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Help me, Pet Island! My wife and I are cleaning up our house preparing to sell it and move to the next county. We have 3 litter boxes for our 2 cats (shorthair sisters) in tiled areas, and due to marking issues in the past we need to have the carpets in front of these rooms cleaned and/or replaced. Between Cat Attract litter and some attempts at cleaning the carpet ourselves they don't seem to be marking any longer, however there is enough lingering odor that professional cleaning is needed. Our initial plan was to, immediately before listing the house, bring the cats to a relative's house to be watched. We'd then have the carpets fixed, get the house listed, and get the cats back after moving. This family arrangement has worked before for trips of up to a week, but as we feared the relatives won't commit for the unknown length of time it would take for the house to be sold. They're good cats, but I can't blame them  What we're the most worried about is the carpet being messed up again after cleaning, which seems more than possible given the stress of a bunch of strangers being paraded through the house. We do have a Spotbot and should be able to keep up with the occasional hair balls, but we're both worried that the sight of litter boxes, combined with any odor we aren't able to completely remove, could hurt our chances of selling the house. We could rent a large apartment or small house for the cost of boarding them, which is more than we can safely afford before the sale. Are we making a mountain out of a mole hill here, or is there something else we could be doing?
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Jul 11, 2014 05:05
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| # ? May 14, 2024 13:47 |
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I would suggest boarding them if you can't find someone to cat sit, because they really will discourage some buyers just by being there (regardless of whether they're using the box perfectly).
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Jul 11, 2014 16:10
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Do you have a basement or other big room you could restrict them to when you need to? It'd keep them from peeing everywhere, reduce their exposure to the stress of cleaning up your house and give you only one room to clean. You could let them out in the evenings or whatever when things are calm and you can keep an eye on them. Then you'd only need to board them when people are visiting your place.
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Jul 11, 2014 18:01
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I second restricting them to an area that is tiled or hard wood. If you don't have a basement you could move the litter boxes to the bathroom if you think they will use them there. It may be unpleasant to have boxes in the bathroom but it would only be until you sell the house and move. And if it keeps the carpets clean it would be worthwhile. Then you can put the litter boxes away and have your family keep the cats on days you are showing the house. If you end up constantly transporting them from place to place and the cats do not travel well between houses, this option could be very stressful for them and not recommended. In that case Boarding long term may be your best solution even though I know it's expensive. Sometimes having animals is a huge pain and inconvenience, but we do it because we love them.  Good luck!
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Jul 11, 2014 20:37
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No basement, and the only tiled areas are bathrooms and the kitchen (which is open to other rooms). The family is 2+ hours away, which limits short term sitting opportunities. One last thing, all of our friends up here have multiple pets already and asking them to watch 2 more would be crazy. I have some vacation time booked up, at this point we're thinking we can cash that out instead of taking a trip to cover the extra costs. We could move straight in to a rental once we list the house, for about the same cost as boarding the two cats would be. This has other benefits, like the house being more clean & accessible for showings (did I mention we have a toddler?) and being able to close quickly once an offer is made.
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Jul 12, 2014 06:35
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