Considering not telling a landlord I have a cat.

[Mirrors123]

Please don't be mean, I am in pieces about potentially having to give up my beloved rescue cat.

I really need to move house. Buying is not an option for me so I have to rent. I have been looking for months and cannot find a single property that allows pets. I have one, well trained indoor cat.

Would it be a really stupid idea to just not tell the landlord and hope for the best? What would be the consequences if a landlord found out?

Helpful suggestions only please, the alternative is giving up my rescue cat who absolutely hated the shelter. Thank you x

[WhatALearningCurve]

@thewomanontheshore Oh makes lying about it and potentially making people ill and damaging someone else's property totally fine then!

[missmouse101]

You would have presumably signed a contract agreeing to no pets so it's a complete breach to secretly have one. Definitely arrange to have a conversation with a potential landlord about allowing pets. There's a real chance they'd allow it. Which town are you looking in?

[thewomanontheshore]

Renting is massively unfair towards tenants already. And then they're expected to abandon their pets too. Time to resist.

[missmouse101]

Bit of a sweeping statement to say renting is massively unfair towards tenants! I don't agree with that.

[ShirleyPhallus]

Renting is massively unfair towards tenants already.

No it’s not. Landlords have got very little protection against tenants who decide not to move out. And in deposit disputes, they will always side with the tenant.

No one is asking you “give up” your pet. But if a landlord doesn’t want a pet living in their home, it’s your choice not to move in.

[thewomanontheshore]

It's easy enough to say that - but in practice it's often difficult to find somewhere to rent. If you have a pet, it can be impossible.

[thewomanontheshore]

There is no way our landlord would have allowed a pet. Having scoured the area for rentals, we had no real choice but to hide the cat. We were living on a housing estate where no cats or dogs were allowed. It turned out that loads of other people, both owners and tenants, had cats, and a few had dogs. Our cat has never done any damage, doesn't smell, etc. I think that most cats are like that.

[DriftingLeaves]

Our cat has never done any damage, doesn't smell, etc. I think that most cats are like that.

And if your cat living there gave those maintaining the property for you asthma attacks that would be ok with you?

Bloody selfish. You'd be out on your arse.

[MrsDrSpencerReid]

I know so many people who have dogs and cats in their rentals.
Someone actually posted on Facebook today about how they were sitting in their car down the street with the cat waiting for their inspection to be over.
Was also a discussion at the school gate a little while back where some of the mums were discussing how they hide their pets for inspections.

We’re not animal people but we’d never be able to hide a pet anyway, our LL uses the front villa as his holiday house so randomly pops up all the time

[mrssunshinexxx]

@Mirrors123 I work for a letting agent and sympathise as there are so many people with pets and most LL say no but the way some people get around it is writing a nice cover letter with your application form and perhaps offering a little more rent than it's being marketed for if you can afford it of course even it if a only £10 pcm hope that helps and good luck there is no way I would give up my cat for anything

[SallyWD]

We had the same problem then actually asked a "no pets" landlord if they'd allow us to have a cat and they said yes. They even let us put a cat flap in.

[lioness88]

I rented loads of different places with my cat and never had an issue. I don't remember anywhere being advertised as pets allowed, I always just asked and had the cat written into the contract, no one ever said no.

[Kubba11]

I did it.

Landlords cant just walk in, if i knew he was coming I took my cat out in his basket & put him in the car Only once or twice a year!

I was young and didn't think of the consequences but really it would be very hard for them to know!!

[ShirleyPhallus]

Our cat has never done any damage, doesn't smell, etc. I think that most cats are like that.

I really disagree, I’ve never been to someone’s house who had a cat where I couldn’t smell it. Cats have a very distributive smell that I think owners are nose blind about

[Iheartdonuts]

Please speak to the LL first. I am severely allergic to cats and have been hospitalised several times because I didnt know a cat was living in the house.If it wasn't for this I would absolutely let my tenants have cats.

[FredaFox]

@thecatneuterer my mate just bought a house with free cat fleas, it happens and he’s had to pay to get his house clear

[Coyoacan]

DriftingLeaves
What an OTT reaction. I'm sure there must be people who cannot enter somewhere where a cat has once been, but I have yet to meet them. I have had lots of visitors who are allergic to cats and I just put the cats in another room.

[thecatneuterer]

@FredaFox Well of course bad owners who don't flea treat can get flea infestations. Just as bad parents allow their children to draw on walls and pull off wallpaper and destroy furniture. Just as bad people get pissed, have fights, put fists through doors and smash things up.

Basically there are a lot of different types of bad tenants. Most people with cats flea treat them. Most people don't get drunk and smash things up and probably most children don't destroy houses (although the jury's out on that one).

[katycb]

I'm a landlord and would be totally fine if you asked..is be annoyed of If I found out later though.

[Iheartdonuts]

Coyocan I am one of those people. I cannot go into a house where a cat has been. I have been into a house where a cat lived 12 months previously and I still ended up in hospital. Putting a cat into another room is no good.

[Iheartdonuts]

That last message was for Coyoacan

[EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall]

I've hidden them before no and never been found out

I've found lots of places that don't go through agency's don't mind though. Just charge extra deposits

[thecatneuterer]

Yes, lots of people don't get found out. However the new Tenant Fees Act means that it's no longer legal to charge higher deposits.

[Coyoacan]

Iheartdonuts. I'm sorry to hear that.

[CerocDancer]

Hi, you are obviously stressed out about this situation and I don't think you'll be able to relax if you try to hide the cat. Speaking as a landlord, there has to be trust between me and my tenants. I have a no pets policy, because not to do so would open the door to any kind of animal, but I have had cats staying with my permission and there was no problem. I would advise you to approach landlords directly if you can and try to have a general chat so that they feel they know you a little bit before you mention the cat.