Do cats prefer their home or their owners?

[Lou153Lou]

I’m buying a house and they are divorcing including him moving abroad. I don’t know what she is doing.

We love the house and the owner was present during our viewing and said that they felt it would be kindest to the cats if they could stay at the property.

I’m not against cats but we wanted to get our own kittens at some point and these feel like someone else’s cats to me.

Assuming the wife could take the cats, would the cats be happier with their owner (she must have a decent lifestyle) or staying at the house with a bunch of strangers?

That is nuts! They are their pets and their responsibility, of course they have to take them with them.

Cats are generally more attached to places than people although there are exceptions.

However trying to dump your cats on someone because you are getting divorced is CFery of the highest order.

They will be fine wherever they go and whoever they live with so long as someone cares about them. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like this couple do.

I’d keep the cats and if you really don’t gel with them then take them to a rescue - deep down neither party really wants them

It depends on the cat. My DF has a cat who would follow him to the ends of the earth (in fact she is technically another family's cat), and if he moved she would want to go with him.

We had other cats who would have found moving stressful and would have preferred to stay with the house. But we would not have left them, because we were not trying to offload our pets. Which is what your vendors are trying to do...

(I would still take them if they are nice cats and you want the house)

My cat is attached to me. They don’t sound like they deserve that kind of devotion though.

Btw there's a lot to be said for an adult cat rather than starting kittens.

Thats massively cheeky! The cats are theirs to deal with! If they really can't take them with then they should be given up to a shelter

It would be equally discombobulating for them to be moved as to have the same house with bee smlls, habits and furniture.
That's a mad suggestion though! They know nothing about you or your lifestyle / other pets / penchant for long holidays or whatever.
What if they dump you with two really old cats with lots of expensive health conditions? Buyer beware?
Poor cats though, soppy old me would be inclined to take them, to get them away from owners who don't care.

Unless I was genuinely after older cats, I wouod not touch thus with a bargepole.

But if you can afford the vets bills/insurance, and actually want cats, then it might not be a totally bad idea.

Yes, it's cheeky to ask, but they might done it knowing it's a punt (worst you can do is say 'no', which is the same situation if they'd never asked, and you might just surprise them witha. 'yes')