Landlord locked GF's cat in her bedroom.

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
My gf lives in St. Louis, and rents a small 1 bedroom apartment near the Botanical Gardens. It's a 4 unit house. The landlord has been pretty good. A little creepy, but I think that's just because he's like 37 and single, and my gf is pretty hot. So the time he bought her Cardinal's tickets was kinda weird..

Anyway, he called last week to let her know he was going to be over there with a service guy doing hvac work.

She religiously makes sure neither of her cats (sweet cats, both girls, they get along great) are locked in her bedroom before she leaves for work. She actually feeds them right before she leaves so they are both out and she can see them.

She goes to work at 8am, LL was there around 9am. She gets home at like 9pm (went to gym and wall climbing), notices cat is still in bedroom. Calls me upset because she knows her cat was stuck in room for 12 hours. Plays piano for a few hours, then gets into bed.

Crawls right into a puddle of cat piss. The cat pissed on her bed. Might have ruined a $300 weighted blanket she got from her dead grandma. Ruined her sheets. Went through her 'mattress pad' protecter (wtf) and left a big ol yellow stain on her 5 month old $1200 mattress.

How do you clean a mattress?

She texted the landlord around midnight. She was livid. He said the cat was in the bedroom when he got there, and he figured maybe it was supposed to be locked up. She said she texted back '1) she knows the cat wasn't locked up in the bedroom because she watched her eat food when she left. 2) why would She leave my cat locked up in her bedroom all day without a litter box when she's at work? 3) Why not call me and ask about the animals and don't just leave a cat locked up in a room without water or a place to go bathroom?'

Fuck. She's so upset. She was up until 4am trying to clean the mattress and save her weighted blanket. And she almost came over and stayed the night, which means she wouldn't have let the cat out until the next morning and might not discovered the piss until the following night when it would have been sitting for over 24 hours.

Who locks a cat in a room without a litter box? She wants to move out so bad now. Already sending me links for nearby apartments. If she has to buy a new mattress, she's thinking about telling the landlord it's coming out of his rent money.
 
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SamQuint

Golden Member
Dec 6, 2010
1,155
45
91
Wow that is a lot of cat piss to soak through a blanket, sheet, mattress pad to get all the way to the mattress.

Are we sure it is just cat piss? Maybe landlord piss too? jk
 

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
Well cat was in there about 12 hours after eating and no litter. It probably either sprayed or went multiple times.
 

sswingle

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2000
7,183
45
91
Step 1 take lots of pics
Step 2 move out
Step 3 small claims court
Step 4 Profit
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,450
126
Wow, your GF is freaking out that much over a little cat piss? She has issues. Just get a new mattress and ask the landlord to chip in for it. Geez.

Imagine how she would react 5 years from now when she has a kid trashing the place!
 

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
Wow, your GF is freaking out that much over a little cat piss? She has issues. Just get a new mattress and ask the landlord to chip in for it. Geez.

Imagine how she would react 5 years from now when she has a kid trashing the place!

She's only 25 and this is a $1,000 fuckup.

And yes, I'm trying to smooth things over too. Reminding her that the LL has actually been a good LL over the past 2 years (very responsive), that we both know the cat likes to sneak into the bedroom any chance it can get, and the LL had a reason to be checking on the window in the bedroom. And basically, it's not like the LL did it on purpose. He was checking on his property and the cat snuck into the bedroom. Shit happens, and she should maybe feel lucky it was her property and not the landlord's hard wood floors.
 

M0oG0oGaiPan

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2000
7,858
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digitalgamedeals.com
cat piss is no joke. that stuff smells horrible. best bet would be to use some type of enzyme cleaner. need to soak that stuff in and let it dry out, which could take a couple of days.

something like nature's miracle for cats
http://www.natures-miracle.com/prod...n-odor-remover-get-rid-of-cat-odor-urine.aspx

all the sheets and stuff you need to run through the wash with some vinegar otherwise the cat will piss on it again.
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,173
524
126
Does she close the bedroom door to keep the cats out during the day?

What about the second cat? If the landlord had purposely shut the cat in the room, then you'd think he'd have put both of them in there.

It could have been either him or the service guy(s), couldn't it? All they would have had to do was close the BR door without noticing a cat in the room. Which I'd call an unfortunate, but honest mistake.
 

