Pet Deposits and Apartment Living: My Cat Refuses to Pay His Rent!

At what point are apartment deposits out of line? I say when I can't afford a cat, not because of the adoption fee or the vet bills but because my apartment complex charges a $250 deposit for any animal, part of which is non-refundable and then on top of that, I also have to pay a monthly pet rent of $40.

I would love to go to my local shelter and adopt a kitten or two so they can belong to a loving family who will care for them but living here is making that impossible. I knew when I started thinking about getting a kitten I would have to delegate part of my budget to them for vet bills, food, and other necessities but I never expected to pay rent for them.

Having a kitten can help relieve the stress of every day life and bring joy to your life but here at the apartment, money is more important. I can see charging a small deposit in case the animal does damage to the apartment's property but I don't know of any cat that has caused serious harm to anything except maybe the furniture which is my own personal property anyways.

The only things here that belong to the apartment company are the floors and the walls and I can't comprehend why they think I need to pay so much to have a declawed kitten live with me. I don't know about you but if my kitten were to throw up on the floor I would get out my trusty carpet cleaner and clean it. He doesn't have claws so he's not going to scratch the paint or dig into the walls, he stays indoors so he isn't making a mess outside that needs to be cleaned up, and he only weighs 5 pounds so I'm pretty sure he won't disturb the neighbors. So why must I pay rent for this breathing ball of fur?

The fact is that apartment complexes are more concerned about money, they want to do everything they can to get as much as possible so they're willing to charge for obscure things. If they're going to charge your pet rent, they should at least take into account the size of the animal because generally speaking, a large dog is going to be more of a hassle than a small kitten but instead, they charge the same fees.