Will a trained live in trainer cat leave a lingering smell after a letting ?

worded

Prospective tenant sounds lovely but has a 7 year old live in cat in her present place

As someone joked about a friend who had one he said she has “fritzled” her cat

Anyway .... I’m wondering if I’m going to regret this in a year or three when the tenant leaves

How clean and odorless can a cat be?

D3V!L

Its down to the owner and their levels of cleaning. I had two cats in a rental and you couldn't tell.

.......

Whats a trainer cat?

Is it something training to be a cat?

mickdw

I survey houses as presented for sale so would assume that they have been well cleaned. I have yet to visit a house with cats or dogs that didn't have a strong smell.
It will likely go away after they leave but I wouldn't have it in my house ever.

Sheepdish1

Cats can be very clean as long as the tenant is clean. I lived in a house and the landlord was *very* fussy over cleanliness, I saw him run his finger along a countertop for dust when he was visiting :-D

He never had an issue with my cat living in my house because I was clean. There was never any smell or fur etc from the cat, I actually had two cats! The house was sold and no one ever questioned if an animal lived there.

If it is a male cat it needs to be spayed. There is also antibacterial cat litter that I use so there is no smell. I’ve been into people’s houses where you can smell cats straight away as they haven’t bothered getting them snipped and they wouldn’t be clean people.

If the tenant is clean it should be fine imo.

Mollyb60

Cat litter and cat food are the smelliest things about cats that are spayed. Once the cat is neutered they shouldn't be spraying around a house/flat so no pee smell and there should be no other smell if the litter is properly managed IMO.

Sheepdish1

Mollyb60 wrote: »

Cat litter and cat food are the smelliest things about cats that are spayed. Once the cat is neutered they shouldn't be spraying around a house/flat so no pee smell and there should be no other smell if the litter is properly managed IMO.

There is also antibacterial and odour masking litter you can buy in Tesco which is brilliant

worded

Thanks for all the opinions so far ....

It’s a female cat that has been snipped as far as I know and is 7 years old

She works 12 hour shifts and the cat is excited to see her on return and is able to pace the dry food for the 12 hour absence

It has some fear of outside but can be coaxed out to the garden on a leash ...

* aside from cleanliness I’ve a friend who has a house cat that has badly damaged a mattress and bed sharpening claws on it. I suppose I could stipulate on an agreement that any damage to furniture won’t be considered wear and tear and will require replacement ....

Foweva Awone

I don't get the point of antibacterial litter. I just use ordinary clumping litter and a large tray, I change it regularly, my cat literally never gets anything outside the tray (cats are very clean in general) but I have it on a tiled area rather than carpet just in case of an accident.

Scratching furniture can be an issue alright but I'd count that as normal wear and tear. A scratching post might help avoid it.

I have sometimes asked family and friends (honest unbiased ones!) whether my apartment smells of cat when they're over to visit, they've told me it doesn't. Apart from the cat hair that needs to be vacuumed regularly from carpets and soft furniture, you really wouldn't know she was there most of the time.

worded

....... wrote: »

Whats a trainer cat?

Is it something training to be a cat?

Meant to say "Trained" I corrected the title just now ...

Cherry Blossom

Just ask for an additional pet deposit if your worried about furniture or carpets.

GingerLily

Sorry to derail, but what litter do people here use? We're using the Lidl litter, it seems to work but haven't tried to others

Foweva Awone

I use the clumping litter from Tesco, €2.59 for a 10L bag. Does the job, much less dusty than other ones I've used.

em_cat

I’d just like to say thank you OP for considering a tenant who has a pet as far to many landlords prohibit them. It’s great to see someone being considerate and proactively asking questions instead of just outright not allowing it.

Speak to the prospective tenant about a pet deposit, it’s unlikely they would balk at it the suggestion. I’ve had indoor cats and as long as regular cleaning is carried out no major issues should occur.

Mollyb60

My sister and her bf have 2 kittens and just moved to Belfast with them. Whilst their landlord is slightly concerned about the damage to furniture that cats (especially kittens) can do with their claws, he has given them a 6 month lease with the view to extending it out to a year if there's no major damage after the 6 months. As a result they're extremely careful with the furniture in the place, they've scratching posts everywhere and covers over the couches to make sure the cats don't scratch them. This could be something you could propose OP?