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
Does she close the bedroom door to keep the cats out during the day?

What about the second cat? If the landlord had purposely shut the cat in the room, then you'd think he'd have put both of them in there.

It could have been either him or the service guy(s), couldn't it? All they would have had to do was close the BR door without noticing a cat in the room. Which I'd call an unfortunate, but honest mistake.

The LL said he didn't see the cat go into the room, but he did see it in there, and assumed it was supposed to be in there so he left in the room and closed the door. He also said he thought maybe they didn't get along and were supposed to be separated. GF said she scoffed and replied 'why would anybody leave a cat in a room all day without a litter box? why not call and doublecheck? You essentially locked an animal in a room for 8+ hours without food, water or bathroom'
 
Oct 25, 2006
11,036
11
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The LL said he didn't see the cat go into the room, but he did see it in there, and assumed it was supposed to be in there so he left in the room and closed the door. GF said she scoffed and replied 'why would anybody leave a cat in a room all day without a litter box?'

If someone doesn't own a cat, you wouldn't really think to look for something like that.
 

BlitzPuppet

Platinum Member
Feb 4, 2012
2,460
7
81
Is it a possibility that the cat was hiding under the bed and he just shut the door behind him? Was the bedroom closed when he got there? If so I could have seen him going into the bedroom for...supposed HVAC work (wink wink), then closing the door behind him since that is how he found it.

Edit: Just saw the reply. I don't know, I'm on the fence with this issue. Blame could go both ways, one for not calling to ask your gf (he doesn't have to as it's your gf's responsibility) and two for your girlfriend not properly securing them.

It's also completely her fault that she decided to have cats as pets.
 
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Wuzup101

Platinum Member
Feb 20, 2002
2,334
37
91
As a pet owner, it probably would have been a good idea if your GF gave the land lord a heads up to leave the doors open when he told her that he would be over (especially with cats as you might not expect them to be seen). IMHO, it's her fault (an honest mistake either way).
 

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
Sounds like a mistake to me, certainly not something worth moving out over. Shit happens.
 
Mar 16, 2005
13,856
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why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
Blanket: dry cleaner

Mattress pad - throw it out, it's crap. If one cat can urinate through everything like that, then a love-making session resulting in a wet spot is going to soak through to the mattress. Buy a waterproof mattress pad.

Mattress - clean it. There are plenty of over-the-counter cleaners made for that purpose, and which will neutralize the odor of cat urine.


Congratulations: you've both just learned something: if you own pets, and shut doors in the house, eventually, probably accidentally, the pet is going to get shut in the bedroom and inevitably, will urinate on the bed.


edit: I also don't feel it is the landlord's responsibility to control your pets as to which room they are in - as long as the landlord doesn't let the pet leave the apartment. Otherwise, it would be your girlfriend's responsibility to tell the landlord exactly what to do with the cats. If they're working in the bedroom, there's a good chance one of the cats would wander in there while they were working, and potentially get shut in if they didn't see the cat. So, in my opinion, your girlfriend should eat the costs of cleaning, which it sounds like the two of you are making a bigger deal out of than they actually are.
 
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nickbits

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2008
4,122
1
81
My cat has pissed on my bed multiple times. I get out my rug steam cleaner and go over the mattress a few times with it. Then I spray the hell out of it with febreze. That has worked on a coil and memory foam mattress.

I've also put my "dry clean only" comforter in the wash with no issues.
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
that sucks, but man... I'm sure the service guy didn't want to deal with the cat climbing all over him while trying to work, not being able to prop the outside door open if he has to bring in equipment, etc.

any time we have people in the house doing work, I always relocate the food, water, litterbox, and the cat's favorite blanket into either the bedroom or the office and lock them in there until the work has completed.

fwiw, this stuff works great on the litterbox... you could try it in your bedroom too.
 

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
Blanket: dry cleaner

Mattress pad - throw it out, it's crap. If one cat can urinate through everything like that, then a love-making session resulting in a wet spot is going to soak through to the mattress. Buy a waterproof mattress pad.

Mattress - clean it. There are plenty of over-the-counter cleaners made for that purpose, and which will neutralize the odor of cat urine.


