OMG!!!!!...Kirsten, you are 150% in the right for what you did and for the way you feel!!...(i'm not so sure i could have been as nice as you, considering how many times you repeated your request for their respect of your wishes)...i had a roomate once who picked up my Shy and threw her across the room, well needless to say i was in his face real quick and was literally held back by another roomate(i planned on planting my fist in his mouth)...anyways, his reply was that she is just a cat..."NO!!". i replied, "she is my family and if you hurt my family, i'm gonna hurt you"...well, he never came close to Shy or Zip again and is neither a friend or roomate any longer...hopefully, like my ex-friend, they will learn how much you love them and will protect them, but hopefully they will come around and realize, that he is in the wrong, and forgive you for rightly acting as you did...(sry for long reply, but this really burned me up...)...your mom will come around you'll see...