by Sneaking a pet into a no-pets apartment might seem like a harmless idea, but the consequences can be anything but predictable. From clever disguises to unexpected landlord inspections, the stories of tenants trying to keep their furry companions hidden are full of surprises—and sometimes drama.
Proof Is Power
U/Jager_Candy: “We had actually signed a ‘pet addendum’ that the agent gave us and paid an additional ‘pet deposit’. Turns out the landlord had no knowledge of this, didn’t give the go ahead for an addendum to be created, and didn’t allow pets at all. Fortunately we had copies (and copies of the emails the agent sent us with the document attached).
They asked us for proof of all vaccinations & parasitics from the vet (per the fake ‘addendum’) or threatened to take the whole pet deposit. We provided the documents and they didn’t take any of the ‘pet deposit’. Guess the agent screwed up royally but it was a good lesson to learn – keep absolutely everything, even if you don’t think it’s necessary.”
Pet Pandemonium
U/silver_feather2: “Had an apartment ina pet free building. Then one of the units caught fire. When the landlord arrived, everyone was outside with their dogs, cats, birds and the fire department was inside still looking for a pet skunk that had escaped.
That was a fun morning. Landlord just left. No one got in trouble for their pets. And yes, the skunk was saved!”
Miniature Loophole
U/BlackLakeBlueFish: “We were looking at an apartment and realized they didn’t take pets. At all. The owner really liked us; newly married, very polite. She asked if we had a picture of her. It was 1991, but I had a few wedding pictures and a couple of photos of Sammy in my purse.
She said, ‘She looks very small. Must be a miniature Siamese.’ I was like, ‘No, just cat sized.’ She said, ‘I’m CERTAIN she’s a miniature. I COULD ALLOW a miniature.’ So our lease says, Miniature Siamese, and she didn’t ask us to pay any extra. And that was what it was like in the olden days, kids!”
Cat-astrophic Confusion
U/Shikabane_Hime: “My roommate had a fluffy orange cat already, and about two months into living together I adopted a old man tuxedo kitty from the shelter. I don’t know why I never mentioned it to the landlady, she was a wacky hippie type who lived an hour away and almost never came to the apartment.
But eventually, my roommate broke the lease and moved out of state, and I stayed til the end of the lease. When the landlady came by for the final check when I was moving out, she looked at my black and white cat and said ‘Huh, I could’ve sworn your cat was orange! Guess I gotta slow down on the p–.’ I did not correct her lol.”
Surprise Renovation
U/perfect_square: “Landlord here. Noticed a cat scratching on a screen, and tearing up a set of blinds. I texted the picture of the cat to her, and she promptly called, and begged me to let her keep the cat, and she will take care of any damage when they move out ( I did not get a security deposit, long story..) . They were nice tenants, so I took them for their word.
2 years later, when they were ready to move out, they had me up to their apartment, and they surprised me with a completely remodeled kitchen area, and new blinds and repaired screens. He was a laid off carpenter, and got bored. I gave them a great reference.”
Secret Cats
U/kestrel63: “I lived in a small basement apartment and rescued a sick, elderly cat. He wasn’t capable of jumping up into the windowsills so I didn’t have to worry about that. I came home one night around 3 am and caught the building supervisor (lived across the hall from me) taking out trash and there was a cat standing in the doorway. We both froze for a moment and then I told him I’d keep quiet about his secret cat if he would let me hide mine during inspections and he agreed.
Now we have a couple of nearly identical cats so they get merged into a single pet on applications. My spouse and I have started collecting letters about our cleanliness as pet owners whenever we move to give to the next landlord and so far it’s worked out well.”
Giant Cat
U/BiscottiLeading: “At one apartment we lived at you could have cats but not dogs. I had a very large black cat. One day I was bringing him home from the vet and carried him in my arms. The property manager saw me and when I went back out to my car to get his carrier and my purse the property manager told me I wasn’t allowed to have dogs.
When I told him I didn’t have any dogs he asked about the black dog he just saw me carrying. I laughed and told him that was my cat and he could come see if he wanted. He told me it was alright he believed me. Weeks later the property manager saw me and told him he saw my cat on the balcony one day and it was one of the biggest cats he had ever seen.”
Paper Trail
U/batai2368: “I had a landlord try that stunt on me! I told him about my cat and even had the cat’s name included on the lease. Landlord met the cat many times and the property manager had a picture of my cat on her office wall. I moved out after 4 years and my landlord said to me during our final walkthrough ‘Well, we still have to settle the issue with the cat. You never told me you had one so you owe me 4 years of pet rent.’ I was stunned!!
He pulled out a fake lease that said I had no pets and if I wanted one, it was $50 a month. Luckily, I still had all my paper files with me and pulled out my copy, signed by both of us, with the cat’s name on it.”
Hidden Paws
U/wolfhollow_: “I never hid pets myself, but I worked in a nebulous leasing / maintenance role during college and had a couple run ins with unfriendly dogs that were not supposed to be in an apartment. Nothing like having a large dog appear out of nowhere to bark at you when you’re just there to update the fire extinguisher.
