To keep pets in two rooms in the house?

[Cheeseandapple]

With access to the outside?

I've got two cats. They malt like crazy. I'm not great at making time to groom but doesn't actually make much difference. They've got bad habits like jumping on dining table.

We're about to move and I'm equal parts annoyed and scared at the amount of hoovering I'll have to do to keep the cat hair at bay in a much bigger house.

WIBU to keep cats in two adjoining rooms with access to the garden? Rooms are appx 2m x 4m each. It would mean they couldn't roam around the house spreading cat hair, eating food that's left out, muddy foot prints on the counter tops etc

🤞🏻

With constant access to the garden?

Seems a bit pointless having cats if you are worried about hoovering up. I think 2 rooms would be fine now but would be a bit shit over winter

My house downstairs only has two rooms and I wouldn't think twice about not letting cats upstairs in the bedrooms if I had them so I don't think you are being unreasonable.

No, our cats are shut out of the bedrooms and bathrooms and haven’t issued complaints, not that I’d listen anyway. They have downstairs and outside.

Yes, they'll have a cat flap so could come and go as they please, which is what they've always done. I even built them a cat ladder when we lived in a first floor flat 😻

I think if you have cats there is a compromise on being house proud. You haven't said anything positive about your attitude to your cats. Why do you have them?

As they can get outside I think that's fine

It sounds reasonable to me - as long as they have unrestricted access to outside (if you'd said just the two rooms, then absolutely not).

Although, as much as my two shed hair everywhere and drive me crazy, I love their company and affection so I just accept that it's part of owning a cat.

Not unreasonable but I can't imagine it will be easy to contain them as you'll have to keep the doors shut all the time. Are the 2 rooms where you will spend a lot of time? My cat loves his human company.

Can you have them trimmed shorter at a groomers? I have long haired dogs and I find it Harder than I expected so just keep them shorter

Surely one of the main reasons to have a cat is that they sleep on your bed?

We keep our cats and dog in one part of the house (3 rooms) where it's tiled flooring. The dog gets to come through to the living room with us though, otherwise he looks sad! He doesn't get upstairs/anywhere else unless there's a thunderstorm (which he's terrified of).

Could you do it the other way round and shut one or two rooms off? Or is that basically what you’re doing? I would say it’s wirht a try though, if they’ve got access to outside. You can always decide to let them in more rooms later.

Maybe you do need to brush them more if they moult so much though.

As far as number of rooms and their well being is concerned i think 2 rooms and outside is fine. It's not like you're putting them in the cupboard under the stairs or anything. People with a flat or 2 up 2 down house keep cats and no one says the cat needs more rooms

I agree however that you sound as if you've fallen out of love a bit with them. The same happened to me when i had DD4 (now 4). The care i gave them never changed i just got irrationally annoyed with them. I think it was just having a new baby and all that emotional upheaval. After a while i saw it for what it was and made an effort to re-connect to the cats and all's fine now. Hair is hair. Humans shed it as well. Just hoover everyday.

Sorry for ramble!

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats oh god I love them! I was just trying to be concise. Shall I wax on about them a bit for balance? Both rescues after being lost or abandoned as kittens. One loves cuddles from anyone, big and floppy, a bit thick but so handsome with big yellow eyes. He loves to sit on my feet and always seems to have soul in the fur on his chin. He got bullied by local magpies and now terrified of them. He's got a thing for the front garden so always legs it out. I've given up panicking because he just waits on the front step when he's ready to come back. The other one, we've slowly realised, is almost definitely a genius. He figures things out so quickly. Very cautious around new people. Not an ounce of courage. We watched him being chased by a squirrel a few months ago. He's incredibly clumsy, constantly falling over or off of things, no balance. We think it might be because he has a crooked tail.

I really really love them!

My cat isn’t allowed upstairs, much as I love her I really don’t understand people that let animals sleep on their beds... be that cats, dogs or whatever.

She is a good cat, doesn’t go on kitchen worktops or the dining table, doesn’t scratch furniture, etc. She is a Maine Coon X though, so super furry... it gets everywhere despite regular grooming!

That's better. We believe you love them now OP

Not unreasonable at all. Ours aren't allowed upstairs either.

@Laiste phew! Was worried I'd come across as heartless. What you said probably rings true for me too. My DD was born 3 months ago and I've definitely had less time for cat cuddles.

Thanks everyone. Hopefully it works out but please rest assured that if they're not happy I'll figure something else out.

@adaline how do you keep them from going up?

Aha! Don't worry. Normal service will resume soon :)

My first pair of cats lived to ages 17 and 19. Rescue kittens. I left home quite young and got them as soon as i moved into my first house in West London. They saw XH arrive on scene. Saw me marry, have 3 DCs, and then moved with us to tumble down cottage in countryside. Went through cottage renovations with us. Came with me with me and kids when i moved out and divorced. Older cat lived to meet new DH!

After older cat passed i bought 2 rag doll kittens. The boy died very young of illness but his sister is 8 and has already seen 2 house moves, DD4 arriving and is now literally watching DH rebuild our forever house. She sits on his ladders and cement bags ect. watching very closely :)

Our pets go through so much with us. Bless 'em.

Awwww You love them so much. I bet the new rule won’t last long.

No problem OP - just asking and delighted to hear it . I wouldn't restrict mine as much that that but as long as they have access to you and the outside (which they clearly do) it shouldn't be a problem. Haven't seen the photos yet....

Laiste your story made me well up (damn menopausal hormones!). Our pets really do go through everything with us. I love my boy cat so much and he has such a wisdom behind his eyes, he's a constant and he grounds me.

Op, best of luck! Cats are sneaky buggers and not easily contained

nancy

I was inconsolable when older cat passed. It hit me quite hard. She'd been there with me from a naive 19 year old to a 40 year old divorcee with 3 kids.

One other thing - when i left XH with the kids i took them and our stuff in a bit of a rush intending to fetch older cat in a week or two when we'd sorted ourselves properly. But on around the 5th night she appeared on the doorstep! She'd left XH as well and found us! God knows how. Other side of village. This was a cat who never went further than the end of the garden usually. Of course she was scooped up and she stayed with us straight away.

Welling up as well now!!