Need help for a friend /may lose house

I don't know if this is the right place for posting that or not . So here it goes . My friend hat to move in January in a new house ( renting )( Owner passed away in other house ) She has 15 indoor cats and all have Feline L. and the other feline ? ( cant spell right sorry , still try to learn english better ) . But I am sure that you mature cat owner know what I mean .So her new landlord said she can have cats , but she said never how much she has . I know , what can I say . So he came with some people about 4 weeks ago to his house and wandet the house refinace at a lower rate . I don't plame him for that . Well , my friend works 12 ours a day and is not able to clean the litter boxes like she need's to . No need to say her house were stinking like a catbox . The landlord said she need to move out at the beginning and has settle for 3 cats in the house . But he also said she was able to move her cats out in a wodden house he made for his kids many years ago in the back yard .So she ask to help her fix it up , since my husband made us a Cathouse . We did . In the mean time 2 of her cats finaly passed away to kittie heaven ..The landlord came by the house after that and said she need's to keep it flea and flies free . Also it should look professional , what ever that means .Now this is the hard part , it has to many holes we try to fix ( yes , no cat will go true we made sure of that )and it is really old to . So how can my friend make it flea and flies free , I also would like mosquitos free too . I know it is long , so sorry . But she rescue many cats , I have 2 of them to ( deseas free) . She is desperate and on the end of her wisdom . Please can you help . Since the Landlord being a .....

You might check to see if your state has a tenant's bill of rights. If he was aware she had cats when she moved in, the landlord may not have a leg to stand on as far as changing things now, especially if she has a lease. I found my state's tenant's bill of rights by typing in a keyword "tenant's rights." Good luck.

Most states say the landlord MUST do pest control. He is also responsible for repairing the house he is renting. It is against the law to rent a house that is unfit to live in. The person living there has the respomcibility to keep the house clean and odor free. I hope the outside house has airconditioning or the cats could die from heat stroke, and it will need heat in the winter.
She needs to vacuum the fleas and throw away the bag as soon as she is done. She needs to get screens on the windows and doors to keep out the flies.
All the cats need to go to the vet and get a flea treatment. She could go to the humane society to get the treatment at a lower cost. They need to get their shots and wormed. They should also be checked for heart worms, these come from mosquitos.

thank's . Well , the problem here also is : She startet to move in the house when she finaly read the lease and it say no pets . So she called him on his cell phone and said she had some cats . So his response was , that is ok . But there was never any changes made in her lease . The house is no problem with fleas . But the problem is the outhouse , or how ever you want to call the place the cats are in now . It is made only with wood . We did sreent it in with chicken wire , it is more stable to a cats clawing ... My consern is now that she is spraying that wooden house , (who knows what) and may hurt the cats in the long run . She has a fan in there , in the winter she will place some kind of heater in it .Also some cats are very up sad about it and don't like it at all . I am hurt for her and the cats as you can think .

This is really unfortunate. She did not read her lease, is says no pets, she signed it (didn't she?). So that means no pets, and the landlord can force her to move some out.

But really, if she is so busy at work that she can't clean litter boxes, how can that be healthy for the cats? Its not the landlord I worry about, its the poor cats! She needs to do a better job for their sake.

And if I were the landlord, I would do the same thing, that litter box odor will permeate everything in the house, how can he sell it or rent it to someone else? As for the idea that the landlord is responsible for pest control, if he has a lease that says no pets, and the tenant has pets, and they bring fleas into the house, I think it is completely unreasonable for the tenant to expect the landlord to look after them.

I have a friend who was in a similar situation. She is in an apartment building, and rescues cats. Its a no pets allowed building, but they usually turn a blind eye to a couple of dogs or cats. However, the smell was so bad the neighbours complained. They first told her to get rid of all of them. Then relented and let her keep them, but not "replace" any. So she has an agreement with the landlord to keep these specific cats. But not just any 11 cats. And if a neighbour complains about the smell, she's in violation of the agreement. Its a lot of work for her, but worth it because she loves those cats a lot.

I agree with you Sammie5 , her ours are way to long for the cats . She never had any flea problem before , her cats were used to the inside . But she may will now , she know that she need to get Frontline Plus . She also has a Boyfriend of 10 years living with her . He come home around 5pm . But he is not willing to help cleaning the boxes .But that is none of my busyness . But she does come home for Lunch most of the time to ck on the cats . My concerns are now , how to keep that wooden Cathouse flies free ? And can it look professionel ? I think the Landlord is wanting her out , but that is my opinion . Thank you all , for your adwise and help . I did send her a page with Legal help / rights per e-mail .I will keep you all informet how it will turn out . If you all have any more ideas , please let me know . Thank's .

So is she going to turn them into outside cats with the play house for shelter? Or will they live indoors in the play house?

You can get screening, exactly the same stuff that we use in window screens, and tack that on the windows along with the chicken wire. They could use a cat door to get in and out if they are going to be outdoor cats.

As for cooler weather, I remember that in the feral forum, LDG posted some of the things they did to make cold weather shelters for their ferals. You might get some ideas from there.

The fleas will be a problem, your friend will have to invest in a flea remedy, and that should take care of some other pests as well (tics, mites, worms).

It is a huge amount of work, and she will have to figure out what do do about litter boxes as well. But its possible.

If you are ambitious, you could even build an entire enclosure with chicken wire and 2x4s and put it up around the play house - letting them use that for shelter, and then the rest of the outdoor enclosure to play in, and then they would be safer as outdoor cats.

The cats will be indoors in the woodenhouse Sammie5 , we did srceent it all in with chickenwire . Did you sah in the forum New Kitten my posting ? I have a picture there from my Cathouse what my hubby/son build for our cats .It is not a great picture . But I will look also in the forum for feral/shelter . Thank's for the tip . You are all great , thank you all . Please keep it comming

I just suggested the window screening to keep flies out. Chicken wire is important to keep the cats in, but won't do a lot for bugs.

I am sorry Sammie5 , I did read it . My friend was with out a job for a very long time and so got her in the hole finacely . Then she had to move and cost her more money , downpayment... So right now she is not able to put a lot more money into inclocier (cathouse). We already buy everything to make the wooden house work . I am sure she will do that , we have already talk about that to her . Also the Landlord will give her a new lease to sign for her . I don't think that she need to sign a new lease , he is bound by the old lease . But also think if she don't sign the new lease he may kick her out after the lease run out .