Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Pets are amazing – they are great companions, they are loving and they add value to your life. They also come with smells, mess and dirt so you have more on your hands. While having to put in some extra work into your home is inevitable with pets there are some ways to ensure that your home is kept clean and tidy even though you have pets.
The amount of extra work and the things you will need to do will change depending on the type of pets that you have. Here are some ways to keep your home clean and tidy when you have pets.
Daily Brushing
If you have a dog or a cat get some special brushes and give your pet a good brush every single day. It may seem like extra time spent brushing your dog when you could be cleaning your home but keep in mind that when you brush your dog you are removing all the loose hair that would be falling all over your home. This daily exercise will save you a lot of time in the long run.
If you have a cat then brushing can actually also add time onto your cat’s life expectancy by preventing hairballs which could cause severe health problems for your cat. Hairballs can also be vomited up which is not particularly nice to have to clean up.
Regular Baths
If you have dogs give them a bath regularly. This will help to keep them looking good and it will help to keep them from smelling bad. I’m sure you will agree that there is nothing worse than a bad smelling dog! If your dog is smelling bad that smell will sink into wherever your dog spends his time. This could be your carpet, your dog’s bed or even on your couch.
Clean Your Pet’s Areas Regularly
Make sure to clean the areas that your pets use regularly every day. This is especially important for your pet’s toilet activities! If you have pet birds, rats or bunnies be sure to clean out the poops and other messes from the cage every day. If you have a dog pick up the dog poop from your garden daily and if you have a cat clean the litter box every day.
Make sure to wash your pets food bowls every day since these can start looking grim if you don’t.
Vacuum Regularly
Even with regular brushing and bathing your pets are bound to drop hair all over the place. Vacuuming every day will help to keep your home looking neat and tidy. Remember that hair spreads all over and will get stuck on your clothes too if left unchecked.
Make sure to read plenty of vacuum cleaner reviews to ensure that the vacuum cleaner you purchase is one of the best vacuum for pet hair.
Freshen Up
Even with keeping your pets clean there will often be a pet smell. There are plenty of ways to keep your home smelling fresh – from using baking soda on fabrics and carpets to leaving bowls of vinegar to absorb smells. You can also burn essential oils, use freshening sprays and burn candles or incense.
Keep Those Paws Clean
Dogs can cause a huge mess if left unchecked. Make sure to keep an old towel handy to wipe your dogs paws with before your dog comes inside. Trust me wiping paws is much easier than cleaning all the floors in your house!
It’s also not just floors that your pet comes into contact with, if your dog has muddy paws you can be sure that your dog will jump up on you, on a wall, or on a couch too.
Deal With Messes
Be prepared to deal with messes if you have pets. It is inevitable that you will stumble upon half a mouse in your home that your cat has dragged in, or your dog may have vomited, pooped or left a pee on the carpet. These things are going to happen when you have pets. Make sure you have the right cleaning products and equipment close on hand to deal with these things as soon as you come upon them.
Always remember that any mess your pet makes can be spread throughout the entire house in the blink of an eye so make sure to clean any messes as soon as you come across them.
Keep Your Pets Healthy
Make sure to take your pet for his vaccinations on time and to take your pet for regular checkups. Get your pet dewormed regularly and make sure to give your pet medication as prescribed by your vet.
This is important to your pet’s welfare but also important when it comes to keeping your home clean! An unhealthy pet can smell bad and an ill animal is bound to make more of a mess than a healthy and happy animal.
Having pets are hard work, mainly for indoor pets. They need a lot of dedication from their owners to maintain cleanliness in your home.
I have a Pekingese, anybody familiar with this breed would know that there is shedding throughout the year with this breed as they are extremely fluffy. We all have turns at home to brush our dog daily and that is not all, her nails grow so fast that we clip them weekly or the constant jumping on sofas and other furniture tend to leave claw marks.
My dog is six years old and this has been a permanent routine for us.