We also had people abandon pets we didn’t know were there a number of times and that was always horrible to varying degrees. There were a couple times we found really starved animals and didn’t know if they were neglected before or if the people bailed and didn’t tell us.”
Feline Decoys
U/Blissful_Doll: “My cats all look alike, so my landlord only knows about two; there are four. They sit in the windows, never all at once, so I can’t deny I have them.
I also have some life-size cat statues on my windowsills, so it looks like I have more. Management has checked but never saw my real cats, only the fakes, and they commented on how real they look.”
Collared Approval
U/hotratio: “When my building’s super found out we had cats, she started coming into my apartment without notice to bring them gifts! I came home one day, and my cat had a little bandanna collar on. He never wears a collar. I don’t buy him toys with bells because he’ll never let me sleep again, so where did this jingle ball come from? It was the super.
In my city, the law was that if anyone from management knew we had pets and they did nothing for like ninety days they couldn’t enforce the no pets clause anymore, so I said nothing and let her do her thing.”
Window of Trouble
U/ninetimesoutaten: “College apartment complex. My dumbass roommate found a cat on the side of the street and decided to adopt it (even though I was allergic to it). It scratched up the 2 couches and walls in the main shared space.
The way the apartment found out is she cut a square in the window blinds for the cat to look out – on the first floor. An apartment employee walked by and saw the cat sitting in the window. Ended up costing her ~$4k in fines and replacement couches.”
Unplanned Exposé
U/kathyanne38: “Not my story, but my fiancé’s friend: He and his now ex gf had 5 cats, 2 ferrets and over 10 guinea pigs in their apartment. They started off with a couple cats, snuck them in. Collection of animals grew over time. They lived there for a good few years.. eventually, people began to complain of the smells and noises they heard.
Whenever there was an inspection. they’d know ahead of time so they would go bring the animals to a family members house or whatever. One day, landlord got enough complaints so he went to check out the apartment unplanned. Did not call them. Found the animals, gave them a hefty fine and kicked them out rightfully so. That apartment just reeked. it was horrible.”
The Silent Agreement
U/TheBubbleSquirrel: “My landlord came in to the apartment one day to talk about something (can’t remember what). The cat I’d gotten about 3 months prior jumped in through the window and started winding in between the landlord’s legs, purring like a tractor.
The landlord looked down and then looked at me. I looked at him, dead in the eyes. Then we both just maintained a weird amount of eye contact while we finished the conversation and he left, and we never spoke of it again. When I moved out the landlord returned more than my original deposit (assuming accidentally). I think he just liked having an easy, generally trouble-free tenant and chose to let it slide.”
Poop Paint
U/r0Xb: “Not mine but my two of roommates had a dog each when I was in college. We had been having sink/garbage disposal issues and had submitted a work order for it, and the maintenance guy ended up coming over when everyone was out. Both of the dogs were in their cages, but only one barked when they heard him come in.
This scared the other dog? Or something because he ended up painting the wall behind his cage in brown. Maintenance guy heard this, goes to check it out, and finds the poor dog as well as the wall covered in poop. That was a crazy situation to go back home to now that I think about it”
Lucky Cat
U/Scorpionnedomina: “Rented a no-pets apartment but hid my cat for about six months. One day, my landlord randomly showed up for an inspection, and my cat walked right up to him.
I thought I was screwed, but he just said, ‘I hope she doesn’t cause any trouble’ and let it slide. Got lucky though—some people do get hit with eviction or fees. It’s definitely a gamble.”
Allergy Excuse
U/kayo_popsicles: “I got evicted. I had a 6 month old cat I wasn’t supposed to, and she got in the windowsill one day when I was at work. They said their policy was due to their maintenance man having severe allergies, but they had another building I could move into that did allow pets.
Additional bedroom, sun porch, dishwasher, and central air for only $100 more in rent, which I was fine with. Moved to the new place, no problem. But? SAME maintenance man with the supposed several allergies 🤔”
Clear Expectations
U/PineappleOnPizzaWins: “Landlord here – I don’t care if you have pets but lying to me means I won’t be renewing your lease. Pets destroy things and so I have extra insurance if you have one.. it’s like $30 a month and if you can’t afford that you can’t afford a pet.
Reason being of course when I first rented my place out I was naive and said ‘yeah no problem’ only for their dog to destroy carpets, chew on things, and cause thousands of dollars of damage that I had to cover. The insurance requires me to register the breed and age of the pets and I’m not covered if it’s not accurate. So be up front, pay the extra, and everyone is happy.”
The Unlikely Hero
U/mirabandida: “We originally wanted to get a dog, but our landlord declined due to dogs being ‘noisy.’ So we got our cat but didn’t let him know. Later on, there was a mouse problem in the apartment building. An exterminator came in with our landlord to look around and ask if we’ve seen any mice. We hadn’t and the exterminator didn’t find any proof that the mice had entered our apt.
The exterminator saw our cat tree, pointed to it and went ‘this is why they’re the only ones with no mice!’ My landlord looked at us, at the cat tree, then went ‘I guess that worked out, huh?’ We got lucky that our cat potentially saved him money lol. His wife met our cat recently and our cat made sure to get in her good graces too.”
