Debra wrote:


Wood window sills, window and door screens, door jams, hollow core
doors, hardwood floors, and carpeting can all be ruined by cat claws.
If you are looking for a place to rent many owners of rental
properties have already been financially burned by the need for
repairs to, or replacement of, items ruined by pets of renters who
didn't care what their pets did and the building owners feel they have
no other way to keep from being burned again unless they put limits on
new renters.

You've got to be kidding! DOGS can cause a lot of damage -
that's why many landlords will allow cats, and not dogs -
but CATS?? I have lived in rental property for nearly fifty
years, and never saw any claw marks on woodwork, anywhere I
lived! (Screens, maybe - although most screen doors have a
sort of ornamental grillwork which discourages such
behaviour - but owners are seldom shy about asking tenants
to pay for repairs for which they are responsible, and how
much does it cost to replace a piece of screen?) Although
I've sometimes been asked to pay a "damage deposit" when I
moved in, I've always gotten it back when I moved out. If
the woodwork is properly maintained (meaning painted when
needed) it is unlikely to be damaged by cat claws, nor is a
carpet of any reasonable quality. (Stains from upchucked
hairballs, maybe - but most landlords at least clean the
carpets between tenants, and replace them if the prior
tenant lived there for a few years.)

Landlords have the right to refuse to rent to people with
pets (I wish it were still true for people with children -
kids can cause a LOT more damage than either cats or dogs).
They do NOT have the right to require that prospective
tenants have their animals mutilated in order to live there!
(Not that most of us would even consider doing so.)