I don't think anyone can say dogs or cats are better or worse; depends on the animal, its age, how long it's left inside, etc.

How bad the mess is depends somewhat on whether you are renting furniture and whether you have carpeting in the rental. Of course hard floors can be damaged by animal waste too. Also, dogs can be destructive in a yard, digging, running paths in the lawn.

If you rent to people with pets, get a substantial pet deposit (hundreds) which will encourage renters to be very careful. Also be clear about your expectations. Include your expectations in the rental agreement you prepare. Permanent pet stains on any carpet may require replacement of the carpet. If a pet scratches up a door, the whole door will need to be repainted. Pet damage is not "normal wear and tear."

When we were house hunting last year, we looked at a place that had been rented to someone who had had dogs, possibly also cats. Among other things, the dogs' claws had destroyed the hardwood floor and the finished basement absolutely reeked of urine. The owners had just had the basement carpet professionally cleaned and the walls repainted, but you still smelled it the minute you walked in. Our realtor was sure the urine had soaked through the padding into the floor boards. (Cat urine/spray would have done the same thing.) We learned that the renter had been evicted, but obviously not soon enough. It was too bad, because we loved the house and the neighborhood--we'd have made an offer if we hadn't been afraid that we'd never quite get the smell out.

So before you decide, I'd find out how hard it would be to evict someone if necessary. I second a substantial pet deposit, I'd be sure to do periodic drop-ins to see how the place is being maintained.

Based on my experience, I would say dogs cause more damage.

Dog Damage:
Pee and poop stains
Damaged flooring
Dirty walls from rubbing, slobber, etc.
Destroyed screens on windows and doors
Digging in the yard

Cat Damage:
Pee stains
Damage to screens (but not as bad a dogs)

Cats also can damage furniture, but if you are providing the apartment unfurnished (it is their furniture) that isn't really relevent. Another consideration is that dogs can be noisy (barking, whining), cats rarely are. Also, there is greater potential liability with dogs than cats. Some dogs bite. Make sure your insurance doesn't have an issue with there being a dog there.

I owned a cat when I rented, and I can tell you that when I moved there was no way to tell a cat had lived there. My husband rented a house he owned to a dog owner. After they moved he had to remove all the carpeting, he had to wash all the walls and paint, the vinyl flooring was also ruined, and there were holes in the yard.

First and foremost...THAT DEPENDS ON THE RENTER! Some people just don't care. People can tear up anything whether or not there are animals involved. My DH has worked on several rentals and you would not believe the crap and yes I mean that literally that people leave behind. I believe that if the people are responible pet owners that you will not have a problem. We rented once, only once; another story. The landlady came to our house before we moved in hers to see how well we kept it. We had a dog and a cat. She saw no problems or smelled no problems. Came a couple times to the house after we moved in still saw no problems. I don't think charging extra discourages bad behavior. Sometimes that just makes it all the harder on a very considerate and well meaning tennant. My DD has two cats in a rental and was not charged extra. She had them in a previous rental as well, no extra charge there. Also, she would have been resposible for any extra cleaning and damage when she moved. I believe the dogs and or cats are only as good as their owners and I would check them out first before demanding extra money.

As the prior poster said, that totally depends on the renter. We too rented when we had a dog and a cat. When we left we got back every penny of our security deposit. You couldn't tell that an animal had ever lived in the home. We've also been landlords to people with pets and people with small children. Pets were fine. Small children -- not so much.

The San Francisco SPCA has a program to help owners be willing to rent to pet owners and to educate renters on how to be a good candidate/renter with pets. I've attached the link to info from the program. Perhaps you could get their info packet sent to you. Maybe your local SPCA has a similar program. I'm guessing there are guidelines in the packet that suggest what questions to ask and what to watch out for.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Francisco SPCA Open Door Program

I know that by walking the dog, it will defecate outside so that wouldn't necessairly be an issue. And, that cats have a litterbox for them to defacate in. But, as somebody who never owned a pet, I don't know anything about the issue of urine. If the pet is housebroken, does that mean I wouldn't have to worry about urine on the carpets?

I agree that a large part of it is determined by the responsibility of the owner. However, its hard for me to determine who the good ones are vs. the bad ones. Of course, everybody claims that their pets aren't a problem.

In some ways, I suspect this is a losing battle. Even when you end up choosing somebody without a pet, it doesn't mean it still won't be an issue. Some people will later adopt pets or lied about them in the first place to avoid any problems.

If anything, its the people who were most upfront about their pets who are more likely to be a responsible pet owner than somebody who lies about it.

