u/sweetsoftwillow

So I [19 F] have this one roommate [19 F] that I've kinda always had issues with, her and I don't click and I don't mind that because it happens. but lately I’ve been getting really annoyed with how she acts around my cat.

I'm not sure if it's important but my cat is my Cassie and I don't care that much if my roommates play with her she's still 5 months and needs quite a bit of play time. I had set some ground rules though. She's in my room so I told my roommates that I don't care if they take her out just message me or let me know. The other rule is that if they take her out they have to leave the door open so she can get to her litter box, food/water, etc. My room is also her space to go when she feels overwhelmed too.

This one roommate thought has taken her up to her room and closed the door to her room and my room a couple times and doesn't tell me. So everytime I'm searching for her freaking out a little that she got out. I've told this roommate a couple times to let me know and keep the doors open. She also will have friends over and introduce the cat as "this is my sweet girl!" even if I'm sitting there. Anyway last night I had gotten fed up with it because at 1 am I wanted to go to bed and I couldn't find my cat anywhere so I started shaking the treat container and heard her bell upstairs. I looked up and literally watched my roommate toss my cat out of her room into the hallway.

I went upstairs and confronted her. Yeah, I raised my voice a little because I was frustrated at that point. Now she’s calling me petty and immature and telling everyone I won’t let her near my cat because I “hate her,” which isn’t true. I only told her she needs to respect the rules and stop acting like my cat belongs to her. Now she’s avoiding me and telling the other roommates that I screamed at her for no reason and that she’s uncomfortable living with me because I “can’t control my emotions.” This isn’t even the first issue we’ve had, but now I’m wondering if I handled it badly.

EDIT:

A lot of people are assuming my cat is locked in my room all day, so I want to explain. She’s only in there when nobody’s home. My vet and I think she has pica, meaning she tries to eat random non-food things, so I have to be careful for her safety. My room is the only place where I know she can’t get into anything dangerous. She’s usually only in there a few hours a day because my other roommates let her out when they’re home. She has plenty of toys, climbing stuff, and I also take her outside on walks when the weather’s nice. I don’t love keeping her in there sometimes, but it’s honestly for her own safety, kind of like crate training a dog.