AIBU to give my neighbours living room and kitchen a quick clean.

[Casschops]

My lovely neighbours have gone away on their holidays they don't have much money although work reaaaaally hard and juggle their childcare of their 10 year old son. They have gone to stay in annex of their relations home so have an absolute minmum on their holiday, a friend even drove them their as they struggle with money so much. Im feeding their cat. I saw the man chucking their vacum cleaner in the bin the other week and he was laughing saying they can't afford a new one ATM. The cat has been sick on the floor and flicked cat litter everywhere which I have cleaned up but I can tell that for some weeks they have swept the carpet and floor and there is a thin layer of cat hair and bits in corner of the rooms. It lools like it needs a good vacum the cat has also been walking on woŕktops in the kitchen and there are footprints on things generally lookin a bit hairy and in need of a good wipe as are the windowledges where he sits.
Would they think it odd if I gave everything a wipe down in kitchen and living room as well as mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed the carpet. I just want them to come home to a nice fresh house or is this intrusive? I am absolutely not looking for people's judgement about levels of tidiness but would it be nice to give things a quick once over or just too much? We say hi on the street and chat but have never socialized with them just to give an idea of our relationship.
Thanks for any input.

I meant you could clear up the entire lounge floor but nothing else

They trust you to feed their cat.

I think I would be delighted if someone gave my place a very quick spruce up, so long as it is never mentioned! DH would be so embarrassed that he would not be able to speak to anyone in your family for generations!

Ordinarily it'd be a no, but given the cat is causing the mess and that's all you're going to clean up, then I think it's lovely. Just don't start moving ornaments on the mantelpiece to dust!

@Saucery

I would, given that their vacuum cleaner broke and you know that. It wouldn’t be a criticism of their vacuum frequency as they are currently without one. And I’d include wiping around after the cat as part of looking after it while away.

^ This

I would appreciate it enormously.

Mind you, if her dh said that about the hoover to you, then you can just say that - oh, your dh said you were currently hooverless, and with the cat Ithought....it didn't take a minute...."

It’s intrusive and totally could be taken as a dig and a judgement of their cleaning standards. Leave well alone, however well intentioned you think you are! It doesn’t sound like you’re particularly close to them so it’s really not your place to take this on.

I think it's very easy to offend, but blaming the cat seems a good way to do it.
Have you got their phone number/email?
In which case a quick message saying "got in and the cat's been sick . Don't worry, he's fine now. I've cleaned it up as he had traipsed it about everywhere. Hope that's okay."

That way they will just feel thankful that you cleaned up the cat sick, and won't get a moment of arriving home, looking round and thinking "how embarrassing, it was so untidy she felt she had to clear up."

Ps. Would you like to come and do my house next?

I’d clean and leave a note explaining you had to hover as the cat had flicked litter and vomited - you didn’t want to leave it to fester and smell on their return.

My lovely neighbour who sadly moved away, used to feed my cats and guinea pigs. She always hoovered up can cat litter bits, wiped the kitchen down, and bleached the loos.

I loved her all the more for it, lovely to come home to a clean house.

When I looked after hers I did the same watered the plants, quick run round with the hoover. Bread, milk and biscuits to come home too.

I suppose only you know the relationship you have with you neighbours...

There are some really arsey people on here today!

OP - I would do it, but tell them you did it and make up an excuse. Say you spilled cat litter or the cat knocked something over or whatever, so you brought your hoover round to clean the carpet. That way it shouldn't be interpreted as a "pity" clean or you overstepping boundaries.

I do that as normal when I’ve fed people’s cats. I hadn’t thought I might be offending them

I'd be horrified and pretty pissed off with you, tbh, although I would thank you nicely and never let you know how I felt.

This sort of happened to us with friends who house- and cat-sat for us for a couple of days. They are lovely people and meant well, so I kept my feeling to myself, but it felt really, really intrusive. (The place wasn't unhygienic, just lived-in and a little cluttered, and yes, cat hair).

You do seem to very much notice their perceived poverty, and I wonder whether you would think 'oh, lived in' at the mess you describe if you were in a perceived middle-class home, but in theirs you read it as a sign they're not coping?

I might feel slightly insulted, but I would get over it.

Of course people will say they are grateful even though they are totally mortified. Clean up mess the cat made while you were in charge yes. Anything else. No.

I would hoover and say its because I accidentally trod mud through or something.

I would hate if someone did this for me. Clear up after the cat and leave everything else.

The nicest thing anyone did for me last year when I was having treatment for cancer was the friend who house/dog sat for the weekend and did some cleaning/tidying. I walked into a house that was nicer than when I left it, I was so grateful.

They obviously trust OP enough to have he run the house. The DH had told her the Hoover was broken and wouldn't be replaced. I think saying you'd had to clear up after the cat and ran the Hoover round while you were at it is good plan. I might even offer them a loan of the hoover from time to time, or depending on my own situation engineer a "friend" who was chucking one out.

I would do it - and would be delighted if someone did the same for me. It would make me feel as though I had had a few extra days of holiday when I got back.

I used to look after dad's cats whenever he went away, I'd clean up the hairballs/vomit/litter mess etc but that's all, apart from anything else I could have spent an entire lifetime trying to make my dads house in any way tidy and I've got my own house to clean!

Cats are malting like mad in this heat. I’d whip round with the hoover and say that’s why.

I think I would do a minimal hoover/wipe of footprints and say really apologetically that you startled the cat and it kicked litter everywhere and you felt terrible about leaving it messy so hoovered up.

Tell them the cat got the squits and walked it all around the house.
I'd love it if someone cleaned my house and wouldn't be offended- one less thing for me to do!

Ps another person here who would love a good samaritan who cleaned for me when I was struggling

I think it's a lovely thing to do, with the cat as an excuse. Definitely don't go upstairs though, just leave it to the counter tops and a very quick hoover round the cat areas downstairs. I don't think that would be disrespectful at all, as its clearing up after the cat. It would be completely different if you got carried away and scrubbed the house top to bottom - that would be weird and judgy!

Someone else said how their sister had got furious at her MiL for cleaning the car inside and out - I don't think that's a direct comparison. What you're suggesting is just clearing a few crumbs from the front seat and washing the windscreen.