*RANT* Why is having cats such an ISSUE?

Has anyone gone apartment hunting lately? I mean, wow. It is nearly impossible to find crazy-cat-lady-friendly apartments. I've found a few that say it's okay, then they're like "You have how many?! Maybe not...". Or they require an additional deposit of up to $300 PER PET. With 8 cats and a dog that adds up real quick. Or even worse, they have all these ridiculous conditions that NOBODY could possibly meet. I even found one place that requires all cats to be declawed!

We want to get our own house and trust me, we have been looking, but future DH and I are having some major disagreements about what we are looking for in a home. He, for example, absolutley adores one house we found, and I admit it won't be too bad...AFTER WE FINISH BUILDING IT! Seriously, it has concrete floors and bare sheet rock for walls. No, siree. No WAY am I living there. On the other hand, my favorite so far is a 6 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 5000 square foot, newly remodeled Victorian home (listed on the Historic Registry for its area, BTW), selling for close to half a million dollars. It would take us like a hundred years to pay it off, but it's do-able. Or so I keep telling him. He says, "Why bother? The cats are just going to destroy it anyway..."

Ugh. Here we go again with the cats...

Can't a girl have her kitties and everything else she wants in life too? Do I really have to sacrifice having a nice home and nice things because I love cats? I don't think so but the rest of the world seems to disagree.

So my 8 cats and I are going to go live in a shack in the woods where no one will bother us ever again.

8 and a dog probably worries people because they imagine 16 paws all shredding.

What do you need in a home? Do YOU honestly need 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (how many people are in the family)? Maybe if you're willing to compromise and keep it modest the two of you could find something sooner. You don't have to live there the rest of your life - if you get something that you could pay off in 10-15 years (or less) you could always sell it and get another home.

This is what DH and I did. Our home is 1390sqft house built in 1960 (needs some updates). It's 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, has a (tiny) living room and a den. The shop building/garage in the backyard and a driveway back there was the selling point.

Downsides - No dining room, small kitchen, and small master bath (second bathroom is little bigger than a closet). I don't like how small the yard is and how close the neighbors are.

I have 7 cats here and there's 3 people. We all have enough space.

It was hard for Paul to find a place that would take his dog and cat, I couldn't imagine trying to find one with our current 3 cats(the dog had to be put to sleep over the summer.) The current landlord he has told him when he first was looking at the place that he had seen much more destruction of his places by cats than dogs so most are prejudiced against cats due to ones with bad owners who don't use scratching posts and/or don't teach their cats that there are things you don't scratch and don't correct them when they go for said surfaces. I have very little problem with mine, Attitude and Maude will occasionally try to scratch the carpet in the living room but if I tell them no they stop. Attitude seems to do it right after she she gets done using her post on the very rare occasions when she does it.

Paul's landlord loves how well and clean Paul keeps the place so he's seeing that not all cats are destructive if you give them their own things to scratch.

The main thing with us moving now would be the 6 ones outside. They are ferals that we fed and gained their trust, they are great cats but I know they are much happier outside than they would ever be in a house. At least 5 out of the 6 have leukemia so we can't just move them with us without putting all the cats in the new neighborhood at risk. Everyone here in the neighborhood already have it if they are going to get it since it's been here since before we moved in so it endemic here. Wonder if people would continue to dump their cats here if they knew they would most likely be dead within a year or 2 from the leukemia.

Try to find something middle of the road with your soon to be hubby. Figure how much room you really need. There are 2 of us here during the day and night every week and most weekends and after school my 7 year old son is here(I actually live with my parents and not with Paul so Bobby sleeps at home when he has school.) There are also 3 cats inside and 6 outside, we don't have a fenced yard(and what we have is small but since it opens up into a giant cornfield it is fine and it's a 2 bedroom 1 bath trailer. It has a fair sized kitchen/dining room, we have 2 litterboxes in a corner right next to each other and I don't find it gross having them in the kitchen, so it's big enough for the 'ick' factor to not be there and a small but comfortable living room. Honestly Bobby sleeps in Paul's room in Paul's bed when he stays over, Paul and I normally crash in the living room anyways. It works fine for us and there is more than enough room for 3 litterboxes, 4 scratching posts cat beds and everything else of Paul's. It can be annoying when Bobby starts whining that he really has to pee and Paul is in the bathroom but I just tell him to go outside and pee. It's a semi-rural area so it's not like anyone except possibly Mitzi next door would see him and she wouldn't think anything of it.

