I’m renting out my condo right now, I had one couple come by who seem nice enough but they will have a cat. (I forgot to put in my post if I’ll allow cats, I hadn’t thought about it and they were the first to ask.)
So how much damage could a cat do to my apartment? I’ve never had a cat or dog so I have no idea. I have hardwood floors. I may rent the place furnished but it’s old furniture that I would otherwise sell/donate, it’s not a huge deal if the cat scratches up the sofa. They did offer to give me an additional pet deposit.
Furniture could definitely get ripped up. A cat that pukes a lot or pees outside the litterbox can definitely require carpet to be replaced - not sure how that would affect hardwood though.
But yeah, I think kids and large dogs have more potential for destruction. I’d take a pet deposit and allow the cat.
Every landlord I have ever had has charged a $25/animal/month non-refundable pet surcharge in addition to the standard security deposit.
Of the four cats that I’ve owned, one had issues with occasionally urinating on the carpet. It’s probably a good thing that you have hardwood floors - the cleanup for any “oops” is a helluva lot easier.
Cats don’t generally claw walls. Mine will scratch at the door if I shut him out of my room but either he’s not getting a lot of purchase or my paint is tough stuff, because I have no claw marks. Generally my cat’s only problem is the aforementioned tendency to claw furniture.
I would go ahead and take the pet deposit as a matter of course; because they OFFERED it to you, I would assume that they are pretty responsible owners that will own up to any damage or take care of it themselves.
“Bad” cats can do a lot of damage. We currently own one who is prone to “inappropriate urination” when she feels insecure or lacks attention or just gets really, uh, pissed off. She has peed on couches, futons, beds, piles of clean laundry, piles of dirty laundry, a few rugs, and inside pretty much all of our purses, bags, and backpacks. I knew one cat who clawed 1/2" deep grooves in all the sashes of her person’s apartment’s windows – the woodwork, that is.
This thread is making me think my cats are badder than I realized - my cat claws woodwork and the couch, they both barf all over the place regularly, and my cat pees over the edge of the litterboxes so I have to put papers down all around them. I’d take the pet deposit.
Definitely take the deposit. We had one cat (a fixed male who was prone to UTI’s even on the expensive prescription food) who had the most monstrously malignant pee you’d ever imagine. It would stain the hardwood floors a deep brown/black color!
I also had a (female) cat who was a hardwood scratcher, until we got her one of those disposable cardboard scratchers that lies flat on the ground. We had tried a bunch of expensive cat trees and sisal scratchers with no luck, but she loved that cardboard thing. Drove the Roomba nuts cleaning up cardboard shrapnel, but saved our doors.
Definitely take the pet deposit - IME, $200-300 is common. It might not be a bad idea to ask for proof of rabies vaccination, sterilization, and a relationship with a vet. Speutered pets are on average quieter, less smelly, and less likely to spray (which can cost tons of money to rip out and replace damaged walls and floor), and people with un-speutered adult pets which are not part of a careful breeding program are on average more likely to have a few screws loose.
The most damage a cat can do is with it’s claws if it has any. If you have carpets, it might select a corner of carpet to trim it’s own claws. The result will be damaged carpet. Some cats are good for using scatching posts others prefer carpet or furniture.
As in all things, “usually” is a good word. Our back room has string wallpaper (came with the house 18 years ago) - two out of three cats over the years find it the world’s best scratching post.
Thank you again guys, this is hugely appreciated. I googled “cat urine hardwood” and that did give me pause. I have one other person who wants to think it over, and the rental posting hasn’t even been up for 24 hours, so I am going to hedge my bets for now and look for someone who doesn’t bring a kitty with them. I do realize a human can do way more damage than a cat … but oh well, it is my apartment.
Get a big security deposit, charge extra rents and have a solid contract covering damage. Do a walk through with pictures before turning it over and have the renter sign that inspection sheet. All this plus selecting a responsible tenant are the things you can do. Much depends on the quality of the place you are renting. If it’s kind of beat anyway and has rough wood under carpet, you can’t lose much. If it has a clean expensive interior with hard wood floors, you can’t afford to rent to people with pets.
I have a friend who had to rip out her hardwood floors from a renter whose cat had litterbox avoidance and who didn’t wipe up properly and promptly. My uncle is a contractor and ripped up a concrete floor that had been saturated with cat urine to the point that years after the cat died, the floor still smelled. Cats can cause a LOT of damage.
Mine has put scratches in my wall - mostly with her back claws when she jumps into the window and needs to give herself a boost. Repairable with a little spackle.
Ask for references from the previous landlord(s). If the cat has been well behaved for years, it probably won’t start scratching or peeing on things now. Usually those behaviors develop young, particularly with un-neutered males as they start marking once they’ve reached sexual maturity. So if the cat has been well behaved for the last few years, you’re probably safe. Probably – a few very old cats develop incontinence problems.