EDIT on April 14th, 2021 - update posted on my profile.

I live in an apartment with three cats. My cats have their litter robot and cat wheel in the living room and a cat tree in my bedroom. In mid-November, C asked to crash on my couch as she was in between leases and she said had nowhere else to go. She made no mention of other hardships or issues. She knew that I have 3 cats and that I usually work ~70 hrs a week.

During C's visit, she caused the cats to get sick by giving them milk and cream. I asked her not to feed the cats anything and the next day, C threw out almost $70 worth of cat toys, tried to throw out the cat wheel because it didn't match the aesthetic of my living room, gave the cats milk which led to diarrhea, and then refused cat access to the litter robot, locking them in my bedroom. After 4 days of this, I had enough and demanded that she return the key and leave immediately. After she left, I discovered that she had ruined the cat tree as well.

A week ago, C began photos of my cats on her social media insinuating that they are hers. She mentioned that she had stayed with me and that I had kicked her out when she was in intense pain due to a miscarriage, so she had to move in with her parents, who live nearby. However, the one good thing is that apparently, my cats inspired her to get her own, who apparently look exactly like mine and if my cats were named Apple, Pencil, and Daisy, then hers are named Banana, Eraser, and Rose.

I commented that these are my cats and that I had only let her stay because she lied that she had nowhere else to go, as I'm high-risk and we're in the middle of a pandemic and otherwise, I wouldn't have let her stay at my apartment. I also said that she had gotten herself kicked out by abusing my cats, and then started listing expenses and damage costs and asked when she could reimburse me for the damages that had occured. She responds that the photos are of HER cats, she can't afford to pay me back, that she's a responsible pet owner because she did a week of research, and I responded by linking my cats' Instagram and saying that a responsible pet owner is anyone but her.

The next day, I got several threatening messages from her family about not believing C about the miscarriage or cats. I responded that I was unaware of the miscarriage at the time and was only looking out for my cats. I also mentioned that I doubted the miscarriage had happened, as she had lifted and carried the heavy wheel and base down two flights of stairs. On top of that, she had gone out for the entire day and had been drinking coffee. The messages are saying that I better make sure my cats are safe because I'm a terrible pet owner and person for not helping C and that apparently, I don't have any friends because I'm a crazy cat lady.

AITA for prioritizing my cats over another human? I understand the upset...but only if she actually did have the miscarriage? Maybe she did and I'm the AH.

Also, cat tax here: https://imgur.com/a/AVRcmVL

edit: wow, this blew up way more than I thought it would. After reading all the comments, I realize that I'm nta. I think I was thrown off because I felt like my cats suffered which made me an AH in their eyes and I was projecting because I've had two miscarriages and if anyone ever started doubting me and trying to get others to doubt me, I would be devastated. I appreciate all the comments and I'm trying to respond to them all but there's a ton! I did want to link this video of my youngest cat running on a wheel as additional cat tax. He's showing my tabby kitty how it's done :)

edit pt.2: things escalated a ton last night. Had to call the police to intervene and while I can't say much about it yet, I will try to post an update when things blow over.

edit #3: i apologize for not responding to comments - I'm still reading them and appreciate the advice and support. There have been a couple people messaging me asking if they can repost this on their YouTube video/Instagram etc and at this time, I'd like to ask for people to refrain from doing so, especially as the police had to get involved and I'm now just really worried that C or family will find this post. Like I said in my last edit - I will update when things blow over but for now, I am safe, as are the kitties!