I couldn't imagine trying to find a place to rent with 8 cats and a dog. Most places balk at you having 2 pets. I also really hate the ones that demand that you have your cats declawed, if I wanted them declawed they would already be so and since their not it's obvious that I'm not getting them declawed for any reason, much less a place to live. If someone else wants their cat declawed it's their choice but I want mine to keep theirs. Like I said it's the bad owners would ruin it for the good ones, that's why some have declawing clauses in their leases, some idiot's cat destroyed their stuff with their claws.

When they hear 8 cats and a dog they see cats destroying their stuff with their claws, the strong smell of litterboxes, cats deciding not to use their boxes due to them being disgusting, you not caring if they went in the house instead of their boxes and possible cat spray and causing a smell that will never go away. I'm assuming your's use the litterbox, don't spray and most of all you keep their boxes clean and they faithfully use them(and you know how to properly clean if there is an accident so there is no remarking of said spot.) I have been in places with 1 cat where the litterbox smell is enough to make you sick(and I know everyone else has at least once in their life), so they imagine that times 8. Not to mention a dog that might use their house instead of the yard as their personal toilet and dig up their yard and bark all day and night. I'm also going to assume that your dog is totally housebroken as any dog, especially one of a renter, should be and wouldn't even think of going in the house or dig up the yard and isn't an excessive barker. All I can say is just keep trying and you will find the right place. You wouldn't want to live anywhere that wasn't pet friendly anyways. I will say that you might have better luck if you look in places other than apartments(if that is what you are actually looking at) I find duplexes and especially single family homes are a lot more pet friendly.

Taryn

Originally Posted by strange_wings

8 and a dog probably worries people because they imagine 16 paws all shredding.

What do you need in a home? Do YOU honestly need 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (how many people are in the family)? Maybe if you're willing to compromise and keep it modest the two of you could find something sooner. You don't have to live there the rest of your life - if you get something that you could pay off in 10-15 years (or less) you could always sell it and get another home.

This is what DH and I did. Our home is 1390sqft house built in 1960 (needs some updates). It's 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, has a (tiny) living room and a den. The shop building/garage in the backyard and a driveway back there was the selling point.

Downsides - No dining room, small kitchen, and small master bath (second bathroom is little bigger than a closet). I don't like how small the yard is and how close the neighbors are.

I have 7 cats here and there's 3 people. We all have enough space.

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No, you're right, we don't need that much space. I would like a 3 bedroom at the very least because we are planning on having 2 children within the time it would take us to pay off the house. I also require a seperate dining room, because an eat-in kitchen would be cramped for a family of 4 to sit down and have dinner. But it's more the quality of the house mentioned above that catches my eye. I love the hardwood floors and stand-up shower, the breakfast bar, the island in the kitchen, all brand new, top-of-the-line appliances. All the houses I've seen that are more in our price range, I would immediately rip up the carpet and repaint, at the VERY least. We talked more about it today though, and he's starting to sell me on the fixer-upper he likes. Though it's not really a fixer-upper, it was just never fully finished so what is there is brand-new. Which means the electric and plumbing are up-to-date, a major bonus. Plus he reasons that I can pick whatever colors of paint I want since it has to be painted anyway, and also we can seal the concrete and for the time being, lay carpet directly on it and not worry about my spraying kitty or my accident-prone puppy destroying the floor boards underneath. And his brother's a contractor so if there is more work to be done that we aren't aware of yet, we would most likely only have to pay for materials. I guess it makes since. Though after all is said and done, I'm sure we will have put at least another $10-$15 thousand into it.

