Look, just take the cats with you. It is really hard/near impossible for a body corp to get and owner occupier out based on pets... who is to know at the end of the day.
Can't stand body corporates, lots of people with nothing better to do much of the time!!!
Enjoy your new home and tell them to get something decent to worry about.
Unfortunately the property has since gone under contract with someone else. Seeing as they denied our request we figured we were better off not risking nightmare neighbours who may go out of their way to make life hell for us... next time we won't be mentioning a thing though. I also contacted a very helpful lady named Eedray Zey who is an animal lobbyist (www.barkingmad.com she needs a sponsor if anyone is interested) against unfair pet laws( dog walking, animal transport, strata, companion animals etc in NSW.) She was extremely helpful and quite positive in her experience about it being extremely hard to get rid of tenants based on indoor pets. So yes, lips sealed next time... thanks for all your help