What to do with cats during open house

WifeofaMarine · May 2010

We're selling our house and have an open house on Sunday and I'm wondering what to do with the cats (we have four) during the open house.

DH suggested boarding them at their vet's office, but because they aren't open on Sunday, we'd have to drop them off on Saturday AM (before 11:30 a.m.) and not pick them up until Monday. Our little furbabies are indoor-only cats and have never spent a night away from home since we got them. One in particular is really skittish (we think she was abused before we rescued her from the shelter three years ago) and I think this scenario would really freak her out. Also, I hate to have them out of the house for basically two days for a three hour open house. And, not the mention the cost. It would cost us almost $200.

We're thinking of also maybe calling up our friends that have a huge crate (big enough for a few cat toys, litter box and food/water and putting all four in there together at their house in the crate (and being over there with them) during our open house.

What would you do? I assume people with pets have open houses all of the time. I just don't want my sweet furbabies to freak out. We don't have any friends/family where we could just take them to their house and let them play for a few hours. All of our friends/family have dogs that aren't good with cats.

WyWysMommy · May 2010

Could you put them in a closet or bathroom with a sign on the door that says cats inside please do not open and maybe try and lock it?

WifeofaMarine · May 2010

WyWysMommy:
Could you put them in a closet or bathroom with a sign on the door that says cats inside please do not open and maybe try and lock it?

Our realtor advised against this because she said people will want to have access to all rooms when they are here for an open house.

WyWysMommy · May 2010

Ok, ummm, do you have a basement? Maybe you could put them in a crate with litter box and toys with a cloth over them?

Vrbka · May 2010

nothing sucks more than having an open house with pets.. when we were selling out old house we had an indoor cat that was OLD i had for YEARS!! and he would like puke right before people would come but i wouldn't know cause they would come while i was at work and then i would come home to find a papertowel covering it.. our Realtor wasn't the nicest!!

WannaBMommy81 · May 2010

When our house went on the market we brought our dog to a kennel and brought the cat to my MIL. My cat is also an indoor cat that doesn't like strangers. He basically hung out in her bathroom the entire week. We knew the house would sell quickly so we left the dog there for about 4 days (which was 50 miles away) Some people are allergic to cats or if they even think one lives there start to get itchy and stuff. I wouldn't want to risk a sale.... $200 for boarding?!?! It is less than $15 a day where we bring ours.

adncarrie · May 2010

seeing pets at an open house is a turn off for sure. how long is the open house? where will you be? if it was just a few hours i would put the cats in crates and take them to family member's house for a couple hours. cats have some weird ability to "hold it" for a long time, so i woldn't worry about litter unless it was 10 hours or more.

ElizC · May 2010

WifeofaMarine:
WyWysMommy:
Could you put them in a closet or bathroom with a sign on the door that says cats inside please do not open and maybe try and lock it?
Our realtor advised against this because she said people will want to have access to all rooms when they are here for an open house.

I agree with your relator. We are currently looking at houses and won't consider buying one if we know the current owners have cats. Dh and B are very allergic and if Dh has a reaction in a house it is a no go. I think other posters had some good ideas.

baylorflamingo · May 2010

Go with the crate idea. It is the easiest, cheapest, and least stressful for everyone (furry and non-furry) involved. Good luck!!

ShariJenn · May 2010

I know dogs are easier, but we're actually having an open house sunday too. We're just bringing our dog with us in a cage.

No fun, hopefully this is the only one we have to have! You as well!

iteachk · May 2010

MIL is a realtor and suggests they be out of the house. If it's just a showing, you could drive them around in the car...can you put them in carriers and go to the park or something? IDK, I'm not a cat person.

djandkellen · May 2010

I know you don't want them to be away from the house for a couple of days, but it would probably help your open house as it would allow the house to "air out" a little. Nothing worse than going through a house that smells like animals (even if the person seeing the house owns pets). Not saying your house smells or that your cats smell, but inevitably, pets do make a house smell. You need to remove the litter boxes well before the open house, too.

Good luck!

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