Sherry in OH Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 If you have an indoor cat and have sold a house, what did you do with cat during showings? He hides when we have guests. So, he'd probably hide when strangers are in the house. But I worry that he'd run out if the door were left open. Plus I planned to put his litter boxes in the garage during showings. Should we buy dog kennel and put him in the garage? It will be cold out there. We do not have anyone willing to keep him for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We trusted our cat would hide during showings. Dd also made a cute sign for the door that said, “Please do not let the cat out,†with a drawing of our cat. We just made sure the liter box was extremely clean in the corner of the basement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We always put our cats in their carriers and either took them with us in the car (if it wasn't too hot) or put them in an out-of-the-way closet with a note on the door warning that there were (crated) cats inside. And we put the litter boxes in the garage. Unless it's really, really cold he'd probably be fine in the garage. You can put a blanket over the crate to hold in his body heat. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I like both of the ideas above, but think the kennel is the safest plan for kitty. Kind of a side note: This is probably not that common, but we had to have our RE agent phone ahead and ask about cats before we saw houses. Our DS is actually anaphylactic to cats. One agent assured us that the clients did not have a cat, and DS walked in as far as the foyer - his throat started closing and we nearly had to epipen him. Yikes! We did see the cat, shortly after that. So, on the off chance that someone like that is house hunting - maybe let your RE agent know so they can correctly answer questions ahead of time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Mom Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Take the cat with you. Evidence of animals in homes is a negative to many buyers. Put food dishes, toys, etc out of sight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I'd take the cat with you. You don't want to risk a potential buyer being turned off by a cat. Put kitty in a crate and take her with you, and hide food, toys, and litter box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ailaena Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I stuck the cats in a carrier and put the carriers under the desk where nobody would see them (we have a u-desk). I also removed litter boxes during one of the showings because I was nice even though my landlords were selling the house in the middle of my lease :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 When looking for houses, there was one with a cat. The seller's realtor had listed it's presence in the MLS notes that all realtors have access to. So our realtor was able to inform us it was there before we went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I don’t know what the solution is, but we looked at one house where they said there were cats but that they would hide, but please make sure not to let them out. They did not hide, they followed us around and wound around our legs, and we really couldn’t even look out the back door because they were right there trying to get out. When we sat at the breakfast bar to talk about the house, they were trying to jump up on us. No, we didn’t buy that house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) as a house buyer having looked at "cat houses", may I tell you things that were deal killers? this was in an otherwise immaculate house. cat food, in dishes, on the kitchen counter litter box in the kitchen/family room cat stench cat dander - I was forced out of the house because I couldn't breathe. eta: the house had hardwoods in great condition. no carpet. Edited October 31, 2017 by gardenmom5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 My cat does NOT tolerate crates-- his endless howling would have been a deal breaker! I made sure the litter box was fresh (as in all new litter if possible right before the showing) and put a note on the front door (inside and outside). No issues selling the house as kitty was good about his box habits. Note ( we also had 2 HUGE German Shepherds at the same time- they would either be in the back yard with a note on the door or we would take them with us -- not always possible due to car size). Both dogs were well trained and knew the main realtors well. It helped having tile floors and keeping the cat and dogs out of the bedrooms (they had always been off limits to the furry pets)... we only had one small family room to vacuum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I'd remove the cat and all traces of its existence from the house before showings. As others have already mentioned, some people are turned off by the sight of a pet or a litterbox or food bowls. Even if the cat was going to hide, I wouldn't leave it in the house. I'd be worried that someone would leave a door open long enough for the cat to make a run for it and escape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Frog Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) as a house buyer having looked at "cat houses", may I tell you things that were deal killers? this was in an otherwise immaculate house. cat food, in dishes, on the kitchen counter litter box in the kitchen/family room cat stench cat dander - I was forced out of the house because I couldn't breathe. I agree with most of these, but the reverse is also true. If I know there is a pet, but the house doesn't smell like a pet lives there, I then believe the house must be well maintained because the owners cared enough not to let the house start stinking (especially when there isn't any air freshener!) Edited November 1, 2017 by wilrunner 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We put ours (howling in his carrier) and his litterbox in the big suv with the dogs and kids and air conditioning and parked at the park down the street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypatia. Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I wasn't working at the time and took my cats with me in the car during showings. The one time I left them home was when we were going to accept an offer and another agent requested a last-minute showing. When we returned the cat had jumped up onto the table and thrown up on the stack of information flyers we had left for prospective buyers. :ohmy: I'm glad we were accepting an offer already! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I had two cats the last time we sold a house. One was the escape artist and the other was not and did not really care for people she didn't know. We started out by leaving them both but warning the RE about the escape artist. After she let him out (on purpose- she forgot he was not allowed out!) I took him with us every time we left the house for a showing. He got used to it and enjoyed it after a couple of times hanging out with us in the van, down the street from our house. The other cat we left in the house and she was fine....although one of them (can't remember which one now) was let into the attic once and it took a while to get it back out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I like both of the ideas above, but think the kennel is the safest plan for kitty. Kind of a side note: This is probably not that common, but we had to have our RE agent phone ahead and ask about cats before we saw houses. Our DS is actually anaphylactic to cats. One agent assured us that the clients did not have a cat, and DS walked in as far as the foyer - his throat started closing and we nearly had to epipen him. Yikes! We did see the cat, shortly after that. So, on the off chance that someone like that is house hunting - maybe let your RE agent know so they can correctly answer questions ahead of time. I had this issue too....complete with nearly having to epi-pen. People with anaphylactic issues with ask before doing a house tour. Any house that has a cat is automatically off our list. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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