Would it be silly to buy an imperfect property when we could live rent free, just because of my cat?

Gavin83

We've rented 2 houses with a cat and both were fairly high end properties. One of the landlords was an animal lover and even bought our cat a few treats along the way, the other didn't care about anything really. So it's certainly possible, although it does make it more difficult.

We've never had to pay an extra deposit or anything either.

TBagpuss

It is possible to introduce cats but they don't always settle down - it may be worth trying. Normally you would start with having the new cat in a small, restricted area (say, one room) 
Give the resident cat extra treats, petting and have feliway or similar to help calm them.
let them sniff at each other under the door. If you can buy or borrow one, something like a dog crate you can have yours in, so they can see and smell each other but not bite or fight may help.
Then gradually let them have access to the same spaces under supervision to get used to each other.

Unfortunately, unhappy cats can express their stress by peeing where they shouldn't, or by leaving , so your dad and step mum may be unwilling to try. 

Local vet or cat rescue might be able to put you in touch with someone who could foster your cat in their home short term, which might be better for the cat than a cattery, and probably not significantly more expensive

In terms of buying, the parking situation would put me off as, as you say, you can't fix it and it's more likely to get worse than better. I'd keep looking. 

Ramouth

I’m sure you could find someone to foster your cat - I would offer but am too far away unfortunately.  There must be others who would enjoy a few months of kitty company without long term commitment.

Falafels

Before we bought our place together, my partner and his cat rented two properties (the cat didn't contribute much; mainly dead mice). Though it narrowed down the available choices, it was by no means impossible. 

When I was renting out my property, the advertisement stated 'No Pets', but in reality I was happy to negotiate on a case-by-case basis, and the letting agents were aware of this. I did nevertheless decline the prospective tenant who had five cats and also wanted to knock £50/month off the rent!

nicknameless

Part of the motivation for our current house hunting is our new cats.  Certainly wouldn't give them up for a house.  Don't give a **** whether we are anthropomorphising them or not.  They are a wonderful addition to our lives.  I don't understand people who don't understand that - ref to earlier posts lol.

grumiofoundation

nicknameless said:

 Don't give a **** 

An extremely feline attitude I must say....

MoJoeGo

sb03 said:

FaceHead said:

If your cat was sick and needed a 14k operation each year to keep it otherwise fit and well, would you pay, or would you have it put down. 

In this case the cat doesn't even get put down - it might end up at a great home. 

Good job I have pet insurance so I don’t have to worry about this hypothetical situation! 

Um......

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6286202/hit-with-13-000-vet-bill-how-do-we-pay-it#latest

seradane

sb03 said:

theoretica said:

In my experience, perfect properties have a horrible tendency to be more expensive - but the condition issues you describe would put me off.  If you want a bit more time to house hunt and can't find a good foster home are there nice boarding catteries in your area?

Thanks, there are some catteries in my area that have good reviews, though I have never took her to one, so I have no idea how she would react. 

Looks to be around £10 a day, which would end up way cheaper than renting, and could be a good option until we find a suitable house, though I have no idea how long that will take!

Just thought I'd weigh in on catteries . It's not really a great option for the months-long term that it would likely be while you sort out your living situation.

We recently put our cat in a cattery for ~4 weeks while we did some structural work at our property. This was a lovely quiet rural property with no more than a dozen pens, cats only, and he got lots of attention from people, but even then that length of time was really too long. The pens aren't huge, and it's quite stressful for them with other cats coming and going and not being able to go see/inspect what's going on. The owner actually told us he usually turns down stays of longer than 3-4 weeks because it's just not fair on the cat.

So while it might work as an emergency stopgap for a week or two, I would say it's not really a long-term option.

Greymug

sb03 said:

We could save about £14k a year doing this but the only issue is that I would have to rehome my cat, 

It's an easy decision and you have a quantifiable number (14k) to help you make this decision.

Ask yourself: Is having a cat worth £14k a year to you?

elsien

MoJoeGo said:

sb03 said:

FaceHead said:

If your cat was sick and needed a 14k operation each year to keep it otherwise fit and well, would you pay, or would you have it put down. 

In this case the cat doesn't even get put down - it might end up at a great home. 

Good job I have pet insurance so I don’t have to worry about this hypothetical situation! 

Um......

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6286202/hit-with-13-000-vet-bill-how-do-we-pay-it#latest

What's that got to do with the OP? It's not their thread and they haven't said what (if any) limits there are on their specific insurance policy.