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When You Move, Don't Leave...I Mean Forget Your Cat!

cat Today, for the second time in less than a year, I had buyers move into a new (to them) home and inherit the previous owners cats.

This was not part of the contract, in fact, the contract specified that the seller was to take ALL their personal belongings.

I have had this happen one time before where the seller insisted the cat wasn't his, then on the way out of town stop by my office and leave the cats medicine and special cat food.

Hello... guess whose problem this became? The new owner did not want a cat. The buyer purchased the seller's home...that's it, no personal belongings, no animals. I trapped the very frightened cat, and took it to our local cat shelter that has a "no kill" policy. The cats are very well cared for for a small donation.

If a seller doesn't want to take their cat(s) with them, then they need to put it in the contract that the house comes with it's own animals, or, they need to make other arrangements--how about taking your animals with you?

Leaving them for the new owner is not good manners.

Now, on Monday, someone has to deal with three unwanted cats left by a seller who has moved out of the area. Hmmm....who should this task fall to? In a perfect world, the cat owner, but in reality, it's going to be my buyer and me. How very sad for these lovely animals.

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.

Fran Gatti Del Norte County Real Estate Agent

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Posted by Fran Gatti - Realtor®, RCDPro®, Crescent City CA Real Estate on 09/16/2007 01:01 AM

Comments (23)

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Originally posted at: Crescent City Real Estate News: When You Move, Don't Leave...I Mean Forget Your Cat!

23 Comments on When You Move, Don't Leave...I Mean Forget Your Cat!

SEP

2007

This blog breaks my heart. The picture of that cat is the spitting image of one of mine. Leaving behind an animal is like leaving behind one of your children - you don't do it. Even shelters with no kill policies have to some times kill. I wish more people understood that.

To me it's the job of the cat's owner to make sure that his animal is taken care of. I'm a pushover and have adopted several cats that previous owners left behind. I had one cat that was so fearful that it took almost a year for him to realize that he really had a home and someone that treated him right. One day I just noticed that the fear was gone from his eyes. It was replaced with a calmness and a look that I can only describe as gratitude. It was weird and powerful; I'll never forget it.

I don't know that there is an answer to this horrible problem - education I guess. What ever happened to responsibility!

Maybe it was a gift? Just kidding. That sounds really irresponsible. Some people consider their pets like family. I've dealt with sellers who went out of their way to find a good home for their dog when they were moving into an apartment with a "no pets allowed" policy. I'm glad to hear that the cat found a caring person like yourself to take it to a nice shelter.

It really sucks that people could be so cruel. If they do not want the animals they should have the decency to find them homes. Many states have laws against abandoning animals.

Good luck.

This is sad. If they were moving why did they not find the kitties a new home before they moved. Can you say cruelty to animals..Abandonment. How said that these people can not be responsible.

Fran this just tears at my heart. I can not imagine leaving a pet behind. If for some reason they could not take them they need to find a new safe home. I have moved several times across the country and have moved with my precious cats in tow. An agent in my office told me the house she was going to list isn't going on the market because the homeowner couldn't move her cat and dog at their age.

I hope you can help your client find a good home for the cats.

This is always heartbreaking. The same thing happened 2 years ago to buyer clients of mine. It was a rural home on 20+ acres with a barn. The sellers left behind the kitties, thankfully my clients kept them. But oh my were they angry!!!

Fran good luck with this in the future. Some people just can't accept responsibility

Fran, I've had that happen too and I just don't get it. We used to have quite afew cats and I LOVED my cats.I could not even imagine just leaving them behind. Heck I'd rather leave the kids behind:)

Fran, What is wrong with some people. This is just crazy. I have never had this happen thus far and hope I never will.

Fran, I cant' imagine this and 2 times as well. You did the right thing taking to a shelter where it would be cared for.

My husband and I went to visit my new clients last night and all three cats were trying to get in the house. It broke their hearts and ours as well. We already have two cats and so do they. It's pretty crumby that we're dealing with this. I DON"T LIKE TAKING CATS TO THE CAT SHELTER.

Judging by the comments, no one else would like it either.

Leaving them with the new owners is the best thing that could happen to the cat. If the owners were so emotionally UNattached to the cat, the cat is better off. At least they stand a chance with the new owners loving them.

Patsy,

Unfortunately the new owners have two cats of their own who are afraid to go outside because of the 3 cats the seller's left there. The buyers do not want anymore cats (I had five cats when all five kids lived at home and it's a bit much) so tomorrow morning we are taking the cats to the shelter. Our cat shelter has a lot of wonderful volunteers that love on the cats.

I'm sorry Fran, all I could do was laugh! I can't imagine this.....good thing you have a cat shelter, looks like they're going to get to know you! I do have empathy for the cats and abhor the irresponsibility, but it just hit me funny. I can't imagine walking into my new home and having nanimals already there.

SEP

2007

Fran- I had the same exact situation when representing one of my buyers. She already had 2 cats, and couldn't fathom taking on 3 more. As a kitty lover, it absolutely killed her to watch those poor things outside her window. However, her own cats were scared to death of the cats trying to get inside. After several phone calls to the listing agent and her client, it was finally decided that I would be the one to take the poor things to the shelter. I was positively sick to my stomach. Thank GOD (thank you God!!), my buyer found someone to take in the cats the night before I went up there to get them. I was so RELIEVED, I could have cried. People can be unbelievably irresponsible.

It's to bad you had to deal with someone else's pets. But the silver lining to the cat box is, you have a humain place to take them.

They really left THREE cats. That's unreal. Now I understand why animal rights groups are so difficult to work with when it comes to adopting a cat. Sorry that you have to go through this!

Today is the day I will have to take care of this. I will keep you all posted and say a prayer it all goes smoothly.

Fran:
Bless your heart for having to deal with this awful mess. It breaks my heart to know that those cats were abandoned by the very people they relied on for their well being and their very lives. I am a BIG cat lover and have spent quite a bit of time volunteering at two different no-kill cat shelters. Most shelters are overloaded with abandoned animals - it's heartbreaking. I also own two cats, but could not take on any more as my husband is actually allergic. We somehow manage with the two, but I'm afraid that any more hair in our house could be disastrous. So I can certainly understand how the new home owners are not wanting to own five cats.

I hope and pray that your local shelter will be able to find a home (preferably all three together). Mostly likely they will have to split up. But as long as they get good homes, that is what matters.

Please let us know how things go!

SEP

2007

Katy,

I will keep you posted. My buyer had a family emergency yesterday, so the cat situation was put on hold.

I have heard this happen to other Realtors, but not to me. I can not believe that they would do that.

NOV

2007

I am one of the people who has adopted a feral cat because of the irresponsiblity of others. Although he is doing incredibly well, he suffered greatly the first 6 months of his life, having to be trapped, neutered, adopted, then returned, and then finally given to me. If you do not want your pet anymore, please do the responsible thing, find it a home or take it to a shelter. Although I love George and can't imagine life without him, there was no reason for him to suffer, and just so people know, he was the only one of his litter to get a home.

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