Can I Steal My Roomate's Cat?

I live with my boyfriend and his brother. They both have cats of their own, but the brother, let's call him Jack, comes home maybe once every nine days and gives the cat an entire bowl full of food before promptly ignoring him and leaving again. When he is home, he lets the cat out, regardless of the time, weather, or his plans. The cat will go out and Jack will leave, not coming back for days, leaving the cat out to fend for himself or hope that someone else, this is where I come into play, lets him in. Since I've moved in, I've taken care of this cat day to day, and it's obvious he is very affectionate towards whoever takes care of him, in this instance, me. We have bonded to the point that the cat follows me around the house, comes to me before anyone, he will sleep with me contentedly through the night and cuddle with me any other time. He is perfectly content taking a long nap in my lap. I guess Jack has noticed this bond, and become.. jealous? Whenever he is home now, not only is he super possessive of the cat, making unnecessary "this cat is mine" statements, but he also treats the cat poorly. He calls him rotten names and holds him in ways that makes the cat meow incessantly to be let down. My little cat is not comfortable with Jack anymore, and it's obvious. Now recently, my boyfriend and I have been discussing our upcoming move from the house we're currently in with his brother. He wants to take this cat with us as much as I do, but it's pretty clear to me that Jack will not come to an agreement about us taking "his" kitty so now I've come to question myself, do I take the cat anyway? Or give him up to Jack? Any opinions about the situation would be lovely!

Hello and welcome!

You can't steal his cat, plain and simple.

But you can do your best to talk him out of the cat.

Who knows, offer to buy the cat from him!! Sometimes that's all it takes, money talks.

If he truly loves the cat, he would want what's best for him, not himself. Drives me crazy.

Hope you win custody

catwoman707 said:

If he truly loves the cat, he would want what's best for him, not himself. 

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If he truly loves the cat, he would not do all the things the OP said. 

But yes. You can't steal the cat. You can beg and plead and offer $30,000 for the cat, but you can't steal it. The best you can do is make him an offer he can't refuse, or reason with him.

I wish I could say yes, but I can't. Your boyfriend needs to talk to his brother Jack and work something out. (You need to stay out of it since Jack is both immature and annoyed at you.) Hopefully, they will come to the best decision for the kitty.

Unfortunately if you're not going into a witness protection program, you can't steal the cat - we can dream though can't we.

Anyway, what kind of relationship do the two brother's  have? Do you think that this guy capable of responding to a man-to-man private request from his brother to let you take the cat.  Of course my fear is he'd end up with another cat, but maybe not.

Also how's your game face?   Boredom and thinly veiled disgust can work wonders at neutralizing behavior.  Oh this again - sigh. 

Blowing smoke up his butt may also work wonders.   I suspect he's susceptible to believing almost anything provided it's positive.  Remember you just want to give you the cat or stop using the poor animal as a pawn to get a rise out of you.  Save the depth and integrity for your BF and other people who deserve it.

My sympathies about this situation.

You have gotten some good advice already.

This brother sounds very immature... Good, that makes it easier for you to manipulate him!

1) See if your boyfriend can talk his brother into giving the him the cat. Even though the brother is jealous of you, he might not be so jealous of his brother.

2)See if your boyfriend can talk his brother into giving the cat to you. It can't hurt to ask nicely.

3) Play up to the brother about why he should give you the cat. Stuff like being your hero, or you will always be in his debt, or friends forever,  if he gives you the cat that you love so much. You might play up to his ego and it may work.

4) Do you have anything that he likes a lot that you can do without? Try a trade, ie;  TV, cell phone, tablet, recliner, beer cooler, what ever is not immoral, illegal, and works towards your goal...

5) Cold hard cash. I doubt if you are willing or able to pay 30K for the cat, however a $100.00 might go a long way.  

6) Think about your individual situation and what might appeal to the brother. Don't resort to stealing the cat, even though you can rationalize a hundred good reasons to do so. Good Luck!