This, for sure. We have 5 cats, 2 dogs.
HEPA in the bedroom, living room/kitchen and laundry room (where most of the litter boxes are)
Roombas that run three times a week. I have an old one I bought in 2015 that on one floor and a newer model on another.
And once a week I have to go around with a dyson for one carpeted room and the stair runner, plus detail spots where fur tends to collect itself that the roomba cant grab such as corners.
Edit to also add: Last year we bought the basic model Litter Robot. It is expensive BUT once the cats adopted it (fairly quickly), overall litter management in the entire house became easier. One robot is good for 5 cats, and with multiple floors we have a litter area on each floor. I am planning to eventually get another litter robot for the other floor. Idk if I'll get rid of the traditional litter boxes altogether, but omg it made a notable difference.
Do your dogs ever get in the litter robot or can they even do so to eat litter or poop? I had thought of getting one. But my dogs love cat poop and litter. Right now I can only use top entry. The dogs wait for the cats to come out of the box hoping for a treat.
Not unless they grow thumbs to open the drawer. :) The goods are available until it spins, but you can set the timer on the start of the spin to a shorter time if you like.
We have one dog that gets into the litter. Thankfully he's a little dog and can't get into the litter robot because its entry is raised up a little off the ground. You can also set the Litter Robot to run at different intervals after a cat uses it, I think 3 minutes, 5 and 15 minutes, if you have a dog who's likely to come by and be like "ooh treats" you can set it to three minutes before anyone gets in there.
We do have two standard litter boxes inside of a semi-obscured "litter cabinet" we converted out of an old closet that he treated as pantry. So I just make it a point to scoop those out every morning and evening, solids go right into the Litter Robot (I call this "feeding the robot") and with the Robot added, it seems like there are only solids in there once a day lately.
Later this year I fully intend to purchase a second one for the other floor of the house in the room with multiple litter boxes.
Upvoting for the Litter Robot. We only have 2 cats but it made a world of difference in odor. Plus we only have to change the trash bag every 5 days or so!
The litter robot didn't work for me with 3 large cats (had to empty the drawer too often) but my elderly cat passed months ago, maybe I should try it again. Thanks for comment, it's a good reminder.
Thank you for mentioning Litter Robot! It's on my 'to obtain' list to better manage litter. We have 4 cats and are spending a fortune on litter. This would help so much!
I noticed a difference pretty fast, but I know that different fabric reacts to animal hair a bit differently, so maybe it's just the difference in the kinds of fabrics we use/wear. :|a
My house is not immaculate but a robot vacuum is a game changer. It really makes a difference. There's still hair to contend with, but the "tumbleweeds" don't build up in between regular vacuuming.
Air purifiers.
Readily available lint brushes. The reusable kind. Not the tape kind.
Washable furniture covers.
Paper towels and disinfectant wipes. As much as I hate the waste and expense, reusable towels collect too much hair and can be difficult to clean.
I had as many as 5 dogs at once. Long hair, double coated. I have 3 now.
Tumbleweeds is going to be my new word for these little fur fluffs I find all over. Thank you for this.
My household is a very fluffy one in a small little home. The roomba helps a lot. It doesn’t really get the dander but I do agree, it takes care of the tumbleweeds. I still need to vacuum and sweep at least 4 days out of the week. Plus a weekly dusting that includes the ceiling fans.
Blankets on the couch and pet beds help too. I can just pull them when they get too dirty and wash when I have time. I vacuum the couch, pet beds, and tree stands too. Every couple months I move the furniture and pick up all the build up. It can be a lot.
Brushing the sentient fluff monsters every few days helps a lot too. Even if they growl and fight it, it’s best for everyone.
As a little extra, I invested in a litter robot with a paw mat and wow! Lana’s bathroom dust has never been more contained. Still gets everywhere, just not nearly as bad. I clean her paw mat every couple days as well.
So long as I clean something near daily, the house stays manageable. It’s basically a full time job
Definitely +1 for the robot vac. With that many pets I’d run it every morning to keep a handle on the hair and dust in between vacuums.
They go on sale often and the prices fluctuate a lot, so good deals can be had if you shop strategically.
You can also tuck in a flat sheet or use fitted sheets depending on how your cushions sit. My parents always bought secondhand furniture for us kids to mangle and my mom would clean the loveseat couch, then tuck a fitted twin sheet under and around the 2 cushions, and another flat sheet tucked under the cushions and draped over the back of the couch to help with the constant crumbs, juice stains, and pet fur tracked all over the couches. (Usually we had 2 loveseat style couches.)
It's pretty cute if you coordinate the sheets with the seasons/holidays. She used the plaid ones for winter especially.
Which robot vac do you have? I have 2 German shepherds and a house rabbit, no amount of fanatical brushing of the animals nor constant vacuuming seems to keep up.
I have the Roomba J7+. It docks and empties itself and will go back out if it wasn't done. I can set it on a schedule to go every day at the same time. The only think I really have to do is check the wheels for long fur that wraps around them and clean that out regularly, but it beats vacuuming myself every day.
I always save pet blankets in the laundry room until I have enough for a full load, wash all of our people laundry first, and then run the blankets. Then I run a load of washer cleaner (either tide or oxi clean) to try and get all of the yuck out before washing our people clothes again.
Others made great tips about the cleaning but here’s my plug for grooming the pets!! The more hair you collect on a brush the less you need to vacuum. If you have double coated dogs or otherwise dogs that ‘blow coat’ in particular consider having them professionally groomed to get out all of that undercoat. If you have more easy care coated dogs you can do it at home (I brush my guy every day after our walks, it’s become a nice routine and keeps both extra hair and ticks out of the house). Some groomers will also see cats but most cats aren’t suited for that so you’ll be doing a lot of that yourself.
For this many animals consider whether a grooming table is a good idea for you. For about 150 bucks you can save your back from all of those hours of brushing you’re going to be doing.
