“Land Mines” that caused me to fail on flips over the years:
July 13, 2026Why do some people move and leave their cat behind?
Years ago, when the economy crashed, before I did Hard Money Loans in Arizona, I found a way to keep going. I started Flipping Homes. But soon I found that the home came with another unexpected asset. The cat was the prior lift behind. People did this, and it became a problem that had to be solved. I always wondered why people would do this.
If summarized, some of the reasons why cards are dumped are:
Some people see pets much like a cheap piece of furniture: nice to have if it fits your space and life, but not worth the bother of moving.
Some believe the myth that cats prefer their location to your company.
Some just don’t grasp that pet cats will not be fine fending for themselves, so if they can’t have them where they’re going, or transportation will be difficult, they leave them.
Some leave because of disaster and cannot make accommodations for their pets on short notice.
And some treasured pets choose moving day as the time to wander off for a few days (or to escape, if indoor-only) and cannot be found in time or from a distance.
Some People abandon pets in this way to remain anonymous.
Some People are embarrassed/guilty and don’t want to hand their pet over to a shelter in person
Some People abandon pets in a piece of real estate because it’s easy. They’ve packed all their belongings, and the pet is an afterthought
Some People abandon pets at the last minute if they’ve found out their new apartment doesn’t allow pets, and they don’t know what to do
Some People abandon pets this way because the animal will be protected from the elements, and a person (the realtor or property owner) will find them fairly soon
Here are some of the common comments from people who dumped their cats.
Last time I moved my cat could tell something was up and ran away. I went back to that place for months trying to catch her but she wouldnt let me touch her anymore.
When I Ieft for college, the cat who bonded with me the most kept sitting on top of the boxes, just moving to a new one every time we took one away. They really hate change
People are monsters. They just see them as disposable. I moved countries and always took my cat.
I don’t necessarily think it’s always intentional. Pet’s freak out when all of a sudden everything in their home is disappearing, and their humans are acting weird.
I work at a shelter and though it is sad that people feel the need to surrender their pets, I just try to remember that it’s better they surrender
My neighbor did this. I took the cat in and she became my best friend for 18 years.
There’s an affordable housing crisis. I’d imagine in some cases people can’t find housing that allows pets and still need a place to live.
Yes of course some people are just careless / terrible / wtv but I tend to think they are the minority.
Because it is SO hard to find housing, a lot of people are moving under bad circumstances and their new situations in no way will allow them to keep a pet.
People can’t have pets in their new home or don’t want to pay a pet deposit.
Matt Prosory RI/MLO/Broker
NCO Enterprises LLC
Private Hard Money
DBA Setabay/SetabayLoan/Level 4 Funding
26731 N 90th Drive
Peoria AZ 85383
Matt@Level4Funding.com
Telephone: 623-582-4444
NMLS 2062278 NMLS 1118493
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is not a Good Faith Estimate, and it is not a Guarantee to lend; it should not be considered as such. Costs, rates, estimates, and terms can only be determined after a full application is completed. To the extent this message includes any tax or legal advice, this message is not intended or written by the sender to be used, and cannot be used, for legal or tax purposes or advice. This is an advertisement. Copyright © 2026. All rights reserved.

