Downstairs Neighbor Complaining about Allergies

69 doesn't sound that old but 70!

I'm lucky nobody lives under me because they've started another mad half hour and so are racing about like lunatics. My hooligans I call them.
Yes. Loud music. Teens rave ups in the building or across the road even can drive me mad. I feel like calling the police which I can do after 11pm during the week - school holidays - but I don't.
But that sort of thing has always annoyed me. I own my apartment. Most people in my building do and it's nice when someone who is having their apartment renovated puts a notice downstairs to apologise in advance for the noise which can be horrendous.
57 is nothing. My son will be 43 next month.

My baby's just turned 40!
I can remember the days they were born like it was yesterday. Blighty was just trying to bite my big toe through the duvet and then I heard a noise like he was trying to bite the cotton. I said what are you doing and then looked at him
He was cleaning his claws by pulling on them. They're both washing now. I can't believe how much they wash and in between play and sleep that's what they do or wash each other.
Whisky is still trying to domineer him and bullies him not nicely. But blightys catching up in size and has to still grow I into his paws. He seems a bit submissive. Although he does fight back and sometimes with real anger ears back back arched usually he fights back on his back. Why is that?
I've strayed from age and noise etc. Oh well. It's my age.
:lol3:

peaches08 said:

I didn't mean to offend anyone.
 

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Nor did I and I apologize if it came across that way. 

I know there are people who do have severe allergies, and jcat, hearing what happened to your brother is just awful. But, it is my understanding (and hope) that a severe allergy such as you describe with your brother is not necessarily the norm. 

I know where I was coming from in my comment is that I have known a lot of people who claim to be severely allergic to cats but only seem to have a "flare" at certain times. For example, we had friends staying at my parents house for two days. They never mentioned not feeling well or having any allergies. They also didn't realize that my parents had gotten a cat. Once they saw her and figured it out of a sudden they couldn't stop talking about their allergies and what an inconvenience it was! There is evidence showing a link between thoughts and illness and sometimes I think people assume they are going to get a runny nose, ect and then when they feel any slight thing out of the ordinary assume it's the cat and their horrible allergies. And, my comment was geared that this may be what's happening. I personally have a hard time believing that, within such a short amount of time the dander could be affecting the downstairs neighbor to such a degree, and I wonder if he saw the cats and thought his allergies would flare, and so now they are. 

This is not at all to say you should be rude to him or anything like that. I would expect you to give the situation the respect it deserves and to try and get along with your neighbor just for the sake of your sanity. But, that doesn't mean you can't vent about it here! I think that's all anyone was trying to do originally- add a little humor to the situation. I am sorry if it came across as unkind or uncaring or anything else as that was not my intent. We don't know all the facts and can't make a judgement. We are just here to support you while you sort with the neighbors in whatever way we can, and each person is going to provide a different perspective. Hopefully you can take all those (the silly and the serious) and come up with a nice middle ground for handling it. 

She said the landlord noted that pets have always been allowed, so I agree with those who believe it's a risk you take if you know you have pet allergies and you move into an apartment complex that allows pets. Ideally, there would be certain buildings designated for pets, similar to how hotels have/had certain rooms designated as smoking rooms, bunched together on the same halls or side of the hotel. But I doubt many apartment complexes do that.

Perhaps he would be aided by the addition of vent filters. My boyfriend rented a room from someone when he first moved to this state. They smoked and the smell would get into his room through the air vents, so he bought this large filter and cut strips the size of his filters. It was cheaper than buying the little filters specifically made for this. Anyway, his were for smoke, but I would think they would sell these for pet dander as well. This may be helpful to him. 

Stewball said:

What do you call elderly? I'll be 70 next August

 

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I just turned 69 in November so I know I'm no spring chicken .   I think much younger tho.  I guess what people say  about age being  just a number is correct. It's how you act that tells what you really feel.  Of course getting older sometimes brings health issues with it, that's the part I don't like. 

LaRussa said:

I just turned 69 in November so I know I'm no spring chicken :lol3: .   I think much younger tho.  I guess what people say  about age being  just a number is correct. It's how you act that tells what you really feel.  Of course getting older sometimes brings health issues with it, that's the part I don't like. 

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My body feels old but my mind is stuck at 17.

I still stand by what I say.
It's nothing to do with you. Telling you he had allergies was really out of line. He had to deal with it himself.
You are not responsible for anything. What would he do if going to friends/family for an evening and discovered they had cats? Be rude and run out or the opposite.

It's not that I don't want to be sympathetic to his allergies. He doesn't seem like a terrible person. I picked up some cat wipes at the pet store, and I vacuum once a week to get hair up.

I just feel miserable and wish I could move. It's hard to move to a new place, be told you can have animals, and be greeted with a downstairs neighbor saying that the cats are waking them up and, oh, we also have allergies - What are YOU going to do about it?

All I can say is ignore. Get settled and be happy.