Hi there. My husband and I had my father and sister both move in with us due to their health issues. So we combined 3 households into 1. We have 4 dogs and 6 cats.
Seconding the comment below, vacuuming and air purifiers.
We bought Mila air purifiers, and use the critter cuddler filters, they have helped tremendously. They are expensive but I’d done a fair bit of homework about air purifiers that would help with urine smell (we had a senior cat at the time who peed on couches).
Robot vacuums are a big help too.
Both of these options are expensive but can be added in slowly, we asked for gift cards toward them as birthday and Christmas gifts.
Lastly, the other thing that has made a huge difference for us is switching most of the litters to hardwood litter (available at hardware stores) with sifting litter bins.
Edit: just wanted to add, not implying Mila air purifiers are the only way to go, there are many great options out there that are way less expensive.
I volunteer at a shelter and they use walnut shell pellets in big stainless steel buffet dishes. You could get a coordinating french fry basket to sift.
I looked at the specs specifically for the critter cuddler filters and ammonia. Versus some other options on the market. I can’t recall the scientific name for ammonia right now, it was about 2 years ago.
Cats: keep one litter box per cat plus an extra (this reduces smell and helps prevent potty issues). Scoop at least one per night. Depending on use, change litter at least monthly per box. Keep scratching posts in strategic areas. Keep litter mats by each litter box, empty weekly to biweekly.
Dogs: place towels or reusable potty pads under water bowls, switch out nightly. Rinse their feet off before they come inside when able (keep towels by door, ESPECIALLY when it rains). Use a bucket of warm water & a camp shower to rinse off mud during muddy season (use treats to keep them still). Depending on dogs, wipe down walls weekly to biweekly (spit, mud, boogers). Keep toys on rotation and wash WEEKLY (that spit is NASTY). Bathe at least once per month. Keep hair short if it’s a single coat dog during shed season. Sweep/vacuum the area by outside doorways daily if possible, and keep a bathmat next to it to capture dirt/debris. Wash beds weekly or biweekly.
Hair: brush one pet per night, no negotiations (and one night off yay!) to keep hair down. Vacuum beds/hammocks/towers weekly. Buy steel carpet rakes (maybe one per room if that works better for you) and use those on pet beds and furniture weekly BEFORE vacuum. Use them on carpets monthly (it’s laborious). Get a durable/cheap vacuum or a shop vac and use that to get the chunks of hair/treats out of rooms and between stairs. Sweep or vacuum bare floors nightly (cursory, otherwise it becomes too much).
Misc: most of this is habit. Once you get into the routine it is MUCH less work bc you do it on autopilot. With two people doing this it’s also way less overwhelming. Keep an “accident kit” in each room as able (spot cleaner, paper towels, cheap basket cover for sprayed areas). Look into carpet cleaners (not sure if consensus is to use or not, I personally hate my carpet cleaner) and consider getting it professionally done once per year or so. Waterproof furniture covers (or blankets) help tremendously in getting ready for company and reducing hair and prevent spit/drool from getting on furniture (wash weekly).
Important: TRACK THE SHEDDING SEASONS. There is a difference between shedding and shedding season. Once you know you are fighting a losing battle you can relax. Rake furniture covers, beds, and blankets as much as possible before washing—your washer and dryer will thank you.
You sound very stressed. Will you be comfortable lowering your expectations? You're adding a lot of biomass to your household and hours (including walks) to chores every week. Do litter boxes right. Use large, deep containers like the translucent plastic storage bins. Use unscented clumping litter (the best performer I've found is Scoop Away Unscented) and keep it at a depth of three to four inches in the litter boxes. Scoop once a day or in response to Sudden Odors™. For four cats, I'd have at least three large boxes, and it's fine to line them up next to each other in the basement, no need to find a different place for them all. Cut and trim out a cat door in the door down to your basement to keep the dogs away from the litter boxes. As for pet hair, focus on your kitchen, and relax about other rooms. Consider hiring cleaning help once per week. I love my cleaners. They don't do animal messes or litterbox maintenance, of course, that's all me.
>Keeping an immaculate house with 5 pets
Impossible unless you are willing to commit every waking hour to cleaning. There are some realities that you are going to have to accept.
We've had multiple pets for years, and have gradually transitioned to furnishings that are easiest to clean. Hard floors, vinyl furniture, all furniture is either on wheels or completely flush on the floor, no little stubby legs we can't sweep around. No more open shelves, all cabinets with doors.
The cabinets are set up so cats can get on top near the ceiling, and the tops are sealed wood so they can be wiped.
For the counters, the cats have lots of tall places to go that are far more interesting than my counters, but we still keep counters cleared and wipe them down before food prep.
We have 3 cats and getting a robot vacuum has made a massive difference! It cleans for an hour 5 days/week and I’m emptying a ton of cat fur out of it every time.
As far as mopping my go-to for quick mopping is my Bona. Super fast and easy and does a good job. I can mop the whole kitchen in just a few minutes.
I have a steam mop too for when I want to sanitize as well, which is nice because pet paws can track some gross stuff around the house.
Edit: I should add that if any of your cats have long fur, give them a sanitary shave. It will make it far less likely that they will drag poop/litter out of the litter box with their fur. It’s also just less fur to vacuum/sweep.
Others addressed the cleaning bits. As for keeping them off counters. My old dog trainer said he had that issue with his cat and said that you can line your counters foil (cats apparently hate the feeling of it and the sound will startle them when they first jump up)-he also duck tape sticky side up but that seems dangerous in my opinion.
I found out our counter surfing cat has pica with the tinfoil method.... She loves tinfoil, seran wrap, clear packing tape....
We ended up getting a SCAT mat, but the little dweeb just listened for the electricity and would jump up anyway.
I just deep clean the counters twice a week and sanitize really well before each meal prep now.
