Why do Denver area landlords seem so cat unfriendly. (rental, houses)

[Tigerlily64]

Allergies - ok, that makes sense, I had not considered that one. I guess someone with allergies would probably be best to look for somewhere that just didn't allow any pets previously to be on the safe side but yes I understand that there seem to be more people with cat allergies than dog.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Tigerlily64

Well if I was a landlord my preference for would be tenants would be cat owners over dog owners (and I love dogs) and both of those over families with small children in terms of likely damage to my home! P.S. I am no a child hater, I have two but they are young adults and fully housetrained now ;-)

I have a friend who had a rental home. She said there was no way to tell who would trash the house, singles v married; pets v no pets; younger v older; students (this was in Boulder) v. working people; grad students v undergrads. Everything depends on the individual person.

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Because it is impossible to get the smell of cat urine out of a wood floor without replacing the floor.
Also, I am generalizing here, but cat owners tend to be more difficult to deal with than dog owners. I dont know why that is the case, but it has been my experience. I have had many more problems with cat owners than dog owners and I've had easily 10 times as many dog owners as tenants.

The house we bought had dog urine stains and odor that were impossible to get out of the carpet. We had to replace much of it. The odors have faded since we bought the house, and we live with the stains in our bedroom. These dogs were also large, and scratched the wooden doors in the bedrooms, necessitating replacement in the case of the master BR. The doors in the other rooms weren't as bad.

Your experience as a landlord seems different than my friend's.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by Tigerlily64

Currently living in Texas but relocating to Denver area in the not too distant future. Browsing various sites to get an idea of rental availabilities and so forth. Have two absolutely housetrained, well behaved adult cats who do no damage whatsoever and have previous landlords who would verify that, why do I see so many adverts for single family homes that state a dog or two is ok but definitely no cats? I am really puzzled as having had dogs in the past I know how much more destructive, not to mention the housetraining side, that dogs tend to be than cats! I saw one ad today that quotes $200 pet deposit for a dog and $400 for a cat. The house we currently lease had a small, obviously completely incontinent dog in it before we moved in and we had the place steam cleaned a second time before we would move in as the carpets were stained and smelly but we liked the area and the house overall. Our indoor cats never, not even once, have defecated or urinated anywhere except the litter tray, the places we rent are unfurnished so there is no damage through clawing to anything the owner would care about (actually they don't claw furniture either as they have a scratch post they always use) so I really don't understand why so many rentals adamantly and specifically state no cats? Someone please enlighten me!

I am a cat person (also a dog person) and I can now say that if I ever rented my home out or any other property, I would categorically never rent to someone with cats, be it 1 or 4 cats. Having rented a dozen apartments in my life and three single family homes -- half of which while I had 1-2 cats -- I experienced cat urine damage in 7 of those homes from previous tenants.

The "fix" ranged from simple, professional carpet cleaning -- after, I as a tenant, had to move all my stuff out of the room and grant three days of apartment access -- to the single family home we're in right now where it was evident that the previous owners knew of their cats' marking in areas throughout the house and total desecration of an entire room, which looked fine appearance-wise. This room's sub floor was treated with Nature's Miracle and the carpet was REPLACED by those previous renters. Still, as temps rose, the smell started to seep through the brand new carpet, you couldn't stand in the room for more than 30 seconds before being overcome by the odor. Feline urine does not break down if there is enough of it.

We had to rip up the carpet, use KILZ TWICE on the subfloor, remove the lower level of drywall all the way around the room, replace it, re-texture the wall, paint and add new base boards all around, re paint the walls and, finally, re-stretch the carpet. Miserable experience considering on top of it all, we couldn't unpack our house or move my daughter into this bedroom until we fixed it all.

Spraying is the the most common form of inappropriate elimination and the #1 cause of surrender of cats to shelters. And since ALL cats (female,male, spayed, neutered) have the capability of marking, the odds are quite high that a feline household will experience spray issues eventually... Thus, many times, landlords are not willing to take risk -- both financially and in time and energy -- in renting to cat owners. Big apartment companies may be more likely since they have deeper pockets for these repairs. The frequency of single cat households that experience spraying is 25%, multi-cat homes is something like 75%. In many cases, cats are using out of the way areas within the home that go without notice by their owners.

I AM a cat lover but if I were a landlord, I would take a dog any day (even on gleaming hardwood floors) over a cat and the possiblity of what could happen as that type of damage takes tremendous amount of TIME and money to correct.