Oh, and he promises that if we get that one, since it sits on 1.5 acres, he'll build the cats an outdoor sactuary. He'd install a cat door and have a little tunnel leading out to a large screened-in enclosure in the yard. Yay!

1.5 acres sounds good! It does sound like he has a good idea. Everyone rips up carpet and paints. My 1960 house had oak hardwood hidden under nasty old carpet. They'll need refinishing, but that's easier than putting floors in.

I live in CA and here most homes built in the last 30 years are built on concrete slabs (no foundation and no basement). If you are at all handy, you can tile over the concrete floor or you can have carpet installed with a decent carpet pad. We just bought a 2 yr. old home and replaced carpet in the great room. We had 30 sq. yds. installed with 8 lb. pad for $870.

If you want tile, or even hardwood or laminate, you can learn to do it yourself through classes at Home Depot.

The toughest problem you may face with buying an unfinished home is getting some bank to finance it. Generally, unless it is in move-in condition, banks will not finance an incomplete project.

Before you make an offer on property, be sure you know where you stand with financing. If you need bank financing, get a pre-qualification letter. If your parents or other family is willing to finance your purchase, then get a letter from them - notarized - explaining how much they are willing to finance, the finance terms (interest rate and length of loan) with the calculated mortgage payment.

Hope this helps!

I would LOVE to have the unfinished home. It's all the wonder and beauty of building your own home, just without ALL the time spent waiting for the foundation and everything else to get put up. Sounds like this house is at the perfect point! You would get the chance to make that house YOURS, in every way. And you know those kitties would adore a kitty enclosure all their own! PLus, if you decide to move out later, you could most likely sell it for a LOT more than you bought it for, including the extra money you put into it.

I wish you the best of luck with your kitties, and with home buying.

I know how hard the apartment hunting can be. I have 5 here in mine now, but we're not supposed to have them at all. I keep waiting for the property manager to find out about it. :-( Kitties do get such a terrible rap from owners who just don't know how to care for their pets. Think of it from the owner's perspective tho. They've likely invested a LOT of money into the apartment complex, and sometimes the risk of having a "pack" of cats invade and shred the place is too much. I've lived in a place before where the landlord said "no pets", but the Property manager wouldn't report you as long as the place was in good condition and you weren't letting them destroy the place.

I know it sucks. But hopefully you'll find something soon.

I've seen kids and adults being more destructive than cats!!!

No kidding. One of the other apartments in my building had to be completely redone because when the renter's family got evicted for not paying rent, they destroyed it. They defecated on the carpets and in the kitchen sink, urinated everywhere, poured bleach and other chemicals all over the carpets, spray painted and punched holes in the walls. They also tore the cabinet doors off, and stripped all the copper wiring out of the appliances that the apts come with. I honestly think the human race is the most destructive and most irresponsible species on the planet. Even when cats cause huge problems, like with hoarders, It's almost always caused by the owner's mistakes or neglect. It's sad that the good cat owners have to pay the price for the poor ones.

Originally Posted by SamhainBorn

I would LOVE to have the unfinished home. It's all the wonder and beauty of building your own home, just without ALL the time spent waiting for the foundation and everything else to get put up. Sounds like this house is at the perfect point! You would get the chance to make that house YOURS, in every way. And you know those kitties would adore a kitty enclosure all their own!

I wish you the best of luck with your kitties, and with home buying.

I know how hard the apartment hunting can be. I have 5 here in mine now, but we're not supposed to have them at all. I keep waiting for the property manager to find out about it. :-( Kitties do get such a terrible rap from owners who just don't know how to care for their pets. Think of it from the owner's perspective tho. They've likely invested a LOT of money into the apartment complex, and sometimes the risk of having a "pack" of cats invade and shred the place is too much. I've lived in a place before where the landlord said "no pets", but the Property manager wouldn't report you as long as the place was in good condition and you weren't letting them destroy the place.

