Everybody Loves a Cuddly Pet
We all love our furry (and feathered) friends. There’s no denying that they bring a lot of happiness and comfort into our lives and our homes. This writer is one of many who believe that a house isn’t a home unless it’s got at least one animal member of the family (I have, at various times in my life, owned several cats, a dog, mice, guinea pigs, goats, chickens, parakeets and sheep. Right now, our black cat is curled up on my daughter’s bed – a bit of a no-no, as you’ll read later on).
However, there is one thing that pets aren’t so good at and this is cleaning up after themselves. What’s more, animals also bring a lot more mess into the home, even if this is just in the form of pet hair or feathers. This means that pet owners often have to do a lot more cleaning than people without pets (although we would probably all agree that it’s worth it!). On the other hand, some pets are great for cleaning up crumbs and other spilt food from carpets and floors – I have heard of one person who trained pet rats to clean the kitchen bench, but this certainly isn’t for everyone!
However, we want to keep our homes fit for human and animal habitation, rather than letting our homes become unhealthy and ridden with unwanted animal inhabitants such as fleas, cockroaches and feral mice and rats. This means that we are going to have to arrange for a bit of extra cleaning work to be done around our homes.
Hints For Keeping Your Home Clean With Pets
Dedicated Pet Beds
Give your pet its own bed rather than letting it sleep on yours. As I am always telling my daughter, allowing an animal to sleep on your bed means that your bedding will soon become covered with animal hair and will start smelling of that animal. It also makes it more likely that any parasites your pet has picked up (fleas, worms) will spread to you. It’s also easier to wash pet bedding than to wash all of your own blankets, duvets, pillows, etc.
Designated Loo Areas Indoors (But Preferrably Outdoors)
Ideally, your cat or dog should be able to defecate/urinate outside. If, however, you need to use a litter tray, don’t keep this in the kitchen or anywhere that you’re likely to put your foot in it. The laundry and the garage are ideal. It’s best to have a kitty litter tray on a hard surface that is easier to clean and disinfect if/when your pet misses the tray.
Organised Feeding
Feeding should also be done outside if possible. If it isn’t possible, keep the feeding bowl on a hard surface rather than on a carpet, and put newspaper down to make cleaning up easier, especially if you have a pet who likes to haul bits out of their bowl and onto the floor.
Plan the Cleaning of Pet Living Areas
For guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, mice and rats, sawdust makes a great covering for the floor of the cage, as it absorbs urine and poop, and is easy to sweep up and remove (there’s a reason why sawdust used to be sprinkled on the floors of bars and butcher’s shops). What’s more, it’s compostable. If you can’t get hold of sawdust for regular cleaning, use newspapers and shredded paperwork, although this is less absorbent and means that you will have to wipe down the bottom of the cage during its regular clean-out. Metal or plastic cage bottoms are easier in this regard.
Brush Hairy Friends to Prevent Prevent Vacuuming Problems
Regular grooming of your cat or dog means that more pet hair will go in the brush and less will get into your carpet and upholstery. Some dogs (and a very few cats) don’t mind being vacuumed but only do this if your pet enjoys or at least tolerates it and use low suction.
You can get hold of special mitts for cleaning cat hair (and dog hair) off furniture. If you can’t find one of these in your local pet supplies store, then use a circle of wide sticky tape to scrape the hair off sofas and cushions (good old duct tape to the rescue again).
Keep a Good London Domestic Cleaning Company on Speed Dial
If you live in the UK capital like me, you need to know how to get hold of a good professional domestic cleaning company in London. Even the best-behaved pets have accidents here and there from time to time. What’s more, pets just don’t get it about wiping paws when they come into the house. Over time, a feline or canine (or combined) pong will build up in your carpets unless you clean them regularly. This should be done annually at least, and possibly more often if your pet is still being housetrained. Deep house cleaning the way a professional cleaner does it, removes any kind of pet odours and will also help to keep fleas and worms under control. Getting the upholstery cleaned professionally is also a smart idea.