(An aside, I am now in Austin but spent 13 years in the Denver/Boulder area and haven't seen any difference in the number of rentals allowing cats here versus there.)

[Tigerlily64]

@Idlewild - thanks for your comments, seems like in my 45+ years of owning cats (and dogs for 40 yrs) I have been more than statistically lucky then with my cats. I had one cat years ago who as a kitten had the occasional mishap but she grew out of it within a couple of months but other than that no issues. Never had a cat that sprayed but my cats were all fixed at 6 months old and it tends to be entire males that spray (I accept there may be exceptions). From the stains and smell of our current rental when we first viewed it you would have thought that the dog that had lived here had never been let out!! Hence why we insisted we would only sign the contract if it was all cleaned again, and that didn't work too well but we have also continued to air and clean, neutralise the carpets whilst we have been here. The owner will get back a property that is cleaner and better cared for from us than it was when we moved in :-)

As far as differences between Texas and Denver area with this subject, when we came to Texas from the UK in February this year, we did not come across any stipulations about cats specifically, it was either pets allowed or not allowed regardless of species (but some breed restrictions if it was a dog). Just our own personal experience of course.

[McGowdog]

I like cats now too. I'd better or MrsGowdog would have me in the McGowdogHouse.

Here's our Maine Coon;



Guess who cleans the catbox? That's right. Me. I'm the only one on the planet who cleans those things often enough, the way they should be. Whenever I housesit for friends and family who have cats, nasty. If you're not cleaning those cat boxes at least twice/week, that's cat abuse and house abuse imo.

[Tigerlily64]

Originally Posted by Idlewile

The frequency of single cat households that experience spraying is 25%, multi-cat homes is something like 75%. In many cases, cats are using out of the way areas within the home that go without notice by their owners.

Interesting stats that must be hard to prove/establish and I am a little amused by the quote that says the cats are using out of the way places that the owners don't notice - that is what all the fuss is about in the first place though isn't it, that it IS noticeable if only by the smell?! Just saying, not being provocative lol, I hear and appreciate the comments.

[Tigerlily64]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

If you're not cleaning those cat boxes at least twice/week, that's cat abuse and house abuse imo.

cute pic, thanks. We clean our cat boxes out daily! We have had visitors come in and up until when the cats walked in the room, they didn't know we had cats, no smells

[BennyPhoenix]

I've learned over the many years of property management that many tenants who appeared sane ended up being a problem, so I have to go by more than that. I know it's not fair(but it is legal), but I go with the odds.
Cat urine is a big problem. It's not only the money it's also the time involved in dealing with it.
Dogs often stink up apts, but routine painting and cleaning gets that smell out.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by Tigerlily64

Interesting stats that must be hard to prove/establish and I am a little amused by the quote that says the cats are using out of the way places that the owners don't notice - that is what all the fuss is about in the first place though isn't it, that it IS noticeable if only by the smell?! Just saying, not being provocative lol, I hear and appreciate the comments.

Cats tend not to spray in areas in which their owners spend the majority their time but in other areas of the home that are not high traffic. (Surely, if you caught a glimpse of your cat spraying the family room corners right in front of you on the couch, you'd screech at him and tell him to stop -- cats are smart, they know this.) This holds true for our experience -- in all 7 of the homes/apartments suffering from cat urine damage, none were the family/living rooms or bedrooms. They were often guest rooms or offices.

Unfortunately for us, the last 'office' is my current daughter's bedroom.

[JrzDefector]

Yeah, I'm a cat owner and a renter, but I don't blame landlords for being wary of cat owners one bit. Cat urine leaves a smell that rarely goes away. My own cats have been wonderful about using the litter box, but it only takes a couple of mistakes to have a lasting odor - I'm pretty sure the renters here before me had cats because I caught a whiff of that unmistakable smell the first time it rained in my new place (my cat had not yet moved in). I currently have the cat box in the basement on a linoleum floor, so even if she misses, it should be an easy fix.

And then there's the allergy issue - it's hard to get a place clean enough for someone with severe allergies if a cat has ever lived there.

Dogs? Much easier to clean up after. Maybe you'll have to replace a carpet or repaint, but that's not such a big deal.

Incidentally, when I was looking for a place to rent, most landlords were friendlier to cat owners than they were to families with kids