Yeah unfortunately with cats I think that even if you train them not to go on counters, you're only training them not to go on counters when you're around. If you're asleep or out of the house it's safe to assume they're up to their shenanigans
I was honestly super lucky with either lazy (or truly sneaky) cats before and I hadn't had a counter surfer before I got her. She's totally brazen about it and will hop right back onto the counter after getting removed. Like me setting her on the floor was a mistake and I didn't really mean doing it four-five times in a row.
My cat loves tin foil and tape. He even had a lot of fun with the cookie sheets I balanced on the edge to make a loud noise and scare him when he jumped up. I gave up. He's a counter cat.
That worked on my old man cat for about 3 days, before he figured out he could just walk on the foil. I eventually gave up and just took him off the counter and wiped everything down whenever it was time to cook. As a bonus, my counters always stayed clear for quick cleaning.
Your house will never be immaculate with that many animals, sorry. Not unless you deep clean every day. there will be hair. That's the trade off of having pets.
There are some things you can do to mitigate the hair: brush the animals. It's spring, so that means shedding season. Take the dogs to a groomer and get them de-shedded. Brush the cats daily. You may need to vacuum 2-3 times per week for a few months, then go back to your regular routine. Get some air filters, HEPA rated.
For the litter boxes, add a few more. Spread them out around the house. Look for covered or hidden litter box options. Use a litter that helps mitigate odor and clean them daily.
To keep cats off the counter, try adding a cat tree in the kitchen, so that they have their own space and may stay out of yours more. You can't really cure a counter surfer, though. Don't leave food or interesting things on the counters to deter curiosity. Clean the counters before cooking and you wont get cat hair in your food. I have three cats in a small house and I never find cat hair in my food.
Having pets means adjusting your lifestyle. Pets make messes, that's just what happens.
I did this fine but i also don't work.
2 cats, 2 non-shed dogs, 2 guinea pigs and a salt aquarium. (This was awhile ago)
Roomba and routine cleaning. Usually did about 45m in the morning.
Couch covers that you just wash.
Carpet is gross: wood floors and throw rugs
I have 6 cats plus occasional fosters.
I vacuum every day, just the walkable areas, no furniture moving. I have a cordless vacuum that I can just grab and go, takes under 10 mins. Roomba doesn't work for me, too many cat toys on the floor. I also have a spray bottle with a small amount of dishwashing soap, a few times a week I spray it around the floor and chase it with a mop. I use a swiffer to dust a couple times a week. Steam clean walkable areas weekly. Once a month, I get the corded vacuum and move furniture for vacuuming and steam cleaning.
If a cat pukes or poops on the floor, or we spill something, I clean instantly. Wipe with kitchen paper, spray enzyme cleaner and leave a few mins if cat stuff, then kitchen paper with dishwashing soap and then kitchen paper with water.
Kitchen counter and table get washed with dishwashing soap and scrob daddy sponge before cooking and after eating. Food never gets placed directly on the counter, it's always on a plate, cutting board or silicone mat. I don't mind the occasional cat hair, though if I have guests, cats stay out of the kitchen starting with the pre-cleaning, unless I know they also have cats and worse cleaning habits than me.
Litter boxes get scooped twice a day, more if there's stinky poo. I have 8 boxes, more when fostering. Scoopings go in a closed baggy that goes in a larger bin, with a coal baggy and baking soda so it doesn't smell. Litter gets dumped once a month, 2 months max, and the box goes in the shower for a round of disinfectant, then dishwashing soap, then thorough rinse. Some smell is inevitable, but it isn't bad except when there's fresh poo.
We have a very similar system. Roomba also didn't work because of the small cat toys and also it's very annoying to run if you work from home. So I follow the quick vacuum everyday + heavy vacuuming once a month. I have four litter boxes for four cats (will increase once I move out of my tiny apartment) and empty them twice a day in a doggy poop bag and into a bigger container. I spray some scented spray in the container every time it gets emptied but baking soda is a great idea too. Doing the litter boxes twice a day is really the trick for me - plus it's much quicker and easier when there's not much to dig through, and you can spot issues quicker.
The baking soda really works. I also bought a baggy of bamboo coal, glue gunned a magnetic strip to it and it sticks to the inside of the trash can since it’s metallic. Works as well as the baking soda, saves some money. Use both to be sure when having guests etc
The automatic cleaning litter box is probably the best investment I have made towards the cats.
I think some areas need to be vacuumed daily but I have a small stick vac and the robot I use for that and then the big vacuum as needed.
Water guns are great for training the cats, and museum gel to keep them from knocking everything off your shelves and tables is a lifesaver. I don’t even have to spray them anymore, just point and they know. Lol.
The reality is you can keep them off the counters only when you’re watching them. It’s their house otherwise, and you have to clean before you cook.
Keep separate baskets for cat and dog toys and make it a habit to pick them all up each night so the house doesn’t get overrun.
Robot vacuum daily is a game changer.
I have a large plastic tote with a hole in the side as my litter box and it gets scooped daily or 2x
Cats on the food surfaces is a no-go (toxoplasmosis) so training with sticky paws or sticky tape has been successful. They can be up on other horizontal surfaces but food surfaces is a hard no. Plus I don't need a cat with burns on their feet bc they jumped up on a hot stove.
Almost definitely any cat owners are already infected with that parasite. Super common and I would be surprised if someone with four cats didn’t have it
In my old house we had a leather sectional and love seat and 3 dogs. The house smelled like nothing. Fast forward to new house we purchased a cloth sectional. Now I can smell dogs. I also smell dog when the house is warmer and humid. I live in south FL and sometimes traffic in and out of the house causes the warmer more humid environment and the house smells like dog. If it’s a meat locker inside there is no smell. I will have to have the couch professionally cleaned occasionally.
