that suit the dress code for my office. I had to buy a cheap pair of flats to wear this week but they also are not that comfy and not what I'm used to.

• I offered to pay her back for the shoe repair supplies she got me or subtract that from the amount she owes. The cobbler also didn't charge us because he couldn't do anything so that isn't an issue.

• obviously I would prefer if she paid me back right away but I did say paying me back in installments would be fine.

ALSO not to put too fine a point on this but I bought them during a boxing day sale so I actually WONT be able to replace them for 196$. They normally retail for about 225$. The exact colour is also not available anymore. Especially with that in mind I feel like it's the bare minimum to pay me what I paid for them.

Idk how I could be more fair. I brought it up last night she said that I was being "spoiled asshole" and that designer shoes aren't the most important thing in the world....I obviously know that, but I feel like she's completely sidelining me here. I think as a pet owner you need to be responsible for the damage that your pets cause and I don't really think that's too much to ask.

What do y'all think? Am I a (spoiled) asshole?

Thanks for taking the time to read!!! Appreciate all advice!