If they have always allowed pets I don't understand why someone with allergies severe enough for cats in another apartment to bother him would be living there.  Try not to let it get to you and move when your lease is up.  Unfortunately a situation like this is always a risk when living in apartments.  I just think the whole thing sounds phony when it's coupled with complaints that your cats upstairs make so much noise that he can't sleep.  I know Siamese can create that situation but other than that I just don't get it.

A lot of apartments around here have empty places and you can move to another for whatever reason (windows facing another way, etc.) without paying any more deposits or anything. So you could ask if there's another apartment you could take. Moving your stuff again would be a pain but probably better than living above him for years :/.

Anything new happened? I'm interested to know.

The short, painful answer is that I'm down to one cat.  I really, really don't want to talk about that, or go through long debates about what I should have done.

This has mostly resolved the complaining, except he still has low level symptoms, so now I'm going around taping all the holes around the radiators in my apartment while we wait for maintenance to install new air filters in the HVAC.  

I would have stuck to my guns!  The guy moved into an apartment building that allows pets, knowing that he has allergies! What kind of idiot does that?!

I would have kept my pets because you were told that you could have them, and told that guy downstairs to go straight to you know where!!

He sounds like a miserable sort, and I don't think he is done complaining!  Some people aren't happy unless they have something to complain about. I suspect that he will continue to complain about you and your cat.

You are not responsible for his allergies, *he* is responsible for his own care. If he knowingly moved into a place that allowed pets, boo on him. He knew it was a possibility that pets would come into a picture when he signed his lease. That's downright ridiculous that you have to go through all of this, and you don't have to. Your only limits in this case are the ones you impose on yourself, and those that exist in the lease. 

That's the thing I don't understand about this guy.  He has allergies why did he move into a building that allows pets.  I too think that it will always be something with this guy.

Please do not let this guy push you around in his polite, passive aggressive way! Your lease allows pets, so you are absolutely within your rights as a tenant. What is in or goes on in your home is none of his business or concern, unless you are breaking some sort of law (and even that is debatable). This man just sounds like a complainer. Even if you didn't have any pets at all, I am sure he would find something else to gripe about.

Honestly, after all your efforts, if he is still continuing to complain to you directly, it is borderline harassment. You have gone above and beyond what most neighbors would be willing to do and the management should be dealing with this man, and his issues, without involving you at all. It is not your problem or responsibility, it is his problem. That may not sound very neighborly, but his behavior is unreasonable. Even being neighborly has it's limits.

You sound like a very nice and caring person. Please don't let someone take advantage of that. Some not-so-nice people are very adept at finding kind-hearted people and making them miserable for no reason other than their own satisfaction. Or seeing how far they can push. Guilt trips, sly suggestions while acting like they don't mean to be a bother...it is almost sociopathic. I am so sorry you are having to deal with this when you should be enjoying your new home.

Sending you vibes for a positive outcome for everyone involved.

ellyr said:

 
The short, painful answer is that I'm down to one cat.  I really, really don't want to talk about that, or go through long debates about what I should have done.

This has mostly resolved the complaining, except he still has low level symptoms, so now I'm going around taping all the holes around the radiators in my apartment while we wait for maintenance to install new air filters in the HVAC.  

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l'm so sorry it came down to losing one cat. You are in a difficult situation, and l hope things get better from here    

ellyr said:

It's not that I don't want to be sympathetic to his allergies. He doesn't seem like a terrible person. I picked up some cat wipes at the pet store, and I vacuum once a week to get hair up.

I just feel miserable and wish I could move. It's hard to move to a new place, be told you can have animals, and be greeted with a downstairs neighbor saying that the cats are waking them up and, oh, we also have allergies - What are YOU going to do about it?

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Really??!! I can't believe these people are complaining about the pitter patter of cats running above them! Better then dogs, and even more so, better then kids (I mean human, not goat )!

This building has central shared air, but not insulated floors??!! Thats not cool.......Is there something your not telling us? Do you have a wildlife refuge with lions or some other large cats in your home?

     You moved into a building that allows pets, and landlord even reassured you that this has always been. Completely understand that you don't want to be short with him, seems like nice guy......maybe you can purchase some runner carpets/area rugs for where cats run.

    How old is the building? Has it always been apartment rentals or co-ops? Do you know how long your down stairs neighbor has been living there?

ellyr said:

 
The short, painful answer is that I'm down to one cat.  I really, really don't want to talk about that, or go through long debates about what I should have done.

This has mostly resolved the complaining, except he still has low level symptoms, so now I'm going around taping all the holes around the radiators in my apartment while we wait for maintenance to install new air filters in the HVAC.  

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   I am so sorry it came to this! That is shameful on the landlords behalf.......Keep up on the super to have maintenance replace filters ASAP!  They are dragging this out because they don't want to spend the extra dollars on the filters which are much more expensive then the labor to install them.....

It is despicable that management allowed one of their tenants to be bullied so badly, to the point of violating your contract . If he couldn't manage his own allergies, it was absolutely management's job to do something about it, and absolutely not your problem. I personally would be contacting a lawyer. . .but I know that's not always an option. So sorry this happened to you and your kitties .