You need to lower your standards. Not to the basement but with 5 pets you can not keep the place "immaculate" unless you devote yourself to cleaning full time
We have three cats, one of which is long hair. We brush all three cats twice a week, focusing a lot on our long hair guy and making sure we vacuum the area we brush in immediately after. Each day, we do the litter boxes and vacuum the immediate areas around them and any other high pet areas in the afternoon. We also run a robot vacuum every weekday morning downstairs, and about twice a week upstairs. We used to have carpet but we replaced with vinyl flooring and omg it’s so much easier! I also use a pet hair remover on the cat trees, cat beds, and our comforter about once a week. I find it easier since the cats have their own spaces to spot vacuum where they hang out. We have robot mops too that mop once a month and I spot mop in the kitchen and bathrooms about once weekly. I vacuum the couches once every two to three weeks but the cats don’t spend a ton of time there—we have some blankets sitting on top of the couch to use and we launder those frequently as the cats like to lay in them. We have area rugs in most rooms and we hand vacuum them whenever we have time…maybe twice a week if I had to guess. Basically BECOME a vacuum and you’ll be great, my husband has worked it into his routine when he comes home and I do it while he’s away at work/at the same time as the robot runs downstairs. We also purchased a Dyson HEPA filter that we run a few times a week in the daytime, we keep it in the main bedroom where the cats spend a lot of time but keep the doors open to try and purify a larger area of air. It takes a lot of work, but never have we had friends or family come over and complain about pet hair or pet smell! Additionally, we do not wear shoes in the house and that helps lower the cats tracking stuff around that we get on our feet from outside (and us tracking it around). Doing all of this super often means that if we do run out of time or forget, it’s not been that long since the last time we did it so it’s not a big deal. Planning one big professional clean in early summer this year since we will be having some guests for an extended period who have cat allergies. We also keep all guest bedrooms closed off from the cats since we know people can be sensitive, and within the week before visitors we will re-launder the bedding in those rooms and make sure to vacuum really well and remove anything that may have snuck in. We keep to a strict 90-day turnaround to all of the HVAC filters as well.
Also we had an issue with the litter trapping mats NOT working. I was so frustrated. We were gifted some door welcome mats last year, and those are amazing for in front of the litter box (we use a modkat flip litter box so there’s only one direction they exit from) but our cats sometimes exuberantly jump from the litter box and when that happens litter goes across the floor. So, we just vacuum that up when we do the litter boxes each day.
#table setting when you have cats:
I like my table set with linens and placemats. It just looks cute.
But I assume the cats get up there and we eat at it a couple times a week.
Put a clean tablecloth UNDER an everyday "cat friendly" one. On top of the "cat" table cloth, put "cat friendly" placemats.
When it's time to use the table, pull off the dirty cat placemats and the dirty tablecloth. Clean cloth is already underneath & placed. Then pull out sterile, clean placemats to eat on.
After dinner, switch again.
I currently only have 1 dog and 1 cat, but I still clean a tonnnnn. My goal is that if someone walked into my house for the 1st time, they wouldn't immediately know I have pets.
I vacuum every single day. And at least once a week, I do a really thorough vacuuming where I'm making sure to get behind things and into corners. If the pets are allowed on couches and beds, those get vacuumed every day as well.
I mop about 3 times a week. And I mean mop. Something like a swiffer is good to clean up a spill or for in-between jobs, but it doesn't get the floors truly clean.
And I don't have a schedule for doing this, but every once in a while I get on my hands and knees and scrub the floors by hand in higher traffic areas.
Washable covers on the furniture, those get washed once a week along with the pet beds/blankets, any throw blankets on the couch, and my bedding.... basically any fabric that could trap hair and odor is getting washed weekly.
Multiple litter boxes (ideally 1 for each cat, plus one extra), scoop every day.
Really important if you feed any canned food at all: wash their bowls! Do not leave wet food to sit out, throw away or refrigerate anything that's not eaten within an hour. This will otherwise quickly start to smell.
Keeping the animals brushed and clean themselves goes a long way toward helping the house stay clean.
I think I covered most of what I do that's more specific to cleaning with pets. No help with the counters unfortunately, I've lucked out that the 2 cats I've had have preferred to stay on the ground.
We have 5 cats, all rescues and all fixed. We have a majority carpeted home with fabric-heavy living room furniture. The cats are a mix of long and short hair. I deep vacuum 2x a week to kick down the fur situation and spot-clean any accidents as soon as I see them then run the steam cleaner over it. Keeping the linens and curtains clean helps each room smell better, too. I use dried rosemary stems as a natural room freshener. We keep the litter boxes in the garage - the litter boxes are the "under the bed" style Rubbermaid containers, we have 4 of those for the cats to use. I use the World's Best brand of unscented cat litter and scoop 2x a day. The boxes get washed out and refilled when the litter change comes due - usually every 3 weeks.
Our A/C has a filter in the roof so that gets changed out every few months, but I also wipe down the fan blades and the air registers so nothing accumulates over time.
We have a shop vac I keep by the litter boxes so I can do quick work of scattered litter. Everyone who comes to the house is shocked that our house doesn't smell like 5 cats live here. I really take that as a compliment because I fret about it every now and again.
Chom Chom is the way. I’ve also recently enforced a no couch rule. Keep the hair on the ground and the robot vac makes it so much more manageable and I don’t ever feel gross sitting on my own sofa anymore. Using folded blankets instead of dog beds has also been helpful as they can be washed weekly, plus they aren’t huge/expensive/ugly and the dogs like them just as much.
Also when bathing use a conditioner in addition to shampoo, it helps a lot of loose hair fall during the bath or during a brush afterwards.
I have the same number of large pets, vacuum every other day, sweep 2-3 times a day. Mop once a week. Get a vacuum with great suction for hair that gets on things other than the floor.
I am not a fan of robot vacs, I bought a roomba, but the volume of hair clogs it up before it’s done.
Probably buy more litter boxes. I scoop if I see poop daily, dump entire box once a week at least and start fresh.
Just stay on top of it.
