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Old 01-08-2010, 09:57 PM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
36,499 posts, read 53,811,618 times
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We have a tenant who wants an indoor only cat and is willing to pay a no refundable pet deposit but i'm concerned about the damage clumping litter will cause to pipes. We have septic tank in our own home and never flush litter down the toilet so i'm not familiar with plumbing problems this practice might cause.
Anybody have experience with this?
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Old 01-08-2010, 11:00 PM
 
Location: Long Island,New York
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There are 2 types of litter clumping and flushable.The clumping you bag and throw out in the trash. Flushable is exactly what it sounds like and breakds down like human waste.
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Old 01-09-2010, 01:01 AM
 
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I often flushed my cat's clumping litter, in a 100-yr old building, and never had any issues. (The design of the property just made it a huge hassle to take a bag of litter out to the trash and much simpler to flush it, so that is what I did.)

But you should probably implement a policy that all litter should be thrown out, not flushed, just to be safe.
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Old 01-09-2010, 02:45 AM
 
Location: Northwest Indiana
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Clumping kitty litter can be like pouring concrete in plumbing. Don't let anyone flush it unless you like spending time with your plumber unclogging (or replacing) your pipes. Frankly allowing pets in rentals only lead to many more problems then there worth IMHO, even more so then disputes over smoking.
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Old 01-09-2010, 07:58 AM
 
Location: In a happy, quieter home now! :)
16,889 posts, read 16,012,491 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richb View Post
Clumping kitty litter can be like pouring concrete in plumbing. Don't let anyone flush it unless you like spending time with your plumber unclogging (or replacing) your pipes. Frankly allowing pets in rentals only lead to many more problems then there worth IMHO, even more so then disputes over smoking.
Flushing litter of any kind is ridiculous. Bag it and throw it away.
Not allowing pets in rentals is heartless. Cats and dogs need homes just like people do. Allowing some human to say that these pets cannot live somewhere is criminal. I could really do without people like that in the world. The "smoking" I can agree with (and I smoke)...the cigarettes don't need a home
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Old 01-09-2010, 10:24 AM
 
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
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I have two cats, I'm a renter, and I couldn't imagine ever putting clumps of litter in the toilet! It all gets scooped up, put in a bag, and deposited in the trash. How difficult is that?

I can certainly understand why a landlord wouldn't be willing to rent to people with pets. There are a lot of irresponsible pet owners, unfortunately.
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Old 01-09-2010, 10:36 AM
 
Location: NW. MO.
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I'd stipulate the litter not be flushed to be safe. Hopefully if you allow it, the cat will be one that only uses the cat box. Some cats are funny about where they go.
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Old 01-09-2010, 10:56 AM
 
Location: ST paul MN
622 posts, read 1,715,763 times
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Not to be off topic but......


As a landlord that wants to avoid litter box/housesoiling issues in the rental property I'd be more wary on de clawing.. THAT can cause more litter issues then either clump or scoop. ( Clumping is cleaner BTW Scented litter can turn cats off. I'm not sure if it damages plumping- perhaps you could just have the renters throw it in the garbage.)


One shelter reported that up to 75% of the cats surrendered for litter box avoidance/issues were de clawed. De clawed cats can also bite more, cat bites are serious, 80% become infected- because of these and other issues many de clawed cats are dumped/abandoned and allowed to go feral.
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Old 01-09-2010, 11:49 AM
 
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I just want to rebut a comment above:

Most people who are pet owners are kind and conscientious people with a stable lifestyle. They aren't moving or changing jobs and have reliable income. They like taking care of things. Are these the kinds of tenants you'd like to have? Most LLs would say yes. If so, then you should consider allowing tenants to have pets.

If you don't want to have tenants flushing litter, the surest way is not to write a clause in the lease, but to make the dumpsters readily available. When I flushed my litter it was because the LL kept the dumpsters in a fenced area that was only unlocked a few days a week, and they never shovelled the back sidewalk to get to them. Well, trash I can take out every few days, but litter has to be disposed of every day. Since my LL had been in business for decades and had always allowed pets, I assumed they knew this and had no issue with me flushing the litter (and like I said, I live there for almost three years, and never had an issue; flushing litter might be an issue for you, it isn't a guarantee of an issue). So if you don't want your tenants to flush the litter, make sure they have daily access to the dumpsters.

As someone said above, clawing and spraying are far more common destruction caused by cats. There are ways to minimize your risk of these kinds of damage. For clawing, don't provide any soft materials. Cats won't claw mini-blinds or hardwood floors. They'll only be interested in carpets or curtains (and even then some won't care). If you do have carpeted units, buy quality. A densely woven carpet with a good primary and secondary backing is indestructible to a cat (my cat loves carpets, so I've seen from firsthand experience the difference good carpet can make). And remember, as I mentioned above, most pet owners are conscientious and will take measures to protect their home (such as using claw caps or putting down area rugs to protect the owners carpets).

Spraying can be caused by a number of factors but the primary ones are dissatisfaction with litter or territoriality. Limiting the kinds of litter tenants can use will increase the chances that a cat will spray, so you can reduce your risk by allowing tenants flexibility in litter choice. Territorial behavior can be minimized by limiting the number of pets a tenant can have and requiring that pets always be in carriers in building common areas.

Of course most LLs minimize their risk further by requiring an extra pet deposit. Usually it is around $200, which is the rough cost of having special cleaners come in to address spraying or other pet damage.
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Old 01-09-2010, 11:57 AM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,107,768 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu View Post
We have a tenant who wants an indoor only cat and is willing to pay a no refundable pet deposit but i'm concerned about the damage clumping litter will cause to pipes. We have septic tank in our own home and never flush litter down the toilet so i'm not familiar with plumbing problems this practice might cause.
Anybody have experience with this?
I never flush cat litter, ever. I would not permit anyone to have a cat who would even consider it.
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