Secure Rubbish Bins
If you’re fed up with the dog raiding the rubbish bin for food scraps and getting rubbish everywhere, simply don’t put food rubbish in there! In the first place, we should be composting food rubbish rather than sending it to the landfill. In the second place, a lot of food scraps that aren’t so good in the compost will be enjoyed by your dog, such as meat, dairy and carbohydrates – even some vegetables! Every pet owner (not just dog owners) should have a “pet scraps bowl” where food scraps your pet can eat can be collected. This saves you a bit on your pet food bills and also provides some variety in your pet’s diet as well as cutting down on the amount of waste we produce. Dogs, chickens, pot-bellied pigs and rats eat nearly anything (but keep things containing chocolate and onions to a minimum for dogs); cats eat meat scraps (e.g. fat trimmed off meat) plus a small amount of dairy; birds and mice eat grain-based products and legumes, plus some fruit and vegetables; and guinea pigs and rabbits enjoy things like apple cores, carrot tops, watermelon rinds, pumpkin seeds, celery leaves, strawberry hulls and the half-eaten orange that came back from school in your children’s lunchbox.
Protect Furniture to Enable Easy Cleaning
If your pet is particularly fond of one particular piece of furniture, put a throw or slipcover on it (the furniture, silly!) to make the cleaning easier. It’s much easier to pop a throw or a cover in the washing machine (make sure you buy one that is machine washable) compared to getting your upholstery cleaned every couple of months.
Cleaning Pet Mess
It happens with even the nicest and best-housetrained pets. Somebody leaves the cat or dog shut in the house with no access to the litter tray. Or the cat tries to use the litter tray but misses. Now, what are you going to do? How are you going to deal with the mess?
Time is of the Essence
It’s important to get onto the mess left by a pet having an accident as soon as possible. If you don’t then the poo or wee can be absorbed right into whatever’s on your floor, causing stains and lingering smells. Even if you can’t smell any residue, your pet’s more sensitive nose can, and the smell will send a signal that says “It’s OK to do your business here.” And then the crime gets repeated.
Do Not Vacuum The Mess
Pet poo is definitely one of the things you shouldn’t vacuum! What you should not do is attempt to vacuum up the mess, even if you have a wet and dry vacuum cleaner. This is because the mess will plaster itself all over the inside of your vacuum cleaner and every time that you use the vacuum after that, it will smell of cat pee or dog poop. Not the nicest scent to have in your house! Instead, get a paper towel or piece of loo paper and remove all the solids you can. You may like to wear rubber gloves while doing this to prevent any poop from getting on your hands.
If the mess made is a little puddle, then blot up as much liquid as you can. An old towel or bath mat (not your best ones, of course) is ideal for this. If you don’t want to use a towel, then use a lot of paper towels or a newspaper. These will have to go into the bin, unlike the towel, which can be washed after a good soak in disinfectant and then used as normal again.
Disinfect the Whole Affected Area
After you have disposed of the mess (down the toilet is best), it’s time to get out the disinfectant to kill the germs that were in the animal excrement. Don’t use chlorine bleach – this may damage the colour of your carpet. However, you can use chlorine bleach on hard floors (tiles, vinyl, lino) but be careful not to walk on it or get it on your clothes. Dilute your disinfectant in cold water (not hot – that might set a stain permanently), splash it on the area and scrub well.
After you have scrubbed the spot, blot up as much of the liquid as you can, again using an old towel (not the same one as you used last time), paper towel or newspaper. This will speed up the time taken for the patch to dry.
After the area has dried, you may wish to sprinkle baking soda on the area to remove any lingering smells. Leave the baking soda in place for a couple of hours – maybe while you are at work or overnight. Then vacuum up. It won’t make your vacuum cleaner stink the way that vacuuming up straight poop or pee will.
If your pet has a particularly bad habit of making a mess on the carpets, the best solution would be to (a) confine your pet to hard surfaces or outside if possible and (b) call in a carpet cleaner.
Aah, the sacrifices we make in the name of our loved ones. Love is a powerful thing, don’t you think?