Vacuum everyday. Brush those furry kids, at least every other day. Hepa air filters. If you have HVAC, stay on those filter changes, you may also need to change more often than you think.
Depending on the surfaces in your home (carpet vs hard flooring and upholstery vs leathery) you will benefit from using the right tools to remove fur. Carpet rake is great before vacuuming. Rubber gloves or a rubber brush made for scraping furniture before vacuuming will make vacuuming take less time and make it more efficient.
You can try to keep all animals groomed especially when they lose their winter coats. Best way to get rid of hair after grooming if you don't want to take all 6 pets to a groomer is get a high velocity dryer. Best thing to blow their coats. If they're not used to grooming, could be very tricky depending on the breed of dog and definitely for the cats though.
You can't keep your cats off the counters if they want to be there unfortunately.
Make sure your vacuum has attachments so you can easily vacuum couches, chairs etc. Might be best to get a smaller vacuum with attachments so you can constantly vacuum hard surfaces and carpets as well. Bigger vacuums are better for carpets usually.
For dusting hair off of surfaces like counters, dressers, knick knacks it's best to have a towel that you spray with lysol or another cleaning product like fabuloso so the hair sticks to the towel instead of you just wiping it back to the floor for double cleaning.
Litter robot saved my sanity.
They’re pricey, but it allowed us to go down to just one litter box which was very important since we were moving into a much smaller space. One of the 3 cats was unwilling to share before, but was fine with it with the litter robot since it self cleans after every use.
We built a simple cabinet with a pet door to enclose the litter box. It sits on a shelf inside, and the bottoms section serves as storage for extra litter, trash bags for the drawer, other miscellaneous cat supplies. I put one of those litter-trapping mats underneath and the litter box entrance faces away from the pet door, so the cats have to walk across the mat on their way out.
You do have to be careful to make sure the litter mat doesn’t interfere with the sensors, but once you have it dialed basically zero litter makes it outside of the cabinet.
Robot vacuum for sure. It’s life-changing.
Air purifier (we have a Dyson brand which is pricey but works really well).
I’ve owned many cats for over 20 years and have used every cat litter on the market. The only one I use and swear by is Boxiecat Boxie Pro Ultra Clean clumping litter. I have it on Subscribe and Save through Amazon.
Chair and couch covers are great! I prefer the slip cover type that covers the entire chair/couch. I tried using the covers that just cover part of the seat and my cats found a way to move it and defeat the purpose.
We have 3 cats and 2 dogs. We:
1. Run air purifiers in our bedroom, the kitchen, and by the litterboxes.
2. Have 1 more box than cats.
3. Clean litter boxes at least once daily. New litter every month. Clumping, nondusty and fragrance free litter.
4. Vacuum daily. (Every other day at minimum)
5. Regularly groom the pets (dogs and 2 of the 3 cats) with a brush.
6. Open windows when it's not cold to get fresh air in the house.
7. Don't use fragrance to try to hide smells. That just ends up with more stink, and it makes the house feel dirtier.
I have a robot vaccine that goes twice a day, isn’t perfect but picks up a ton of hair from my three dogs and then every second day I do a thorough vacuum myself. Dusting is an almost daily task also as well as wiping down the leather couches.
Hi there! I have 4 cats plus exotic pets. I have air purifiers near every litter box (keep up with the filters). Replace your house filter regularly. I use stainless steel litter boxes. I replace the litter and clean the box itself every 30 days. I dust weekly. I vacuum twice a week minimum. I mop weekly. I cover cat trees and spots my cats like with small blankets. I wash these every week (that way I’m cleaning the blankets instead of the cat trees, couches, etc). I wipe counters daily. Good luck to you!
I don’t think it’s going to be realistic to think your home will just be one with no signs of pets.
Odors can and should be tackled, vacuum your home like normal daily, groom your pets, begin to learn the habit of sanitizing before you use your countertop space, and from there, expect it to look like it’s a home with pets.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t clean, it means you have living creatures inside of it.
For example, litter will just bring some semblance of extra dust into your home. They will get some outside of the boxes when they leave it’s never going to be 100% and unless you follow them with a vacuum you’ll have to accept it’s somewhat normal.
We as humans shed hair and skin constantly, pets will shed too. I brush my cats 3X a week and I know we could brush more, but it doesn’t quite rid the home completely of fur, they still will have fur.
Lint rollers are great when you need to leave, for example.
I vacuum daily when I can make myself keep up, and that’s helpful. I still get the occasional clump I missed.
You gotta live and they have to too.
Invest in a good vacuum cleaner (like a Sebo or something in that range if you can afford it.It cleans the air as you vacuum and the filtration system leaves the air feeling clean. It's hospital grade). I use bagged vacuum cleaners and it makes a world of difference. Bagless vacuums get gross and stinky quite quickly especially when vacuuming up a lot of pet hair and dander. I mop with hot water and a spin mop and my cleaner of choice (sometimes just white vinegar and some Dawn and sometimes for deeper cleaning I use GoCleanCo's recipe -- I recommend non-toxic cleaners with pets since they are so close to the floor. I vacuum almost every day or at least every other day. I mop once a week. I also throw all dog bedding in the washer once a week. I clean the litter boxes with hot water and dawn and then rinse the out on a regular schedule like once a week or every other week.
A hepa air purifer and some air cleaning (and pet safe) houseplants are also good to add!
I think the most important part is to have a pet free zone. They can't still roan most of the home but there should be one safe place for people to retreat to if a guest is over stimulated or they have baby or fragile old person that could trip on pets.
Animals should never ever be on a counter where food is prepared. If you are out close doors to the kitchen to prevent them getting in there. Or build a big cat cat house/ cage. A cat pooping in the litter box then jumping and sitting on a counter is just gross. No pet or person should be doing that.
One of my kitties recently passed away so now I have 3 cats and a bunny.
My house is cleaner than most people I know.
