Exotic Shorthair Cat Sparks Years-Long, $25,000 Custody Battle Between Former Roommates

A small exotic shorthair named Gary became the center of a $25,000 legal battle between two former roommates.

Jessica Yang, a 33-year-old nurse anesthetist who traveled frequently for work, and Nicole DeNardo, 31, who worked in finance and often from home, moved in together in spring 2022 after meeting through a Facebook roommate group in Philadelphia, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The pair quickly grew close, taking trips together and even getting matching tattoos. Eventually, Yang bought a fixer-upper and decided to change her living situation during what she described as a challenging period in her life. She said DeNardo offered to care for Gary, whom Yang had purchased in 2018, while she navigated this transition.

“I was like, how convenient for Gary,” Yang recalled. “And I thought it would be good for her, too.”

But tensions soon emerged. Yang says DeNardo began acting as if she were Gary’s owner, allegedly changing the cat’s last name at the vet and adding her own name to his microchip information.

DeNardo told the Inquirer that the vet’s office was responsible for changing Gary’s last name from Yang to hers, and that she added her details to the microchip because she was the one caring for him and wanted to be notified if he ever went missing.

When it came time to move out of their shared apartment, the two couldn’t agree on who should officially keep Gary.

“She said I was unfit to be a pet parent,” Yang said of her former roommate. “She said I was childish and selfish for even wanting Gary back. She kept asking me to consider the feelings and preferences of Gary.”

Because it was never clearly defined whether DeNardo’s care was meant to be temporary, Yang filed a lawsuit in December 2024 seeking Gary’s return. DeNardo, however, believed the dispute had become about more than just the cat.

“I think she viewed that more as a personal attack,” DeNardo told the outlet, explaining that things escalated after she suggested taking Gary to the vet in 2023. “For me, this was always only about Gary’s well-being.”

After a lengthy process that included a hearing and a bench trial, the Pennsylvania court ultimately ruled in Yang’s favor, emphasizing that she was the one who originally purchased Gary.

“You can spend years scooping litter, cleaning his eyeballs, and the court tells you none of that matters, because pets are property,” DeNardo said. “He’s just a really playful, sweet cat. He was my buddy… I just hope he’s OK and has all the things he needs, and is living a good life. If he’s happy, I’m happy.”

The feud cost Yang about $20,000 in legal fees and DeNardo about $5,000. Disputes like theirs are becoming more common. A recent survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that more than 25% of its members had seen an increase in couples fighting over pets in the past year.

In response to these kinds of conflicts, some people now use a “pup-nup” — a prenuptial-style agreement that can also be used by friends or roommates. It spells out who is financially and practically responsible for a pet and who will keep the animal if the relationship or living arrangement ends, making ownership and custody clearer from the start.

As James Sexton, a New York divorce lawyer, explained in an interview in August, “I’ve had divorce cases early in my career where the judge ordered that the dog be sold and the proceeds divided between the parties if they couldn’t agree on a disposition of the dog because the dog and the toaster oven were, in the eyes of the law, the same thing.”

“Thankfully, the law evolved tremendously in the last seven to 10 years, very much so in the last three years, where there started to become a trend where courts were talking more about a dog being more than property, a cat being more than property,” he continued. “Companion animals being a part of the family, in a sense.”