how many cats...???

i got a call today from a pet adoption agency asking me if it is okay for our tenants to adopt another cat. they have three cats. when they lived with us the first time, they had two cats, and adopted the third without our knowing. which caused us to make sure to let future tenants to "discuss" with us if they want to get a pet. personally, i think three cats is too much (and this comes from someone who had two cats, a dog and a ferret, when we moved into our house).

so i called and told one of them that i think three is alot already, and that we are not comfortable having anymore down there. she said "that sucks. but okay." because they were hoping to balance out the gender ratio of the cats.

i told derek what i had done, and he sounded not that okay with it. i dont know exactly why, but i expect it is something to the effect that we like these renters and do not want to upset them in any way so that they might leave.

so i did some more research to find out how many cats are permitted per homestead in our town.

it turns out, its FIVE cats per home. okay, so they have three, we have one, if they get another, we are maxed out in cats. i called the local animal control to ask if it is five per suite or five total in the house, explaining that i really dont want them to get another cat, but legally, in the Rental Tenancy Act, after you have accepted a tenant, you are not allowed to restrict them from owning pets (even if you have a NP policy). so, she said, it would be five for the entire house.

good. i called the tenant back to say, i looked into the legal rights for the cats, and if she got a fourth cat, our household would be maxed out and then if we wanted to get diedre a kitten one day, we wouldnt be able to, so the "no" still stands.

hopefully they dont move out on account of poor little Fourthy.