I know it sucks. But hopefully you'll find something soon.

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Yeah, my landlord okayed Mira because she was all I had when I moved in. Later on when I was looking to buy a chihuahua I cleared that with her too. But when she stopped by one day and saw my "pack" as you so aptly put it, she kind of freaked. She asked if I could cut back the number, but of course I have absolutely no intentions of doing so. That was about 2 months ago. I'm just waiting for her to show up again to follow up, and I'm scared to death she'll give me an ultimatum. That's why I'm trying so hard to find a place quickly.

So just now, my fiance decides he doesn't want to buy a house. He says, why would he invest tens of thousands of dollars in a home when it's just going to get ruined?

So we'll keep on paying a mortgage payment's worth of rent every month and hope like heck that we don't get kicked out for not getting rid of some of the cats.

Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.

If we keep having this arguement, I may be looking for a place on my own. Well, with the cats of course.

I live in an apartment too and here's the part that I just don't understand. Why oh why are landlords freaked out that cats will "destroy" the place??? I just don't get it.


If anything, cats might end up shredding your own furniture, but that's it. A dog on the other hand will do a lot more damage to the walls and floors with it's claws than a cat ever would.


The only thing I can think of is if the cat is not neutered/spayed. Then yes if you are living in an apt. that can be problem, because it's almost impossible to get rid of the smell. And, as a landlord, you would most likely have to replace the carpet.


Where I'm currently living, my husband and I had to pay a $500 "refundable" pet deposit. We'll see if we get that money back when we move out. We are also paying an extra $25 monthly extra "pet fee". Normally that fee would be "per" cat, but I talked them out of it, so we're only paying for one.


Now, if I were a landlord I would have the tenant pay a pet fee per cat, say $200 to be fair, but it would be refundable depending on if the cat had actually caused damages. Damages meaning that the carpet had to be replaced and I mean *had* to be replaced. And if it turned out that was the case, a part of tenant's deposit would be gone as well to cover the cost of replacing the carpet.


As well, if I were a landlord, one thing I would consider is how long have the tenants been there? If after only one year they move and I have to replace the carpet, yikes. But if they had been there for three years or more, you have to take into consideration normal wear and tear.


Anyways I'm on a rant here, this is such a sore spot with me, especially the places that insist the cat must be declawed in order to rent the apt. Some friends of ours dropped by last night and the subject came up. He told us how where he rents that is the policy. Declaw the cat or put softpaws. He and his wife did not already have a cat when they moved in there, but they went ahead and adopted a baby that had already been declawed, bless their hearts, and they are against declawing themselves. I recommended he educate the management on the subject. I hope it makes a difference!



I'm just so fed up of this cruelty against cats! Even vets who say they are against declawing, yet, when someone comes to them to get their cat declawed they perform the surgery. Because, they say, they want to make sure the surgery was done well.


I've lost track of how many times I've heard that sorry excuse. I honestly believe that if a vet truly took the time to educate the person about what declawing truly represents that that person would change their mind. But the bottom line is that it's all about the money and not wanting to lose business.


I don't know if any of you heard but apparently PETA (please don't get me wrong I *loathe* PETA with a passion. They are the worst hypocrites on the planets.) recently protested that in California the tails of cows were being cut off. Farmers were cutting off the cows' tails to keep the area clean. Well legislation was passed preventing this from happening any further. Don't get me wrong, I'm against animal cruelty, but this is cows we're talking about. We eat cows, we make clothes, shoes, etc. out of their skin.


So why is it that some politicians in California actually passed legislation to prevent cows tails from being cut off, then why in the world can we not do the same thing to prevent cats from being mutilated?? If anyone has some kind of answer I sure would love to hear it.

Originally Posted by Shanynne

I live in an apartment too and here's the part that I just don't understand. Why oh why are landlords freaked out that cats will "destroy" the place??? I just don't get it.


