Renting a Home with Pets: How to Prevent Damage

If you’re like so many renters, you love your pets and couldn’t imagine renting without them. Unfortunately, pets are commonly a large red flag for landlords, and even if you do find a house that will accept your furry friend, it’s critical to do everything in your power to ensure that you don’t lose your deposit on account of pet damage.

Luckily, this is easier than it sounds.

Renting a Home with Pets? Use These 4 Tips to Keep It Clean and Damage-Free

Even the best behaved dogs dig and the saintliest cats claw, and it’s important to ensure these standard pet habits don’t cost you your deposit. Here are four tips for doing just that:

1. Provide plenty of fun toys for your animal

Dogs and cats often become destructive out of boredom, so it’s important to keep them busy and distracted with fun, durable toys. In addition to preventing your pooch from chewing your favorite shoes, a good set of toys can prevent cats from scratching furniture or getting into mischief elsewhere in the home.

2. Make going potty easy

Few things are more damaging to a home than pet messes. While few pets want to mark in the house, most develop the habit because going to the bathroom in an acceptable place is difficult or too infrequent. With this in mind, make sure that you’re meeting your pet’s bathroom needs adequately.

Cats should have a clean, accessible litterbox in a cat-friendly portion of the home (or several litterboxes, if you live in a multi-cat household), and dogs should be taken outside on a regular basis to do their business. Bonus points if your pooch can have free access (via a dog door) to a nice, fenced backyard.

3. Protect your floors with rugs

Dog claws can do a number on wood floors. With this in mind, lay area rugs over your rental’s floors to ensure your pooch doesn’t scratch them too badly. In addition to protecting them from scuffs and scrapes, this will also make them easier to clean when you move out.

4. Place a mat under food and water bowls

Spilled water left sitting on rental floors can create warping, discoloration, and mold. With this in mind, be sure to place a mat beneath your pet’s food bowls to sop up any mess and keep it from damaging your floors.

Renting a Home with Pets – the Smart Way

While you’d hate to give up your pets just to gain a rental, it is important to ensure that the presence of your favorite four-legged friends doesn’t damage a rental for the long-term.

Fortunately, taking these proactive steps and making sure that you head pet damage off at the pass is a great way to keep your landlord and your pets happy all at once. So whether you’ve rented a townhome, a single family home, or a small flat somewhere in the city, these smart tips can help you stay damage-free and pet-friendly, both now and in the future.