I know several landlords. I asked a couple of them how they chose their tennants, aside from the usual credit check, their response...
We looked at the cars they arrived in to view the house, apartment ,etc. Hopefully they were driving their own. If the car looked like it just visited a dump site or needed to, the rental would end up looking the same way. Not rocket science but I guess a good rule of thumb.

"In some ways, I suspect this is a losing battle. Even when you end up choosing somebody without a pet, it doesn't mean it still won't be an issue. Some people will later adopt pets or lied about them in the first place to avoid any problems."

You do have control with the way you write the lease. You can always write the lease contract so that pets are forbidden. Or write it so that cats and small dogs are allowed, but require a substantial pet deposit. A good tenant won't violate a contract they signed. If a person gets a pet anyway, or gets one without paying the deposit, then they take their chances of being fined or evicted if discovered. Especially if their pet has caused damage. I lived in apartments for 9 years and this was always the way it worked. I love cats and dogs, but I did not think about getting a pet if the place where I lived didn't allow it.

"If the pet is housebroken, does that mean I wouldn't have to worry about urine on the carpets?"

Even most housetrained pets have accidents occasionally. They can also occasionally get sick or spray. However I'm pretty sure anything can be cleaned up if dealt with immediately.

Before buying our own home we rented with two cats and two dogs, not very easy finding an apartment with that kind of zoo coming with you, but I had excellent pet references from previous landlords. We never had any problems, as our pets were all housetrained, and maybe there was an occasional accident here and there, but if cleaned immediately, there was no problem. We lived in our last apartment for 3 years, which had hardwood floors (we kept our animals nails clipped and put down area rugs) and the landlord commented that you could never tell that 4 animals had been living there. Screening any potential renter is a must, and if they do have a pet, see if they can provide a reference from a previous landlord.

Aaahh, this is brining back my memories of being a landlord! We just sold our rental properties and thank goodness won't have to deal with this stuff anymore. I agree that the cleanliness of the unit and the behavior of the pet is only as good as the tenant. We had a guy who had a zoo in his house, but it didn't smell and was spotless. We had another tenant who thought flicking boogers on the bathroom wall was an Olympic event! Regardless of whether a prospective tenant has pets or not, its important to document the condition of the home before and after it has been rented. We did a video walk-thru each time and when we kept the security deposit, it was justified.

I'd say a dog can do more physical damage with nails, digging, chewing etc. that can be fixed by mechanical means or replacement (costs yes but can be done).
Cats don't do as much mechanical damage and most are pretty easy tenants. However, if you get a cat that sprays or urinates outside the litter box repeatedly (usually an unneutered male but sometimes neutered and behaviorly challenged females too) that can be almost impossible to get rid of, i.e. almost cant be fixed.
I usually have pets and am a responsible pet owner. Even when I don't have a pet I try to find apts at places that accept pets (same with hotels) because I want to support that issue. However you do need to protect yourself and the best way i think is to take it on a case by case basis and protect yourself in the contract somehow.

You know, you can also put a clause that limits the size of the dog(s) allowed, too. Where I live, a lot of apartments allow dogs "under 35lbs." That way, you know that there's not some giant Great Dane or something tearing up the yard, etc. Not that little dogs can't cause damage, but as the owner of two big dogs, I know that big dogs tend to cause a lot more damage than little ones. You could also interview the prospective tenants about their dogs, and only allow dogs who are crate trained, and stay in their crates when the owners aren't home. This prevents a lot of damage issues, as well as barking/noise issues. A dog who is crate trained is usually perfectly content to stay in their crate while owner is gone, and will not howl/whine/bark all day, and dogs almost never use the bathroom in their crates.
As far as cats are concerned, their urine is a LOT stinkier than dog urine. I have 2 cats, 2 dogs. My cats are litter trained, but last month one of them got trapped in a bedroom all night and couldn't get to the litterbox, and he had an "accident." The entire house smelled like cat urine for days, and it took a lot of effort to finally get rid of the smell.

Hi Marvin,

I have been on both ends of this issue. At one time while building a home there was a 6 month period I needed to rent. I had a 100 pound golden retriever at the time. The leasing agent charged us a hefty security deposit (I had no problem with that) and "interviewed" our dog. They had a strict no pets over 50 pound rule but bent it for us because of our truthfulness during the process and our willingness to do whatever it took to keep our beloved fur-baby with us. We got all of our deposit back.

I now own a pet-friendly cabin rental company. Approximately 80% of our guests bring dogs, and we have no size restrictions on the dogs. We have a very comprehensive pet policy as part of our cabin rental agreement and most guests follow the rules. Will the pets have accidents? Oh yah! Will the owners clean it up? MOST of the times. It doesn't hurt to talk at length with a pet guardian about their pet, how they got him, his age etc. I'm generalizing here, but it seems our best guests are the ones who have adopted or rescued their pet, who feed them premium food and have no qualms with whatever costs are incurred with pet guardianship.

