COEUR d’ALENE — A Coeur d’Alene couple with a compulsion for cats is being sued by a landlord for what happened when the couple’s affection for felines crept south.

Brian and Erin Price, who used to live in a rental house between Interstate 90 and the Coeur d’Alene public golf course, are being sued for as much as $10,000 for allegedly ditching on their lease agreement, and leaving behind at least 14 cats.

According to a lawsuit filed in the magistrate arm of Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court, the Prices were evicted in August by property owner David Clinton and Happy Homes Rental Service LLC after failing to live up to the terms of their lease agreement.

The Prices had signed the agreement in 2016 for the four-bedroom, two-bath home on the 2800 block of west Masters Drive. They reportedly quit paying rent, defaulted last July, and received a court order to evacuate by Aug. 4, but failed to meet the deadline. That resulted in a court judgment.

The couple owed $3,300 in back rent, according to the lawsuit, but it wasn’t the unpaid rent that caused the caterwauling.

When a representative of Happy Homes checked the 1,900-square-foot property much later, the herd of hungry cats and their spoilage was discovered.

“Upon vacating the premises, the defendants left more than 14 cats in the residence,” according to the lawsuit. “The presence of the large number of cats in the residence for a likely extended period of time, resulted in significant damages to the floor, the subfloor, baseboards and lower walls.”

Repair costs added up to around $5,000, according to the lawsuit, “Or, a greater amount to be proven at the trial...”

The property owner is also asking to be reimbursed for the back rent, lost income — about $1,750 — as well as $3,000 in attorney fees.

The fate of the cats was not reported. City animal control does not handle cats.