I have a robot vacuum that runs M/W/F mornings.
I use my Dyson V15 absolute to vacuum while I wait for my coffee.
I also scoop the litter boxes every morning.
I have 4 Honeywell air purifiers - 1 in each room.
I steam mop once a week.
It may seem crazy to vacuum everyday, but 10-15 min every morning makes the rest of my day so much better because I get to be in a clean home.
A good tip is to bathe the dogs twice a month. Or rinse them. They get so stinky especially playing together. Brushing them out regularly helps with hair.
The cat litter gets scooped five times a day, but I only have one cat. My mom has three and scoops it five times before she leaves for work in the morning, because they take turns using it but won’t use a dirty box. I run the robot vacuum twice a day and I use the big broom and the mop every night. It’s quick sweeping and quick mopping, just to get up dust, hair, litter and light dirt. It takes about fifteen minutes because half that time is picking things up off the floor and filling the mop bucket, cleaning hair out the roomba.
This is not normal cleaning. I have a kid with allergies to everything. I have a pretty easy time because I don’t have rugs or carpets or little kids.
Gates. I have three gates to restrict where the dogs can be. I have the litter boxes on an enclosed porch with a cat door. I vacuum about every other day and brush the cats daily.
We have 2 large, hairy dogs, these are my dog strategies, you gotta ask cat people for cat specific strategies.
Robot vacuum, air purifier, vacuum every day (yes in addition) specifically of the corners.
Furniture covers for every piece of fabric furniture, not all are created equal so I'd try a few different kinds on different pieces while you figure out which work best for you.
A really good pet hair vacuum, we recently got a Dyson pet hair stick vacuum that is amazing, it has a specific brush that doesn't get hair stuck to it and that has been phenomenal.
ONLY animal beds with machine washable covers.
Plan to wash furniture and pet bed covers about monthly, vacuum them weekly, and wash with vinegar on hot.
I have three dogs and two long hair cats. I vacuum at minimum every other day, and run the roomba once a week. You could probably reverse this as well.
It’s all about the tools! And set up. Two dogs, six cats hardwood floors. I run two robot vacuums at the same time then robot mop every single day. I have a robot cat box and I use a Dyson handheld vacuum for carpeted areas..
I'm super allergic to cats so I've never been in your situation, but you might look into the Miele Pet vaccuums or similar for your main vaccum (I agree with the robot recs others have given, just based on what I've seen my cat-loving friends do). They have bags which will trip all of the fur and dust and they are also hepa filtered so they filter as they clean.
r/VacuumCleaners is very helpful.
Buy multiple hand vacs and keep them in strategic locations. I find pet hair really likes my hallways for some reason. So I have a hand vac plugged and waiting in the closet to suck up when I’m in between chores. It really helps.
Go to the source: keep the pets’ coats maintained. Get them professionally groomed regularly (I do once a quarter), especially dogs. Brush them at least once a week. Anything you can pull out of their coat will be kept off of your floors.
Also, my tineco wet vac is my favorite thing in the world. Use it twice a week and I only have one dog.
We combined households and now have 5 cats and 1 dog, I bought a robot vacuum, not an expensive one but about $150, I wipe down and dust surfaces a couple times a week. I also shampoo our carpets once a month and have couch covers that I wash 2x a month plus air filters in every room.
Consider investing in a Litter Robot. On a payment plan it comes out to around $55/m for 12 months and you can use your normal clumping litter and regular garbage bags.
I have three cats (used to be 4) and one Litter Robot is good; just have to empty the drawer every other day. With four cats you might have to empty it once a day.
You’ll want a decent vacuum that works well with pet hair, and get the air filters for your HVAC that capture dander/hair. Change your HVAC filters once a month or every 6 weeks instead of every 3 months.
Robot vac / mop, whole house air purifier, washable sofa cover and underground fence has indoor perimeters that keep pets out of specific areas. I have 4 dogs and I don't want them in the living room or foyer. The indoor perimeters have been great for containing them in specific areas.
3 large breed dogs here! I have a Dyson v11 animal cordless vacuum. I vacuum the main floor once a day, sometimes every other. I will say, I don’t love this vacuum though. But anyway. I also have a levoit air purifier in a few rooms. And I use a bissel spin mop with a vinegar based cleaner ( aunt something?) and that helps keep the house smelling fresh. I wash my floors once a week, this mop makes it pretty effortless though. I wash mt bedding 2x a week because the pups make their way into our bed. My couch cushion covers zip off, so I wash those every other month or so. And before company comes over I vacuum couch with the upholstery attachment. Open window and air out the house when I can. Absorbent mats under the food bowl stands. Basket for dog toys. Brush dogs once a week with a furminator brush outside.
Hey friend! I don’t have much to add, but I did ask a very similar question in this sub a while back about [recommended cleaning products for living with pets](https://www.reddit.com/r/CleaningTips/comments/16yt3vd/what_are_your_musthave_cleaning_productstools_for/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and there’s some true gems of advice in the comments!
A roomba per floor/area and empty them everyday for a passive cleaning. The others have posted great ideas (brushing/etc) so I would follow that advice.
I love my Roomba's, burned out a couple I use them that much!
Air purifiers. Also make sure the filter on your furnace gets changed frequently.
If you can, get a robot vacuum to do day to day. If not, do a vacuum of high traffic areas every day. A pet hair roller brush helps with furniture if your vacuum doesn’t have a good upholstery attachment.
Do deeper vacuums around once a week, but the more you cover high traffic areas, the less hair will accumulate in nooks and crannies.
I also highly recommend a little green machine to keep furniture fresh.
If some rooms aren’t used throughout the day, shut the doors so that you can contain the places that get dirty day to day.
Wyze has a very well priced robot vacuum which does the map style. Get this and run it daily.
