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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not exchange contracts until I know what the seller's plans are for her cat?

52 replies

decimatedday · 25/07/2018 11:46

We're moving house, and in the final stages of conveyancing. I recently met the owner and she mentioned that her cat had been born in the property and has a well-trodden territory. She said she can't take the cat with her because she is going into rented accommodation and travels abroad a lot. At that point she hadn't decided what to do with it (tbh I got the impression she was hoping I might volunteer to take it on).

I'm a bit worried she might re-home the cat with a near-neighbour or somewhere close enough for it to return to its territory. As we have a cat of our own, this would be a big problem. I've requested reassurance via the solicitor but so far we haven't had an answer. AIBU to hold out for one?

OP posts:

Jux · 25/07/2018 12:29

Whatever she says you have no guarantees. Your cat will do better if you don't let the other cat in, or feed it when it's around. But, there will be other cats about which your cat is going to have to learn to live with, so what's the difference?

BottleOfJameson · 25/07/2018 12:30

Consider yourself lucky by the way my friend moved into a property which had a resident barn cat in the garden (the house was semi detached and in the suburbs in a nice area). The previous owners had obviously bought it as a pet, failed to tame it and just left it living in the garden.

kaytee87 · 25/07/2018 12:31

If she abandons her cat then take it to a shelter. If she rehouses with a neighbour then your cat will deter it from the garden eventually.

The solicitor probably hasn't responded at they think you're bonkers

HuggedtheRedwoods · 25/07/2018 12:38

Poor cat having an owner who doesnt sound like she has really planned what will happen to it after she's off travelling other than hoping the purchaser would take it on - sounds a well thought out sad story! And to those saying take it to a shelter - rehoming or finding a good shelter is often easier said than done. We inherited our cat when its feckless owners moved out of a flat nearby - tracked them down via letting agent and they said a neighbour was looking after him while they decided what to do! It was blinking lies but cat was lucky in getting his paws under our table/taking over our house or he'd have ended up just another sad stray out there. I dont think yabu if inheriting a second cat with the house will cause you problems and the owner does not have arrangments for it.

OliviaStabler · 25/07/2018 12:50

She could make loads of assurances to you and then leave the cat with someone close by.

I know of someone who bought a house and it was vacant on her moving in. When she opened the door she found the cat there abandoned.

GlassSuppers · 25/07/2018 12:54

YABVU

So glad you're not my buyer you sound like a nightmare making these requests so late in the process!

ifonly4 · 25/07/2018 12:56

I totally understand why your concerned OP. Why do you think she'd rehome it close and not say with a friend a few miles away?

Our last move was about two minutes walk away from our old house. Our girl very much stayed close to our new house. Our boy was ok for 18 months and found his way back to our old road, funnily enough he seemed to sense the house was no longer his (new owner had our tel no and used to tell us she'd seen him, but doesn't believe he entered the house) and spent his time seeking out old neighbours who he knew!

SiliconHeaven · 25/07/2018 12:58

adopt the cat if you have to, it'll be fine

easyandy101 · 25/07/2018 13:01

You're mental

Booboostwo · 25/07/2018 13:04

Last house we bought the seller tried to leave a horse (farm with land). The solicitor saw it last minute and made her remove it, but she still left a cat and three chickens behind. We didn’t know about them and unfortunately we didn’t move in for a while so the chickens had disappeared by the time we moved in. We adopted the cat. Our other cats are fine with her (we followed a long and gradual introduction press) but unfortunately our dogs hate her and we have to keep them apart.

PetitCornichon · 25/07/2018 13:05

How badly do you want the house? Are you really willing to lose it for a cat???

OctaviaOctober · 25/07/2018 13:07

Please be honest with her and tell her you would give the cat to a shelter - if you would.

And I don't think it's at all "bonkers" to be concerned for the welfare of an animal

KwatahPanda · 25/07/2018 13:08

Thus thread is weird.