If anything, cats might end up shredding your own furniture, but that's it. A dog on the other hand will do a lot more damage to the walls and floors with it's claws than a cat ever would.


The only thing I can think of is if the cat is not neutered/spayed. Then yes if you are living in an apt. that can be problem, because it's almost impossible to get rid of the smell. And, as a landlord, you would most likely have to replace the carpet.


Where I'm currently living, my husband and I had to pay a $500 "refundable" pet deposit. We'll see if we get that money back when we move out. We are also paying an extra $25 monthly extra "pet fee". Normally that fee would be "per" cat, but I talked them out of it, so we're only paying for one.


Now, if I were a landlord I would have the tenant pay a pet fee per cat, say $200 to be fair, but it would be refundable depending on if the cat had actually caused damages. Damages meaning that the carpet had to be replaced and I mean *had* to be replaced. And if it turned out that was the case, a part of tenant's deposit would be gone as well to cover the cost of replacing the carpet.


As well, if I were a landlord, one thing I would consider is how long have the tenants been there? If after only one year they move and I have to replace the carpet, yikes. But if they had been there for three years or more, you have to take into consideration normal wear and tear.

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My landlord doesn't charge an additional pet fee. Before she freaked about the number of furries I have living with me, the only condition was that I have to pay out of pocket to have the carpets professionally shampooed when I move out *before* getting my security deposit back. I do have a problem sprayer but I clean up after her religiously and after steam-cleaning the carpets DIY-style a few weeks ago the smell is nearly 100% gone, so I am convinced that a professional cleaning will be sufficient to completely remove the odor. However, my puppy has dug up some small areas of carpet, 2 in doorways where he was accidently shut out of a room and tried to dig under the door, and also in the corner of one room. I'm more concerned about that than anything. They are small enough areas though that they might be able to cut those pieces out and fill them in with remnants and it would hardly be noticeable since it's a high pile carpet. About the only real damage the cats have done is scratch up the molding around the door frame to the bedroom, but that is also a cheap fix that we plan to do ourselves before the landlord's final inspection. AND that only happened because Kipper decided one day that the scratch post was his and wouldn't let the other kitties use it; buying another resolved the issue. But you're right, the furniture takes the brunt of the damage for the most part. I've been here for one year with 8 cats and a dog, and there is no more damage done than a child or abnoxious teenager would cause in that time. Less, actually.

I don't think it's ever a good idea to hide pets, know of a few people who've been evicted for that.

Unfortunately when you don't own the home you do need to play by someone else's rules.

I don't know if they exist in the US but here there are a few pet friendly rental websites.

Originally Posted by Shanynne

So why is it that some politicians in California actually passed legislation to prevent cows tails from being cut off, then why in the world can we not do the same thing to prevent cats from being mutilated?? If anyone has some kind of answer I sure would love to hear it.

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I believe some sates in the US have made declawing illegal.

Declawing is illegal here, along with ear cropping and tail docking of dogs.

I know what you mean... And I am a landlord!

My boss and fellow associates are ALWAYS making an issue of pets... Drives me nuts! My boss is more accepting, but of course more cautious (so he's the type that charges the extra security deposit and extra monthly fee), but my associate is NUTS! She says she loves pets, but doesn't have any, so everytime some one wants to bring a pet, even if we have a pet policy, she makes a HUGE deal of it...

So I'm the pet advocate in my buildings. The one thing I do is make sure they are fixed. I would NEVER make anyone declaw a cat! In fact, I want everywhere to make it ILLEGAL!!

Originally Posted by Shanynne

I live in an apartment too and here's the part that I just don't understand. Why oh why are landlords freaked out that cats will "destroy" the place???

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for many landlords, "the place" mainly means "the floors"

to them, it's pretty much all about the floors, but they say "the place" to evoke sympathy. (to make you think: Oh, man, this guy's entire place is at stake and it's probably the biggest part of his net worth)

(the above is merely my personal opinion)

Originally Posted by mira's_mommy

My landlord doesn't charge an additional pet fee. Before she freaked about the number of furries I have living with me, the only condition was that I have to pay out of pocket to have the carpets professionally shampooed when I move out *before* getting my security deposit back.