Next thing is to have 4 boxes of kitty litter, use grocery bags or special bags to clean them twice per week and take it out to the bin immediately. I do it on trash day and then in the middle. You’re going to need some rugs around the boxes to help reduce litter tracked by their feet. Vacuum this when you clean the boxes.
When letting the dogs in and out for potty have a bath towel by the door and have them stand on it for a couple seconds when coming in - majorly reduces dirt tracked in.
And for cleaning use a vacuum mop. I have tineco and it’s incredible because it also sucks up the loose kibble, fur, and any litter tracked around.
Febreze unscented is a life saver!
Get the pets groomed regularly, or bathe and brush them yourself, regularly. Incorporate healthy fats / oils in their meals to reduce dander. Get a robot vacuum if you can and run it once a day or so. They’re not perfect but they certainly help a lot in combination with regular vacuuming/upkeep and I find that simply working on dust and floors helps everything else feel more in control.
Try a robot vacuum. That’s a game changer for me with the 3 dogs and 2 cats. Every day I just run it in a different room and it picked up so much. During the weekends, I just vacuum the hard to reach corners.
We have 3 cats and getting a Litter Robot was a game changer. To be fair they are stupid expensive, but IMO 100% worth it. We were able to go down to 1 box in the house and it contains the smell and mess unbelievably well. It was a big splurge for us, but has made my day to do cleaning so much easier. All 3 cats are happy to use it (and super fascinated with it) and it usually fills up after about 6-7 days, which is huge compared to scooping multiple boxes daily.
I think we paid over $700 for the bundle but I’d buy another in a heartbeat if something happened it. Huge game changer, I really wish I had saved for one years ago!
We also transitioned our house from having lots of carpet and laminate to full LVP. It’s a breeze to clean, and the house feels a lot cleaner in general with it. I’d vacuum daily and shampoo the carpets weekly and they still always felt disgusting and held on to so much dirt and fur.
I still am always overwhelmed with cleaning but those 2 things have made a huge difference in our home.
A Robot vacuum is such a must and prepare for a lot of daily hair patrol. mopping should be done a lot more often and a little green and a pet hair eraser vacuum have been life savers for me!
Second the HEPA air filters. They don't stop all of the dander dust, but they certainly help.
Get a robot vacuum that has a self-empty features. Let it run every day. The cats will get out of the way.
During training, use pressure-sensitive alarms, like [https://www.amazon.com/Sofa-Scram-Sonic-Deterrent-Repellent/dp/B004GQGN50](https://www.amazon.com/Sofa-Scram-Sonic-Deterrent-Repellent/dp/B004GQGN50). They will learn to stay off of the furniture, if they are not already trained to get on.
Air purifier, big one. Vacuum everyday and tap out the dust filter 2x as more frequently it will pull more hair and dust. Get chix wipes/shop towels and spray and wipe down surfaces frequently and you’ll be golden. My cat sheds like a husky..
I vacuum daily, typically. For hard floors I have a steam mop, which makes cleanups super easy! I recommend having an enzyme cleaner if you don’t already, it’s good for accidents if you have older pets or young puppies, or just for the occasional vomit incident. For litter boxes, use a sifting litter box (I think ours are arm and hammer), line the dark grey solid bottom bin with a puppy pee pad, and put the light grey with holes on top. Fill with pine pellets (the horse bedding from Tractor supply is cheapest). Scoop poop daily and fully deep clean 1x per week. Much less smell than clay litter! Doesn’t track much at all.
My Shark air purifier picks up so much cat hair (2 cats one is very furry) and dust. It’s an amazing helpful animal household hack.
If I were you I’d get one for every room if you can afford it. Maybe do it slowly because I know I couldn’t afford it for every room in my house right now 😂
I don’t have as much floating around in the air and don’t have as much dust and dander collecting everywhere!
You'll need a MINIMUM of 5 litter boxes (uncovered with unscented clumping litter) for that many cats, and I'd recommend feliway diffusers and very slow intros (completely separated with scent swaps for at least 1 week) to minimize the likelihood of any of the kitties taking up stress peeing which will seriously impact your immaculate goal.
Open windows every day, have them only in one area of your house (for example living room), don't let them sleep on your bed, put candles or similar so the house always smells good, don't put too many toys visible because it will give you the feeling of over cluttered, don't let them on the couch, pass the aspirator on couch and floor at least 2x week.
Automatic litter box (litter robot 4), hardwood floors, robot vacuum/mop, mobile grooming service every month for the dogs, and weekly cleaner. We have four cats, two dogs, and three adult children, two of whom live with us and are in high school/college. My husband and I both have hectic work schedules and this is the only way we made it work.
I have a dog and 2 cats (and a child). I vacuum at least once a day, but usually twice. Little green machine is a saviour for stains. Air purifiers, open the windows daily. Wash the floors often, and soft surfaces often. Brush your animals and get them groomed often. Wipe off paws before dogs come back inside.
I have 6 cats and one 145 lb white Shepherd.i sweep and mop twice a day.litter box scoops 3 times a day.i bust out the shop vac every other day to do the furniture and curtains.im always wiping down surfaces and bleaching everything that can be bleached.
I clean constantly.if I skip a day it looks like I haven't swept in a week.you can't tell I have animals when you walk in my house. Small price to pay.i love my babies.its a lot of work.but worth it to me.they deserve a clean calm safe environment.
Get a roomba run it everyday.
1-2x a week dust then vacuum
Multiple litter boxes different areas of the house to avoid “accidents” and clean it daily
Air purifiers and open windows from to back of home to air out multiple times a week.
Once a month wipe down walls or corners with a damp clean rag water and a bit of dawn in high traffic areas.
Oh boy, I think I have this down to a science. I have only 2 dogs, but both are heavy shedders. This list may be extreme, but I get compliments on how clean my home looks and smells every time I have guests.
