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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Moving house - rehoming cats

46 replies

viviennewestood · 12/07/2016 05:19

I'm currently in rented property and have 2 cats - landlord had no issue with this. For various reasons I'm having to move to a completely different city and have yet to see a place to rent that allows pets. I didn't foresee that I would have to move a couple of months ago when I adopted them so this is all unexpected.

I'm thinking that I'll have to rehome them what other option do I have?

OP posts:

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 12/07/2016 10:44

If the shelter will take them back then may well be the best option. As a landlord I really don't like cats in the house much (I might consider an older litter trained cat that doesn't scratch). I lived in a shared house where the owner had 3 cats and the amount of damage the young one did was surprising. I would have less issue with a dog and no issue with small furries (we have guinea pigs ourselves).

I sounds like something has happened that has knocked your life off track so you are not rehoming for trivial reasons but because you have bigger issues to deal with. Don't beat yourself up over it, its clear that its a decision you are finding hard. Hopefully, when life settles down for you you will be in a position to have pets again.

Original poster

viviennewestood · 12/07/2016 10:56

I'm going to have to get the carpets cleaned when I leave this house because one of them has favoured the living room carpet instead of her litter tray. I can't lie to a potential landlord and say they are fully house trained and don't scratch because that's only true for one of them

OP posts:

StrawberrySquash · 12/07/2016 11:17

What a horrible, sanctimonious comment. I also struggle to see how you would implement it. Presumably only home owners could have a cat - but even then life happens, circumstances change, etc.

Exactly. When we took on our cat she was living in a home that was, due to unforseen circumstances, no longer suitable for her. Ours was. One day that might change, in which case we will have to rehome her, but she is much happier with us than she was before she came to us.

OP, talk to landlords. It's easier to make a judgement on a specific pet when it actually exists. I can honestly say to LL that the thing the cat damages is the sofa, and that's mine.

Original poster

viviennewestood · 12/07/2016 11:28

I will keep looking and hopefully I can find somewhere suitable. If not I'm wondering whether the shelter will allow the cats to stay with me until they find someone who is interested rather than having to go back there in between homes.

OP posts:

Mrsraypurchase · 12/07/2016 12:25

We own properties that we rent. We will always accept cats if there is a double deposit paid.

BertieBeats · 12/07/2016 12:31

April what the hell ?

Tabsicle · 12/07/2016 12:31

it is a shame but maybe you shouldn’t take on a pet again unless you can give it a home for life

Really unfair comment. No one knows what life will bring. I have two cats – partner and I took them on 12 years ago. We had absolutely every intention of keeping them forever, but then due to job loss and house move we nearly had to rehome them. Thankfully a friend of mine was able to foster them for nine months until we found a flat that was suitable.

OP – is that an option? Do you have any friends or family who could temporarily foster the cats while you look for something better in the new city? I had to move in an insane hurry and couldn’t find anything reasonable at first, but having a friend care for my felines took the pressure off until things sorted themselves out.

BeatricePotter · 12/07/2016 12:44

Keep looking.

I would allow cats if I had a property to rent.

Snowflakes1122 · 12/07/2016 12:50

So sorry you are in this position

What a terrible decision you have to make.

Do you have any family who could take them for you, with a view to you taking them back when something suitable comes up?

StarryIllusion · 12/07/2016 13:00

Well it's not as if the op knew, is it? She thought she could give them a home for life. Shit happens. If it's what she has to do to keep a roof over her head... I could never get rid of my dog but realistically, in this situation I would have to rehome her at least temporarily or we would all be homeless including her.

Op I would give it a real push for a week or two to house break the other cat. Get a scratching post and every time you catch him scratching anything, grab him and put him on the post. He will get the idea. Same with litter training. Take his poop and put it in the tray if he does it on the floor. He will get the picture eventually. Once he does you can contact the LL directly and ask about it. Many will accept them in exchange for extra deposit and making good any damage before you leave.

thecatneuterer · 12/07/2016 13:40

Kitty I will bet you good money that there are far, far more animals in rescue at this moment because of homeowners' "new baby" than because of "in private rental, couldn't find a landlord who'd take pets"

I work in a rescue and this is absolutely true.

Many LLs take pets. I'm a LL myself and I allow them. You often just need to ask the agent to actually speak to the LL and offer a higher deposit. Or try to avoid agents and look for privately rented places.

