... A tale of cats, nuisance and shared ownership...

Ste1986

Hi all, first thread here. Hope you're all good.
So, quick (turned out not really quick) backstory.
My wife and myself bought a shared ownership back in March. The lease clearly states "no pets allowed" but as soon as we moved in the building manager sent us a pet certificate request. We filled it in and it got approved in less the two hours (literally every house hold here has one of more pets). After few weeks we went back to the concierge doublechecking with them and the building manager if all the papers were in place to allow us to get pets. They confirmed everything was fine and therefore, we got adopted by two kittens . We live in a block of apartment, no access to garden and the balcony will be catproofed or out of limits for them to stop them going anywhere (no roaming around, no fouling in gardens or other balconis). Basically they will be indoor cats. There is a no noise for 24h and no noise that could be a nuisance after 11pm up to 6am. The soundproofing there seems quite good, it's a new building, definitely not on the cheap side, with laminated+soundproofing material in half of the flat and carpet+soundproofing in the other half. Basically we can barely hear anything from above and below, only if they're moving forniture, hammering or drilling (and even in these cases the noise is quite muffled). The two kittens are playful (as for any other 8 weeks old cat), and definitely not vocal.
Now, here comes the questions. If someone complain about the two kittens running and jumping sessions (half an hour? an hour? every 3 or 4 hours) during the day and the night, where do we stand legally and with the lease?They are usually quite good, because the get 6 or 7 solid hours of sleeping with us, leaving the bed only to eat or use the litter.
I know that maybe noone can hear them, and even if they may nt be bothered, and even if the may not be bothered to report us, and even if the building manager and ausing association may not do anything with their complain... but what if?
If you get to the end of this, thanks

Sunsaru

Short answer is, chill.
Long answer, worry about it IF it comes to a complaint but as you say, every other household has pets so if there were going to be issues they would have already cropped up elsewhere and you getting your cert would have been a lot harder.

[Deleted User]

I would love to know how to keep a cat quiet between 11pm and 6am!  Mine likes to jump from furniture to the floor.

Hopefully you'll be okay and can negotiate with the personalities involved. 

Here's a recent thread on the topic:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6246354/help-with-cat-in-leasehold-flat-director-with-passive-aggressive-behaviour/p1

SaintJudy

Poster_586329 said:

I would love to know how to keep a cat quiet between 11pm and 6am!  Mine likes to jump from furniture to the floor.

A heated bed or blanket is your answer. I have a heated blanket on half of my bed (ie. their half of the bed) and they stay there all night 😊

TBagpuss

If you cleared it with the landlord (which I assume that the pet certificate was) I think you would have a strong argument to say that was an agreed variation of the lease. I would also imagine that with cats, the most likely issues would be from whoever is in the flat directly below yours, as they are the ones who might be affected if the kittens / cats go in for lots of jumping around late at night, so on a practical level, get to know those people and try to keep on good terms with them, so with any luck if there are any issues they will speak to you so you can try to deal with  any issues at an early stage.

The other issue would be smell, which you should be able to avoid by ensuring that you are vigilant about cleaning and changing the litter trays and disposing of the used litter .

Ste1986

Sunsaru 

That's actually a good point. It would have been more complicated if there was a history of complaints, and I can't belive my kittens are worst than anyother cat or 50kg dogs..

Poster_586329 

They usually just follow us to bed, pplay a little and then sleep... 
We already have the licence from the housing association, my concern is if someone complains.

TBagpuss

The smell is not an issue, we keep everything very clean. It's just the running/jumping. I  may just overthink things, but you know... I'm a bit anxious recently

Titus_Wadd

I'd add - have a play session before your (and the cats') bedtime.  If you wear them out, then feed, they should stay asleep longer.  But cats come with no guarantees!  Watch Jackson Galaxy on YouTube for suggested toys, because not all cats like the same toys.  If you also build a cat "superhighway" their little chubba bubba feet will hardly touch the floor!

AdrianC

Poster_586329 said:

I would love to know how to keep a cat quiet between 11pm and 6am!  Mine likes to jump from furniture to the floor.

One of ours snores...

That's if they aren't bringing "friends" in the cat flap. Nothing like a 3am round of the squeek-bang-thump-crunch game...

MovingForwards

My sleeps for hours, I can also hear her loud snoring at night, can hear it over my zoom meetings too. Sometimes she gets me up at 3am, sometimes she decides to jump around, up and down off things every 10 minutes, then sleep it off. She's also vocal when hungry. The only room I've got laminate is the lounge but I've checked several times with downstairs and he doesn't hear a thing from us.

There's 4 out of 6 of us with cats.

If you've got permission it's fine. Enjoy their kittenhood as they grow up so fast.

Ste1986

Titus_Wadd said:

I get them really really exhausted!

MovingForwards said:

Thanks

ratechaser

Re: smell... if anyone wanted a recommendation, this is the litter to go for...

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/sanicat-diamonds-lavender-silica-gel-non-clumping-cat-litter-15-litres#

otherwise as others have suggested, chill!