If some unforeseen event occurred and I had to abandon my cat, thereby breaking my promise that I would take care of her, I would definitely feel guilty about it.
Of course, a cat is not conscious.
Either this is a nonstandard definition of "conscious", or you haven't met many cats.
Why do you believe this? I don't like cats, but I wouldn't argue that they're not conscious.
Instead of debating the suitcase word "conscious", let me ask: 1) Do you believe that toddlers are conscious? 2) Is there a more precise way to state your belief that doesn't use the word "conscious"?
How do you know?
Arguing they are not conscious in the sense of a more obscure definition is a bit pointless unless you specify your definition.
If you take the view that consciousness somehow arises from the brain and neural connections (which is intuitively plausible, but I personally am skeptical), it stands to reason that other species with complex brains are conscious as well. Perhaps "less conscious" (if that means anything) in proportion to how much less complex their brains are.
Now experts can discuss details or semantics, but do you truly suggest cats might be conscious?
In particular, we all know that we're conscious, but can't really explain what that means.
Of course, a cat is not conscious. But compared to an AI, we might also be considered pretty low consciousness beings, or at least beings in front of which you don't justify yourself.