Ginger - we use wood pellet litter as we can put it in the compost bin when it's sawdust. We get the 30L bags from Pets at Home which are £7 up here.

_Brian

worded wrote: »

Prospective tenant sounds lovely but has a 7 year old live in cat in her present place

As someone joked about a friend who had one he said she has “fritzled” her cat

Anyway .... I’m wondering if I’m going to regret this in a year or three when the tenant leaves

How clean and odorless can a cat be?

Yes, to non cat keepers there will be a smell of soft furnishings.

I know people who keep pets indoors always think they have it under control, it’s just not true, your just noseblind tonthe smell. I’ve never ever once gone into a house where cat or dog was being kept and not noticed it. There are degrees of smell but always a smell.
Our rental is outdoor pets only.

.......

em_cat wrote: »

I’d just like to say thank you OP for considering a tenant who has a pet as far to many landlords prohibit them. It’s great to see someone being considerate and proactively asking questions instead of just outright not allowing it.

Speak to the prospective tenant about a pet deposit, it’s unlikely they would balk at it the suggestion. I’ve had indoor cats and as long as regular cleaning is carried out no major issues should occur.

Our tenants have an indoor/outdoor cat and we put a cat flap in for them

And there is zero smell. And she has scratched the furniture - but I mean, its furniture, it suffers wear and tear - thats the nature of it.

em_cat

....... wrote: »

Our tenants have an indoor/outdoor cat and we put a cat flap in for them

And there is zero smell. And she has scratched the furniture - but I mean, its furniture, it suffers wear and tear - thats the nature of it.

That’s lovely to hear, IMO not many landlords would go that far...We have 2 properties being rented and we allow pets too but we do inspect as once we had an issue that took a good amount of money to rectify but we try to be as accommodating as possible.

AndrewJRenko

_Brian wrote: »

Yes, to non cat keepers there will be a smell of soft furnishings.

I know people who keep pets indoors always think they have it under control, it’s just not true, your just noseblind tonthe smell. I’ve never ever once gone into a house where cat or dog was being kept and not noticed it. There are degrees of smell but always a smell.
Our rental is outdoor pets only.

The vast majority of domestic cats don't smell. The litter tray might smell, but the cats don't.

Spanish Eyes

There is a reason that animals are on the no list for lettings.

In fairness they do smell, no matter how clean the owner is, sorry but my nostrils have had to endure this with members of my family who think their cats/dogs are unsmelly and total angels. They are not. And the furballs ugh. Just me I suppose.

My sister has two cats, all neutered/spayed whatever the word is, but they really take the p for me. Her furniture is near ruined now, despite having a scratching post. Cats will do what they think is best for them, haughty creatures that they are!

Get me out of there quick is my feeling most of the time. And the brother has a Cavalier King Charles. Gorgeous doggie, would melt your heart to look at it. But it is as mad as a box of frogs.

I smugly have no pets, and will only allow the dog into my back garden to have a run around. Cats are banned.

Sorry.

Absolutely no way should you let go a person indoor pets op, the smell is one thing but even worse a cat is guaranteed to damage the house and furniture. It’s a landlords market, I’m sure you have plenty of other people to rent to who have no pets. It’s laughable that people claim they don’t smell as they do and very strongly, you smell cat from the peoples clothes never mind the house itself. But the damage to furniture and other wooden surfaces would be the bigger issue in the long run.

Graces7

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

The vast majority of domestic cats don't smell. The litter tray might smell, but the cats don't.

Says it all; thank you. a good tenant will keep the cat trays clean if they use trays.
Any odour will be ephemeral and occasional.

I have cats who refuse to use trays and insist on going out. Nor do they damage furniture, as they use the great outdoors eg trees to keep their claws in good condition. Which is why they scratch.

So a scratching post works fine if cats are indoors.

And of course, when the cats leave and the house is cleaned at the end of a tenancy, fine.



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