Non-Pet Owners Living in Pet Friendly Apartments

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Non-Pet Owners Living in Pet Friendly Apartments

Staff Writer · Aug 3, 2010

If you’re moving or considering moving into pet friendly apartments and you don’t have a pet yourself, you may think whether or not your complex allows pets should make no difference to you. However, it’s important that you consider issues you may have to face as a non-pet owner in an apartment that allows pets.

Damage in the Apartment

While it’s the landlord’s duty to make sure your apartment is in as pristine condition as possible before you move in, this is not always a simple task in pet friendly apartments. Pets, particularly large dogs, can damage the apartment’s furnishings and woodwork, leaving long scratches on doors and cupboards. While the landlord ought to replace these, if they’re left in usable condition, the landlord may choose not to, so you’ll be stuck with unsightly sections of your apartment.

Lack of Cleanliness in the Apartment

There’s also the great chance that dogs, cats and other pets have had accidents inside the apartment, leaving feces, urine and vomit residue in carpets and on floors even long after the last tenant tried to clean them up. This is because bacteria and scents can be difficult to destroy without very thorough and in-depth cleaning, even if superficially, it looks as if the stain is gone. If the landlord didn’t know about the stain, he or she may fail to clean the apartment properly before you move in. You can use a blacklight lamp to see these hidden stains.

Even the best-behaved pets can leave dirt behind because of shedding. Pet hair and dander can be difficult to remove with a simple run of the vacuum, so even the most well-intention tenants can leave plenty of it behind. If the apartment hasn’t had a through cleaning, you may still find remnants of hair and dander. And even if you can’t see them, they may still be present, which can cause another problem.

Activating Allergies

Pet fur and dander are notorious causes of allergy attacks. Even if you don’t have a known allergy to dogs or cats—and if you do, you should not move into pet friendly apartments—even slight indoor allergies can be activated by fur and dander you can’t even see with the naked eye, particularly if the light or dark fur matches light or dark flooring. Fur and dander can remain in an apartment and cause allergic reactions for several years after an animal was last present in the apartment.

Neighbor Noises

If all of the above issues are all right with you, you still mustn’t forget one of the greatest annoyances of living in pet friendly apartments, which is the noises animals, particularly dogs, can cause. Your neighbors may have pets, so you may have to get used to hearing barking at all hours of the night. You can complain to your neighbor if it’s excessive, but there may be more than one dog in the complex and it’s unreasonable to think that they’ll never be noisy at some point.

Living in pet friendly apartments does indeed make a difference to non-pet owners, so you have to make sure you’re aware of potential issues you may face before you move in. If you’re okay with these potential problems or you hope to adopt a pet someday, go ahead and move in, just don’t forget to take these issues into consideration when making your decision.

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