How to deal with the mess of your pets

The decision whether to adopt an animal is huge. It is almost as big as the one of deciding to raise a family. In reality a lot of couples decide to get a dog together as an important step in the development of their relationship. And some families get a cat in an effort to teach their children how to take care of another living creature. Whatever the case is, having a pet at home can be great but also goes along with a lot of responsibilities.

Loving your dog/cat and feeding it is only a part of the whole story. Animals in general can be tamed and trained but only up to a point- dogs will be dogs and cats will be cats. This means that you will have to deal with a lot of challenges when cleaning after them. The basic problems you need to be prepared for are:

• Hair - whether you have a Persian cat or a pincher Doberman at home, there are certain periods of the year when you will have to vacuum more often than normally as all animals change their hair (2-3 times a year). A very easy and simple solution which doesn’t require using the vacuum cleaner is to clean the sofa or carpet with a wet rubber glove. After you are done with washing the dishes, just go over the surface of the sofa, cushions, blanket or anything else that has traces of fur on it - it will all stick to the glove. You can also find and buy products (rollers with adhesive paper) that are specifically made to help you to get rid of any unwanted hair over the upholstery.

• Poop and pee - while you can train a human to use the toilet, you will always have to deal with the poop and pee of the animals. It’s not pleasant at all, but, at least, it is easy. The only thing you should remember is to always use rubber gloves for health reasons.

• Bad odour - this is probably the most difficult part of all. For the first few months (depending on what pet you have at home) you will have to accept that at some point you will step into either poop or pee - it’s simply inevitable. Once your pet is all grown up, things will be easier. However, you have to keep in mind that male cats are very territorial (10 times more than the female) - this means that they tend to mark their territory (spray). The problem is that it’s not just urine that they use but something else that has much stronger smell in order to make their presence known to all other cats. You have to watch your cat very closely and to act promptly - as soon as you see him spray over a certain part of the house, get the mop and some cleaning agent and deal with the mess immediately. Otherwise you may not be able to get rid of the odour on your own.

Do you apply your own techniques in the fight with the mischiefs of your pets? Share your tricks with us!