Houses with pets

[Dalooah]

I recently read a thread where a lot of people mentioned they wouldn't consider buying a house that had pets.

I just wondered why?

We're looking at a house where the owners have a few cats but I'm not sure what I should look out for with regards to the pets as I'm not a pet person!

Bought a house where previous owners had cats.

Had to get the house professionally treated as it was infested with fleas. As soon as the heating kicked in we were bitten by them as the eggs hatched and they were jumping everywhere. Bloody awful.

With cats you need to check for scratch marks mainly on the woodwork and "roughed" up carpets where they've sharpened their claws. 🤦🏻‍♀️
Also check to see if/where there is a cat flap and how it's been installed. A neighbour had one in the panel adjacent to their front door - it would have been very easy to break in.

You can treat house fleas yourself with spray and vacuuming and spraying again a few weeks later. Maybe £50 if it's a large house. You do not need to spend a fortune on professional treatment.

Ah. Fleas. Yeah, my 2 are house cats - they don't have fleas.

You'll probably know from a viewing, as the pesky critters will cadge a lift on your legs...

Tbh unless the house was extremely immaculately clean I would be changing carpets anyway- pets or no pets.

I just wondered why?

allergies and smell and fleas.
any house I moved in (including rentals) that previously housed pets needed to be cleaned very well from top to bottom before I could move in.

Thanks for the info. Does anyone have any insight as to why they might have a large 'cage' (for lack of a better word) for the cats outside? (This is what they were contained in, looking perfectly content when we went to view) But I did spot some sort of climbing/scratching post sort of thing in the utility when we went to view?

Is it like a dog pen but for cats? Some people have these so their cats can go outside but stay safe.

@Dalooah

Thanks for the info. Does anyone have any insight as to why they might have a large 'cage' (for lack of a better word) for the cats outside? (This is what they were contained in, looking perfectly content when we went to view) But I did spot some sort of climbing/scratching post sort of thing in the utility when we went to view?

Probably a cat run, many people with indoor cats use them.

We bought a house where the previous owners had a small chihuahua-type dog. Despite cleaning, I still find dog hairs two years later, and the corners of most of the skirting boards and bannisters are scratched. It's amazing what damage can be done that you don't notice on viewing.

Cat fleas can be a real problem. When I was an estate agent I went to value a house where the owner had a couple of cats and a dog. There didn't appear to be any problem and the owner moved out and the house was empty for a couple of weeks. I took some viewers round a couple of days later and as soon as we walked in the place become alive with fleas. Hundreds and hundreds of them. I was black with them as were the viewers who were understandbly furious.

We had to have the office fumigated and also pay for the viewers house to be fumigated. I was covered in flea bites.
. What I used to do after that if when I went into an empty house I would throw a piece of white paper on the floor and if there were fleas they could be seen on the paper.

If I were to buy a house where the previous owners had had cats I would have it sprayed.

We have dogs, cats, chickens, horses and rabbits... I promise we'll take them all with us if we move

It's probably a catio.

Tbh, I don't understand this "no pets" atitude at all. You can tell if a house is well-maintained or not pretty quickly. I'm a pet owner and we never had any problems like those mentioned above. Our viewers always commented our previous house was immaculate. It took hard work, but it always does, with pets, kids or on your own. It all depends on the owner. Even if there is any damage to carpets or some scratches etc then surely if you like the house, you negotiate or factor in replacing them which you might need to do anyway. It's not a major issue upon purchasing really.

I find it strange.

we have a cat and a dog (and chickens and fish)
No fleas, because we flea treat and spray, because we don;t like getting bitten either.
No skirting or door scratching. Only scratching is the sofa which we are taking.
No weeing indoors

So if we moved, our house would be fine. Can't guarantee the hairs though if someone has an allergy.

on the other hand I have viewed and been in to houses with no animals that stank. Mould, piss, beer, weed, cigarettes etc etc.

To me it is nothing to do with pets or not, and all to do with general cleanliness of the house.

This is an interesting post - I have dogs & literally selling my house now. We'll see what comes back on the feedback.. 🐾

Blimey if people turn their nose up at houses because of pets, that's a hell of a lot of houses ruled out. I'd say about half of UK homes have a cat or dog.

I'm more concerned about scuzzy humans than scuzzy pets

My cat scratches nothing except her scratching post, pees outside, and has never had fleas. She gets regular preventative flea and worm treatment. I don’t see why a well managed cat would put any buyer off a house. As PPs have said, it is dirty owners that cause problems, whether they have pets or not.

The only giveaway we have a cat are the bowls and the scratchers, both of which we’d be taking with us 😁

I bought a house with a dog… but I have a dog.

Did turn my nose up at a house that smelt very strongly of cat pee.

In London at my price bracket I mostly saw houses being vacated by people who had lived in them for 40 years. All liveable though I paid for a professional clean - but skirting is all scuffed.

I’d say the houses with small children were more damaged - crayon marks on walls etc.

Exactly- my cat doesn’t cause any damage. She’s indoor, due to her deafness & my home is immaculate. She has her own scratching post which she uses & she doesn’t touch my furniture.

Hmm so our kitten did wee on the carpet, we’ve tried cleaning but you can still tell so we’re replacing it with wood flooring. But they don’t scratch walls etc - that’s dogs. Cats scratch the cat scratcher or furniture if you’re unlucky so I don’t see how it would affect a future buyer.

Thanks for the insight!

We have just sold our house and have multiple Ddogs. I staged the house for viewings/photos so you wouldn't know we had pets. We definitely don't have fleas or anything like that, but some people can be put off by the presence of pets. The dogs stayed with my DM for a week to give us time to do all the viewings (luckily it sold quickly), their beds went with them, dog bowls and food went in the cupboard, toys into the toy box etc. I even took the lovely paintings I have of them all and put them in a box in the loft (alongside various other artwork as I was decluttering generally too for the move)!

We’re buying a house that had 7 dogs, a rabbit and a guinea pig, and the owner was also a horse enthusiast. The first viewing was a bit strange as we couldn’t view the back room or the garden due to the dogs. We did get to do a second viewing and saw the outside space.

Luckily we are animal people, and love dogs and hope to get one when we move. Currently we just have a guinea pig. If the animals put other people off all the better for us since we got the house at asking price! Also the entire downstairs floors were tiled or laminated so will just need a clean which I’d do anyway, and we’ll just replace the carpets upstairs. For the record, the house appeared to be extremely clean and owner had cleaning apparatus everywhere. You can’t stereotype all pet owners.