A few days ago, my (23f) sister (19f) sent me a voice message (through our dad’s phone) where she said some pretty nasty things. I wanted to share my side of the story because I genuinely tried to do what I thought was right — though I understand it may not have been handled perfectly.

Last Christmas, I came home to visit and saw that my sister (let’s call her Dot) had adopted a young ginger kitten. She was cute and friendly, but I noticed right away that she was heavily infested with fleas — you could see them on her face and she was constantly scratching and biting. I told Dot I was going to give the cat a bath then and there, and I did. I also spent my own money on flea treatment, a comb, and shampoo, and gave them to Dot, along with advice to treat the fleas regularly until they were gone.

I came back again during my uni break recently and found that the flea issue hadn’t improved — if anything, it seemed worse. The cat still looked very uncomfortable and was scratching constantly. My dad let me know that Dot hadn’t been home much lately, and that he’d been the one feeding the cat and cleaning her litter. He also mentioned she might be pregnant.

I messaged Dot and told her I was worried and thought the cat needed to be cleaned and treated again. Instead of agreeing, she got defensive and brought up that she already does a lot at home, and that she wasn’t the only one responsible. The conversation ended with her saying she hated me, which obviously hurt.

I bathed the cat again without her, treated her for fleas (again with products I bought), and saw a literally hundreds of fleas come off her. I followed up later and still saw fleas crawling on her, so I decided to shave her to help with treatment. You could actively see the fleas crawling from the short to long fur. Even when being shaved, she was so lovely and calm the whole time.

At this point, I was genuinely worried. She wasn’t desexed or microchipped, still infested with fleas, and no one seemed to be consistently taking responsibility for her care. I’d raised the issue before, tried to support Dot in addressing it, and didn't feel I could leave the cat in that condition. So I rehomed her with a family I know who has experience with animals and was happy to take her on.

I told my dad, and he agreed it was probably for the best. The cat is now in a home where she gets more attention, is free from fleas, and is receiving consistent care. I didn’t take this decision lightly. I tried multiple times to support Dot in looking after the cat, but the situation didn’t seem to change.

Dot has had pets before, but this was the first time I felt compelled to intervene like this. One previous cat she had just disappeared — I’m not saying anything happened, but it concerned me.

So that’s what led to this situation, and why Dot is now so angry at me. I didn’t mean to go behind her back to be spiteful. I just couldn’t keep watching an animal live like that. Still, I get that it was her cat, and maybe I overstepped.

AITA?