Op if you had posted that you were considering moving and just thought it might be easier to leave your cat at the house, but hadn't quite figured it out yet. You would be hung, draw, quartered. Glued back together, and then they'd start again.

YANB bonkers, you're being responsible, and to the pp who said it was none of your business it literally is, it's her home she is paying for. She has a right to know if it will come with a spare cat or not!

That said OP, the person selling can make up any old bullshit, so there is no way to know. I think saying you will keep it and giving it away is cruel though.

Viviennemary · 25/07/2018 13:12

It's nice you are concerned but really the cat is her business not yours. If it isn't sorted out you need to deal with it like you would any other stray who turns up on your doorstep and ask for it to be re-homed. A lot of cats are wanderers but some aren't. She is being irresponsible though not making arrangements for the cat.

OctaviaOctober · 25/07/2018 13:12

So glad you're not my buyer you sound like a nightmare making these requests so late in the process!

The seller can't take the cat with her, made a point of saying he was born in the home, and doesn't know what she's going to do with him. I think it's a fairly good bet that she will just leave the animal behind. And I'm stunned that several of you think that's a non issue.

Disclaimer - I foster cats. And I have fostered cats who were abandoned when their families left, even a cat who was left in his old house to starve and neighbours had to break a window to rescue him. Abandonment can have a permanent impact on pets.

RedSaidBread · 25/07/2018 13:14

Its sad she can't take the cat but tbh your cat is likely to be carving out it's new territory alongside plenty of other cats in the area. That is stressful for the cat but cant really be helped.

AcrossthePond55 · 25/07/2018 13:19

Stopping a home purchase because of the seller's cat? Why would anyone do that?

Complete paperwork, move in, see what happens and deal with it then.

thirdday · 25/07/2018 13:19

Kwatah Panda is right.
It seems like a lot of people seem to think it's normal for the seller to be so vague about who will end up owning the cat. I know cats tend to roam and come and go as they please but they still need a proper owner. Imagine if this was a dog in question.
It sounds like the OP has every right to consider the possibility that the seller could just leave the cat and pretend it had been rehomed locally and hope the OP might feel sorry for it.

Themerrygoroundoflife · 25/07/2018 13:21

YABVVU - what a weird demand. I have a cat. They sort these sorts of territory issues out themselves all the time. It’s the definition of a storm in a tea cup.

TENDTOprocrastinate · 25/07/2018 13:21

YABU and a bit nuts.
Are you holding up a chain for this??

Themerrygoroundoflife · 25/07/2018 13:22

Most likely the seller just wasn’t filling you in on who they are going to leave he Cat with. It really wouldn’t occur to me that it was something to share the details with a potential seller.

AcrossthePond55 · 25/07/2018 13:23

Just remember, OP, if you're thinking of taking her cat to a shelter if it does turn up, that it's just as likely that YOUR cat may wander off to your former home. Would you want the new owner/tenant to take your cat to a shelter if he/she turns up?

Instead, perhaps, ask if she'd be willing to give you the phone number of the 'new owner' so you can call them if the cat starts showing up routinely.

Vitalogy · 25/07/2018 13:25

Moving house can be one of the most stressful things in life, maybe the OP could do with being cut a bit of slack due to this people.

Tinkety · 25/07/2018 13:41

I'm a bit worried she might re-home the cat with a near-neighbour or somewhere close enough for it to return to its territory.

Well what if she has? Will you pull out?

ADarkandStormyKnight · 25/07/2018 13:53

This sounds like a miserable situation all round. If she can't take the cat with her then she should rehome it responsibly.How is the evicted cat supposed to understand what has happened? It would be horrible for both cats to have to fight for territory at the same time as lots of upheaval.

I think you have two options:

agree to take the cat on a trial basis (you might ask for some £££ to cover your costs). Proceed with the sale.
tell her firmly that you are not going to take the cat. Proceed with the sale and deal with it if the cat hasn't been rehomed.

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