It’s natural for people to love pets, and what better time than when you’ve finally got your own living space? The only catch is most leases don’t allow pets. Bummer, right? Well…I’m not condoning any risky behavior, but I’ve got a secret: I have a kitten in my apartment.
Yupp, that’s right. Even though I’m not allowed (and could be EVICTED if found out) I couldn’t resist the snuggly, purrfect, little ball of fur known as Goose.
Goose was actually one of my birthday presents. His owner couldn’t keep him in the dorms once school started. So she gave him to me, and I turned into a foster parent. Don’t get me wrong. I was so nervous about having a frisky little kitten running around my apartment. What about random maintenance jobs? What about when my landlord wants to show my apartment? What if Goose just chills on the windowsill? There were a lot of “what-ifs” when it came to housing little Goose. But then I thought of all of the creative ways to hide him if needed.
To start, most landlords will give 24-hour notice if they need to enter the apartment at any time. That gives me 24 hours to find a kitty sitter for the day. If I need to put in a maintenance request, obviously I should expect someone to show up so I’ll already have arrangements made.
When students came knocking at my door for a tour of the apartment, they noticed the litter box and asked if we were allowed to have pets. Trying to keep my cool, I stated that no, we’re not. We had found a stray cat outside and watched it for a few days until its owner came to get it. (Goose was actually at a kitty play date at the time). I know, who is going to believe the stray cat excuse, but it was better than telling them they could have pets.
I’m surprised Goose hasn’t climbed up the curtains, and he only rarely gets onto the windowsill. Other than that, there really is no way my landlord could find out.
Like I said, I wouldn’t recommend having pets when you’re not allowed to. And having him here is a lot of work. He gets into things, knocks things over, needs food, water and attention constantly, and the litter box can start to smell if it’s not cleaned daily. To be honest, I ship him off to his mom quite often!
Having him around is definitely a sketchy thing, but he’s just too fun (and cute)! So if you have a pet and want to know what to do during those “what-if” situations, I hope this helped.
Let’s hope no one lets the cat out of the bag!!!
Photo courtesy of the author