Let me preface this by stating I don't really think me or the other parties involved in stealing this cat are the asshole, but I'm curious to hear other perspectives on this situation.

Also I won't be including names for obvious reasons, but me (F19) and my bf (M19) recently moved into an apartment, and when we moved my boyfriend invited his at the time guy friend Eric (M18) to live with him. Both me and my bf at the time thoughr Eric was a really cool guy and thought that living together would be sooo fun, but needless to sat by me being on this subreddit, it was indeed not fun.

When Eric moved in, he brought with him his cat, Lily. Lily is the SWEETEST little calico kitty, about four years old. But right when Eric moved in, I noticed some things wrong with her like open wounds/sores behind her ears from her constantly scratching them. Also the fur on her belly was VERY thing and later we realized it might be due to the fleas she had. Eric said he thought that her ears were infected, and mumbled something about having to take her to the vet. Now in fairness, Eric was a student at the time (I have no doubt he's dropped out by now) and worked at a high end resturaunt as a host so I have no doubt he's busy, but he very much had the funds to take Lily to the vet for all these things and never did. Eric's sister (who by the way HE let live on our couch for two weeks after it was promised she wouldn't stay for longer than a few days) even would say that for a while he would put off taking her to the vet or taking care of her in general.

Lily was pretty skittish at first, but warmed up to us quickly but he kept her cooped up in his room all day and night, with her open litterbox in there and her food and water bowl right next to it. Imo that alone cemented him in my mind as somebody who didn't really know how to care for a cat, cause I sure as hell wouldnt like it if my only sources of food and water were an inch away from my shit and piss bucket in a musty ass teenage boys room.

Anyway, things turned sour after we found out that Eric had sexually assualted my boyfriends friend that Eric had gone on a few dates with, obvi she'll remain unidentified for her sake, and my boyfriend and I are the kind of people who do not consider rapists as human so when we found this out it was of no question that Eric would be kicked out and the locks would be changed. After the news was broken to Eric, he feebly tried to plead his case but eventually left and didn't come back for three whole days (not coming to check on lily once btw), which gave us time to realize we didn't know what would happen to his cat.

I have always been a cat person and longtime cat owner, and the last thing I wanted was to put a cat on the streets because of her shitty owner, but I was still put off by the prospect of stealimg her. In my mind I kept saying "How would I feel if someone stole my cat?" and that mere thought brings me so much heartache that I barely considered it, but when we noticed she had fleas and saw the conditions she was living in it cemented our decision.

It's been i think two months since then, and Lily ks positively THRIVING. She loves to be held like a baby, and has gotten so much more vocal now that shes more comfortable. We couldn't be happier to have given her this life and shes basically like our child, but when I remember Eric's face when he realized she wasn't in the apartment (we hid her at a friends house until he moved all his stuff our) my heart hurts a little. So, AITA?