Renting with 4 cats? (Chicago: rent, condo, buy)

[ContraPagan]

Originally Posted by citylove101

Tell your landlord you only have two cats. Move in with two cats. Board the other two for a month. Then sneak them in and have a feline reunion!

Right. Way to go encouraging the OP to violate their lease agreement if she is only allowed 2 cats! A lot of places ask for references from previous tenants, so should she try this and ends up getting evicted for breach she's basically going to be barred from renting from any decent landlord in the future.

[ContraPagan]

Originally Posted by Charlotteborn

Cat urine ruins carpeting and hardwood flooring so I can understand why many places refuse to rent to people with pets.

Have you considered a individual landlord? Maybe you could ask for a letter from your current landlord stating that no damage was done to your current rental.

Only if it is not cleaned properly ASAP. And anyone who knows about cat care would be whisking Fluffy off to the vet ASAP for a full checkup first, and then addressing any environmental/psychological issues if the health check comes up clean.

This is also a good reason never to declaw. Declawed cats get surrendered if they develop litter box avoidance due to trying to dig in the litter with sore paws.

[ContraPagan]

Originally Posted by Liledgy

I have one tenant that has ac at, it will be my last tenant that I allow to have a cat. The tenants are good clean people but I can defiantly smell an animal when I enter the door. And the cat is outside a lot (single family residence). Personally I don't have any animals in my home. Animals are dirty and carry diseases. Some of my friends wouldn't bat an eye if there dog or cat hopped up on a coach and laid down. To me that is gross. [snip]

Tell them that #1, their cat is to be kept indoors from now on. My lease specifically states that I am allowed one indoor-only cat, and

#2 - They need to start being more diligent in cleaning out the litter box. Boxes should be scooped no less than 3 times per day, regardless of how many cats are using them.

Mod cut. My cat goes where ever she wants to go in my apartment, if that means walking the back of the sofa, or the headboard on the bed, or hanging out on top of the kitchen cabinets, so be it. She is also the best damn alarm clock I've ever had, I just wish she would choose sometime later than 5:30 AM to come in and start jumping on me and strumming my nose to see if I'm still alive.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by smokehouse527

It's a matter of opinion really. I'm in the process of buying a 2 flat and I would take animals over kids. And animals aren't necessarily dirty or smelly. That's your biased opinion. My landlord always says that she can never smell my animals. I bathe my dog weekly and my cats once a month. I'm always cleaning as I'm very conscious of the fact that I do have 3 animals. Animals aren't for everyone just like kids. But a well trained animal is definitely less destructive than a well behaved child IMO.

And it is a matter of money. I would say the majority of young professionals who you would want to rent to have at least one dog or cat, and they will not rent your apartment if you don't take them. Too many other landlords will. I think the drawbacks, and I think lilwedgy exaggerates them like pretty much everything else he says, are outweighed by the economic benefit you get from the broader tenant pool.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by BRU67

And it is a matter of money. I would say the majority of young professionals who you would want to rent to have at least one dog or cat, and they will not rent your apartment if you don't take them. Too many other landlords will. I think the drawbacks, and I think lilwedgy exaggerates them like pretty much everything else he says, are outweighed by the economic benefit you get from the broader tenant pool.

The thing is that the OP is asking about FOUR cats. That means a whole lot of cat food, which if it comes in cans, generally has a very distinct odor. Once that cats eat that stuff it also means that they'll need to use the litter box and even if the OP is using the best litter and cleaning it frequently there is still going to be a tremendous potential for very noticeable odors.

It is one thing to have a single cat, maybe even a cat and a dog but going to having four is really a very unusual kind of renter...

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The thing is that the OP is asking about FOUR cats. That means a whole lot of cat food, which if it comes in cans, generally has a very distinct odor. Once that cats eat that stuff it also means that they'll need to use the litter box and even if the OP is using the best litter and cleaning it frequently there is still going to be a tremendous potential for very noticeable odors.

It is one thing to have a single cat, maybe even a cat and a dog but going to having four is really a very unusual kind of renter...

Oh I don't disagree. I was only talking about the blanket statement of no pets allowed. I would not allow four cats either. No way.

[prhill]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The thing is that the OP is asking about FOUR cats. That means a whole lot of cat food, which if it comes in cans, generally has a very distinct odor. Once that cats eat that stuff it also means that they'll need to use the litter box and even if the OP is using the best litter and cleaning it frequently there is still going to be a tremendous potential for very noticeable odors.

It is one thing to have a single cat, maybe even a cat and a dog but going to having four is really a very unusual kind of renter...

We had 7 cats once when a female cat we found and took in had 6 kittens right away. never noticed much of a smell. Not like I do when in an apartment with kids yikes!

[ChicagoMeO]

Believe me, even if you cat owners bathe your cat daily, people who are not used to the smell, CAN smell it coming into the bldg and/or your apartment. You are used to the smell, but someone new is not.. so believe me, they will smell your 4 cats. it may be the cat litter too, thats a lot of litter from 4 cats. believe me, that will smell. you wont notice it but others will who are not used to it. When you clean the cat box and unearth the pee at the bottom that has mixed with the litter, it will smell.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

Believe me, even if you cat owners bathe your cat daily, people who are not used to the smell, CAN smell it coming into the bldg and/or your apartment. You are used to the smell, but someone new is not.. so believe me, they will smell your 4 cats. it may be the cat litter too, thats a lot of litter from 4 cats. believe me, that will smell. you wont notice it but others will who are not used to it. When you clean the cat box and unearth the pee at the bottom that has mixed with the litter, it will smell.

I made the mistake of trying to bathe a cat once. I want to meet the person who can manage to hold a small, fast, agile animal with claws at all four corners in a bathtub even one time, much less daily, LOL!

[jwaiter]

Cats bathe themselves often and do not smell, it's only the litter box that smells, not the cat.