In our experience furry guests cause much less damage than kiddy guests.

jerri

"Cats are always more bother, but we reindeer are no trouble at all!" LOL

{{gwi:1414392}}

Caroline.... I just fell out of my chair!

jerri

I would have to say dogs are more of a risk. The obvious reasons are they can poop, pee and puke on the carpet (cats can to but since they have an indoor litterbox, are much, much less likely too). Dog nails also scratch hard wood floors, walls and doors (like when someone rings the doorbell). They can also tear up a yard.

I would also worry about liability. I just read in the Readers Digest (Dec or Jan issue) where a dog bit a neighbor child. Since the family that owned the dog were renters (and pretty much had no money) the child's parents decided to sue the landlord claming he had a responsibility to make sure a vicious dog does not live on his property. I don't remember how it turned out but that might be enough to make the decision for you.

My policy would be no pets. If people really want a pet, they should wait until they are in a position finacially to own their house and yard and then get one.

I rent but do not accept pets although I have in the past. One thing to keep in mind if you do decide to accept pets is to make sure that your tenant has the place fumigated for fleas and ticks as a condition of the return of their security deposit. I once had a 2 family where the first floor had fleas and "bombed" the place. Well, the fleas ran up to the second floor where I had a family whos son was alergic to flea bites. So, they "bombed" and the fleas ran back down until we ended up having the whole house fumigated. Just my 2 cents. G.

Cats may "mark" and the odor will stay in the carpet/floor/wall indefinately. A new cat will smell what a person can't and will re-mark the area. If I were you, I would say No to cats. I have 3 cats, and we had a problem in the past and I have found nothing to remove the odor completly. A small fortune in cleaning supplies later, I couldn't see or smell a problem....but our new cat did. Good luck.

Cats vs. Dogs...it realy does depend on the individual animal and the renter. I've known destructive/spraying cats, small dogs that do enough damage for ten dogs (my sisters little dog likes to eat drywall - starts on protruding corners and works in), and large breed dogs that are so laid-back that you could leave them unattended for days and they'd just lay on the couch (not that I'd ever recommend leaving any animal unattended for days.) Seeing the vehicle is probably a good suggestion, but even meeting with the animal may not be enough to get a proper feel (especially dogs). Some animals are perfect angels as long as their owner (or any person) is around, but turn into little monsters as soon as they're left alone.
My suggestion would be that in addition to a large deposit, the pet owner should be required to hold a pet insurance policy. When I was a tenant with a cat I was req'd to have one that covered property damage, mine was through PetCare (petcareinsurance.com) for about $10.00/month, I never had to use it, so I don't know how they are to deal with for claims, but the landlord had several apartment buildings and required any tenants with pets to get a policy through them, so I'd be guessing that they're OK.
I'm sure it must be a challenging decission, because I know that for a lot of people the pets are their 'kids', and a lot of people think their kids can do no wrong...
Good Luck!

So, to update my thread, I ended up having to choose between a couple that had a large dog and a pair of roomates. All things being equal, I see somebody without a pet or young children as less likely to cause damage to a rental. Also, the couple with the dog also wanted some other concessions and that further doomed their application. But, now, after renewing their lease, I just found out that the pair of roomates has or is going to sneak a dog into the rental. Aaargh!!! From what I've heard from others, this actually happens quite frequently with rentals. The irony is that the couple with the large dog was probably going to control their dog better because it was already housebroken and one of them worked at home and would be able to keep an eye on the dog. But, these current renters are never at home, and always working.

I have rented in the past with dogs. The last time I had to rent, the landlady told me that she prefered to rent to dog owners since they were more "stable" (i.e. it's harder to pack up and move since there aren't as many choices). I'm not the worlds greatest housekeeper, but I don't believe that you would have been able to tell that a dog had ever been there when I left.

Dogs can do more visual damage. If cats eliminate inappropriately they can cause serious damage to sheet rock, porous floors and anything that absorbs liquid. If you rent to someone with pets, find out how long they've had the pet, if a dog, ask if the dog has been housetrained and/or obedience trained. I would get a substantial pet deposit and not rent to anyone with a very large dog. I personally would because I would know what to ask and I'd know if they were responsible pet owners. That's the key, knowing if someone is responsible. I have 4 dogs and a number of cats. None of my animals do anything to harm my house or furnishings, with the exception of any young kittens who like to get into things. A well trained dog is better than a 5 year old child. HA!