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i'm glad to hear that. i hope she goes back to being chill :

Wonderful news everybody!

I showed my future DH some of your posts on here regarding cats and property damage, and that convinced him to relax a bit. I also gave him some ideas of other things we can do to prevent destructive behavior, i.e. more scratching posts, Milo gets crated when we aren't home, shampoo the carpets and wash the walls before moving in to minimize the smell of past owners' pets and hopefully avert spraying, etc. Are there any other suggestions you guys might have?

But we have found a house that we are very interested in. 3 bedroom, formal dining room, office, small yard. And only $29,900. I haven't seen it in person yet but from what I can tell in the pictures, the interior is in like-new condition, clean and beautiful. The house would probably be worth more than the asking price, except it is in a shabby neighborhood, and the whole street is "row" housing, where all the houses are side by side, literally touching one another, so that drops the value quite a bit. I've been inside other houses on this street, and most of them were barely live-able. I think most potential homebuyers would pass right over this listing if they are at all familiar with the neighborhood, but I clicked on it anyway and am very glad I did. It seems like a bargain. I have no problem sharing a wall with my neighbors for that price, and all the extra perks inside! And we can definitely afford it: the estimated payments, including property taxes and 6.1% interest over 20 years, is less than half what we're already paying for rent. Yay!

One thought I would have about the neighborhood is whether it's a bit shabby now, but up and coming, or will it get 'worse' and you'll end up with property you can't sell at any price. And, I'd probably check with the police re crime statistics, just to make sure you're comfortable with everything.

That said, there are certainly areas in and around Chicago that 15 years ago were shabby and downright scary and now, even with the housing decline, you can't touch them for under $300,000.

But, truly, if you guys have good credit and a reasonable downpayment, this is a fantastic time to be shopping for a home. Don't forget to look into the new home credit as well. And, good luck!

I do have to say good luck in finding a home you and DH are both in love with. I loved our previous apt more than anything. It was spacious and had 2 bedrooms which was more than enough for the two of us and when we got Hercules and Fatman was perfect because the second bedroom because their room/storage space for our extra crap. We ended up moving because we couldnt afford the 500 a mth in rent and found a 3 bedroom trailor with land and a garage for him to work out of for 200 a mth. AWESOME!!!! The only downslide is that its out in the boonies so its atleast 3 miles of a drive to get to anywhere and when we didnt have a license between the two of us was a major pain in the butt. However now the only pain is that our road is one of the last to get plowed or salted in the winter so we have to make sure we stock up on everything before snow storms. But for us this is perfect with three cats and our doxie. Theres plenty of land for Franklin to go outside and run around (supervised because hes not leash trained) and the cats still have their own dog free bedroom with all their toys food etc. The one this I wish is that we could tear up the cat rooms carpeting because its a pain to sweep up. Hercules ends up with clumps of fur falling out and getting stuck in the carpet from when him and GiGi play and with the carpet being so plush its a pain to sweep up the litter. Im sure if I had a better sweeper it would be easier but Im not spending 200+ dollars on a new one when the one I have works good enough to keep around. LOL...If we ever get to the point where we can buy or build a house Im hoping we can just buy our property from the landlord and rebuild something here! Its nice and quite and we are happy here! We just would like a bigger house and something a bit nicer and not so...used...Previous tenants didnt take very good care of this place so Im constantly trying to shampoo oil stains and stains off the linoleum from them painting and junk in the house!

I have a suggestion you definitely should try if you can get a home with a decent enough yard. Cat proof fencing - it'll work for your dog, too. If they can go out whenever they wish, safely, and are able to tear up and pee on things till their hearts are content outside you may see a lot less of it inside. This is the big advantage that you wouldn't have in an apartment.

The only downside is that you'll have to keep up on monthly flea treatments - preferably one with a combo dewormer in it.