Booboostwo · 12/07/2016 16:22

If one of the cats is not fully litter trained I think you need to return them to the rescue. Perhaps the rescue can try to rehome them while they stay with you until you move so they do not have to go into kennels?

Original poster

viviennewestood · 12/07/2016 17:56

I'm not sure why she can't get the hang of it. I took her to the vets to rule out any illness, bought feliway plug-ins to reduce any stress and bought numerous litter trays and different litters with no success. They're both outdoor cats but the one who isn't litter trained comes into the house to do her business! I'm really torn. I love them to bits but I can't afford extra deposit money on top of everything else. I'll keep looking for landlords who will accept pets but it doesn't look good so far

OP posts:

Booboostwo · 13/07/2016 10:17

Has the vet ruled our cystitis?

I don't mean this badly but how well have you been able to clean the spots where she pees? It's quite difficult to clean effectively but the new enzyme cleaners are very good at eliminating all traces and you can get a UV light to check you got everything.

Then it's worth litter training her. Restrict her to one room, pop her in her litter often and give her treats every time she uses the litter. Unfortunately you'll need to do this for a few weeks. Worth trying a covered litter unless you have already tried this.

Ticklethosetoes · 13/07/2016 10:29

Kitty situations change. When i adopted my cat i owned a house, when he died (10 years later) i was in horrific debt and rented accomodation. a pets life is a long time for things to change. If you have a landlord who doesn't have any issue, you may think it wouldn't be a problem if you had to move. Especially if a move is not looking imminent. Having a pet makes a home, I want my children to grow up with a pet (i don't have more as i rent!) its good for them. But I'm also part of generation rent. So what do i do? Spend their childhood without any pets? Or try and make the best of it with 1 cat and hope i can find somewhere that will take us as a family

OP my house was advertised as no pets, but it clearly had a dog here before and the landlord was actually ok with it. It was just the estate agents making presumptions (they don't manage it). A friend offered a bigger deposit and professional clean to keep her cats. Do try that, but the best thing is to try and go around the agents, so direct to the landlord if you can get their details.

Sonders · 13/07/2016 10:45

OP, if you got the cats from a lovely charity, they'll be happy to take them back - don't feel guilty at all.

I'm in rented accommodation (same place, 5 years) with a 'no pets' policy but the LL loves animals, and said that in the 10 years they've been renting the flat out not once has it been animal free.

We have 3 house rabbits and a cat, all rescues, all happy. Don't lose hope!

Original poster

viviennewestood · 13/07/2016 11:23

Yeah cystitis has been ruled out. I bought two different types of enzyme cleaner and neither seem to have worked unfortunately. She's also scratched dd's face this morning next to her eye

I'm feeling so confused about everything.

OP posts:

Booboostwo · 13/07/2016 20:59

Sorry to hear this. Simple Solution has worked very well for me when I had an incontinent cat and may be worth a try. The cat sounds quite stressed and she may prefer to be in a single pet household. Do the two cats get on together? Some cats hate being close to other cats and exhibit a lot of stress behaviours when forced to share their space.

pennefortheguy · 13/07/2016 21:05

This kind of thing is increasing and putting pressure on animal rescue charities. It is nobody's fault.

I would urge anyone who is living in rented accommodation and wants to take on a cat to foster for the RSPCA or Cats Protection.

The ultimate aim is to get the cats rehomed, but you get the joy of having animals in your home and you know if you need to move that you can give them back to the charity guilt-free. They also pay for food and vet bills. I did it throughout uni.

Original poster

viviennewestood · 13/07/2016 21:21

I've already gone through two large bottles of simple solution. I think she is stressed but I'm not sure why. They're sisters and have never been apart but they do fight quite a lot. The rescue said they're just playing but I'm not so sure. I couldn't split them up though. I'm heartbroken at the thought of letting them go, I'm going to do everything I can to keep them.

OP posts:

PageStillNotFound404 · 15/07/2016 05:09

How do they behave when they're not fighting? Do they ever groom each other, are they happy to sleep close to each other (not necessarily curled up together but sharing the same sofa or relatively small space), will they both play with the same toy at the same time (chasing string or similar)? If yes, then it's probably play fighting which can look quite rough.

If the answer to all of these things is "no" then they probably don't like each other very much, the peeing is probably stress-related and rehoming one of them would actually be in both of their best interests. Some cats need to be one-cat households.

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