Congratulations: you've both just learned something: if you own pets, and shut doors in the house, eventually, probably accidentally, the pet is going to get shut in the bedroom and inevitably, will urinate on the bed.

lol, that was my thought..waterproof mattress pad, or at least one that doesn't suck.
 

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
This isn't really that big of a deal. Pour a bunch of an enzyme urine cleaner, like Nature's Miracle on the spot. Let it dry. Repeat at least once.

IMO, any tenant with a brain should lock up their cats in a room (usually the bathroom or laundry) with a litter box and water when expecting maintenance.
 

M0oG0oGaiPan

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2000
7,858
2
0
digitalgamedeals.com
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?
why didn't she have a litter box in her bedroom?

you wouldn't keep it in there regularly because it smells awful when cats relieve themselves. maybe if she planned on locking the cat in the bedroom (which she didn't). most people that don't have cats probably wouldn't think of it. probably used to something like a crate trained dog that can hold it for 8 hours or so.
 

Belegost

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,807
19
81
In the past when I've had to deal with a LL and/or service people being in the house when I wasn't, I made sure my pets were secured, usually put in a bathroom with food, water, and litter/puppy pads. I would tape a sign on the door clearly pointing out the animals were in there and not to disturb them.

Leaving animals free about the house when unknown people are inside is a recipe for disaster - service guys leave the door open and the animal escapes, the animal gets trapped in a room or closet and causes a huge mess trying to escape (saw a friend's dog do that, literally chewed through a door), a particularly sad event was a cousin's dog, service men were moving in a new furnace, and the dog got under their feet (so they say) causing them to drop the furnace on the dog breaking its leg. Hell, what would happen if the cat bit one of the people? You could be on the wrong end of a lawsuit and possibly the threat of the cat being put down.

Obviously this doesn't help your GF now, and telling her these things is a great way to get your head bit off, but a hopefully she learns that she needs to be proactive about keeping them protected - never expect that anyone else will give a damned about your pets, and you're far less likely to have issues.
 

MrDudeMan

Lifer
Jan 15, 2001
15,069
94
91
Blanket: dry cleaner

Mattress pad - throw it out, it's crap. If one cat can urinate through everything like that, then a love-making session resulting in a wet spot is going to soak through to the mattress. Buy a waterproof mattress pad.

Mattress - clean it. There are plenty of over-the-counter cleaners made for that purpose, and which will neutralize the odor of cat urine.


Congratulations: you've both just learned something: if you own pets, and shut doors in the house, eventually, probably accidentally, the pet is going to get shut in the bedroom and inevitably, will urinate on the bed.


edit: I also don't feel it is the landlord's responsibility to control your pets as to which room they are in - as long as the landlord doesn't let the pet leave the apartment. Otherwise, it would be your girlfriend's responsibility to tell the landlord exactly what to do with the cats. If they're working in the bedroom, there's a good chance one of the cats would wander in there while they were working, and potentially get shut in if they didn't see the cat. So, in my opinion, your girlfriend should eat the costs of cleaning, which it sounds like the two of you are making a bigger deal out of than they actually are.

Definitely this. If one of my tenants has an issue, I tell them to take care of their pets before I get to the unit. I don't know where the animals are supposed to be and it isn't my responsibility to deal with them. If one of my tenants tried to pull some stupid shit like short paying me over this, I would take them to small claims court if the security deposit didn't cover it and/or couldn't be used to make up the difference. This is her fault. Besides, the mattress isn't ruined. Edit: The blanket isn't ruined either. This isn't the first time a cat has pissed on something valuable and it won't be the last. We've been to the moon... we can clean a blanket. Yes, I've had cats, and yes, they've pissed on my stuff. I didn't throw it all away.
 

imagoon

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2003
5,199
0
0
You do what every other pet owner does and wash the sheets and bed spreads. You can use as carpet cleaner machine with a little vinegar to get the cat pee out of the mattress also.

You then invest $60 in an actual waterproof pad.

I have had one get locked in my room before and he crapped in the bed. I cleaned the sheets. You do it the same way as when an infant craps themselves in the baby bed.
 

Possessed Freak

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 1999
6,045
1
0
How the hell is this the LL's fault? The pet owner really should think of these things. The LL told the owner that servicemen would be there. Relocate the damn pet, lock it up and make sure it is attended to in the form of bathroom/food/water. Jesus Hume Christ.