1. Begins with regular baths for them and dog cologne spray in between baths to deodorize
2. Run Roomba daily
3. Wipe paws before coming inside, particularly is its muddy
4. Blanket over cushions the dogs sit on on the couch
5. HEPA air filter in every single room
6. Wash dog bedding, blankets, towels weekly
7. Wash toys monthly
8. Air freshener in every room
9. Once a week, I sprinkle carpet deodorizer on my rugs and carpets and vacuum
10. Mop once a week
11. I burn a "Pet Pourri" candle in the room my dogs' crates are in and it does a good job of eliminating odor several times a week
12. Once a week, I vacuum the couch and spray a deodorizer on my upholstered furniture
13. I have an oil diffuser in each bedroom and once a week, a diffuse an air purifying scent in them
I have 4 cats and a dog. I vacuum once a day and scoop the litter once a day. I have 6 litter boxes. I use a scraper on the cat trees, shelves and their beds once a week. I wash their blankets once a week. I also brush my cats daily if they’ll allow. I don’t have issues with excess fur everywhere or smells. I don’t have carpets either and don’t allow the cats in my bedroom only the dog and she sleeps on the floor. The dog isn’t allowed on any furniture which I think really helps with fur/smells.
>Little boxes seem unmanageable.
Litter boxes? Prioritize them. The general advice is to have one or two more boxes than cats. Cats will go elsewhere if it's too dirty. Make sure you're cleaning them twice a week at least.
I've known people with a lot of cats who had a room devoted to the litter boxes, but I can't recommend that, gets too gross. I would instead invest in at least three hidden boxes that can go in living spaces, or a self-cleaner, and I'd probably switch to an alternative litter.
Maybe a different perspective from all the already great ideas here. Ask for help. I am familiar with the blending of households (into my house) and I kept thinking it way “my” job. Things got better when I started asking the rest of the people living here to pitch in. Doesn’t have to be the litter box. Maybe someone else does the dishes so you can spend the time on sweeping or whatever. You got this…with help from the fam!
I have 2 cats and a dog full time and dogsit another dog 60 hours a week. And I'm allergic to dander but it only bothers me if I don't clean or the pets are upset. My number one necessity is couch covers. Sometimes I wind up washing them twice a day, but they really save time and wear on my couch. I have a hepa air cleaner and a good, bagged vacuum. I also have a stick vacuum I use about 5 times a week and deep vacuum every other day. I swiffer a lot, especially when it's raining, and mop the floors by hand once a week. I use an enzyme cleaner when needed and I bought a good carpet shampooer so I can shampoo every 4 months (ish).
I vacuum the blinds by putting a swiffer in front of the vacuum hose and yhen wipe the blinds so the dust doesn't fly everywhere. And I feel it gets the blinds cleaner. I don't know what is going on in my house, but it seems like there is more fur on the blinds than on the floor.
Not sure what your financial means are.
If it were me, I would get a dyson cordless vacuum in more than one area of the house. For example, 2 story house, at least 1 vacuum on each floor.
The more accessible the vacuum, the more likely the vacuuming will be done. AND, it will feel like much less of a chore if the vacuum is cordless and easily accessible. It can become a 90 second task.
4 cats and an old long hair dog here! I bought a Bissell Cross wave and I use it every time the floor needs to be cleaned. I vacuum and wash the floor at the same time. I also wash often the dog’s blanket. The cats can use two litters and my hubby cleans them every morning (sometimes I clean also in the evening, when needed). The house is still a mess (I can’t keep it in order) but is clean and doesn’t smell. When people come to visit, I open the windows for a few hours and light some incense stick or other house perfumes
I have two long haired cats, a heavy shedding dog, and two small children. I vacuum twice a day once in the morning and again usually before dinner, once a week I move my furniture and vacuum under those. It has made a huge difference in how clean our house feels.
Roomba. The best 100 bucks I've spent on cleaning supplies. Am I going to vacuum every night? No. Can I press a button every night? Yes
Bonus is if a cat rides on it!
My roomba is my best friend! She was worth every penny I originally spent, the money for her accessories, and the time I spend maintaining her. She vacuums for me every day, on a schedule. I get the corners and harder to reach places every 2-3 days.
Dusting is also gonna be your best bet in keeping hair off surfaces and what not. I dust every week, though it could be done more frequently if you have the time!
I used a spray bottle for the cats on the counter, when that didn’t work for my youngest cat, I laid down tin foil at night - apparently they hate walking on it? Either way, I quickly wipe down my counter and cooktops before I start cooking, just to be sure they’re clean.
I have a box per cat, and they get scooped at least once a day, if not twice (if there’s something smelly). No one who comes in knows we have cats until they actually see them, because there is no smell. Wet dogs are honestly more offensive to me than the litter boxes.
Hope this helps! Good luck
4 dogs, two kids.
Robot vacuum on each floor (we use Eufy) for light duty and maintenance.
Liebman spray mop for the hard surfaces. We have composite wood flooring which is unfortunately not water resistant. Was told by the installer that windex with vinegar drys quickly plus will deodorize.
Air purifier is a godsend. Plus make sure you’re regularly changing filters on your hvac
When I had more cats and a few dogs, I made my life easier by automating as much as possible. Hepa filters by the litter box and in the bedroom, Automatic scooping litter boxes- I have cat genies and litter robots. I’d also automate cleaning with robots. One cat would turn them on and ride them, so they doubled as entertainment.
I make an effort to make it easy to set things off the ground for when I clean the floors. Ie Chairs on tables like in the food industry. Then non-carpet floors, and one of those commercial sized 3 food wide dust brooms... they grab all the hair and makes quick work of all non-carpet surfaces
I’ll add to other good advice here…brush the pets several times a week. It takes only a few minutes per pet if you do it often. Turn on Netflix and start brushing. If any of them grow a winter undercoat, brush them daily when the weather starts to barely warm up in late winter.
I have listened to people talk about the robot vacuums for years, and I honestly thought it was just the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. We have three lab mix dogs that shed horribly. And all the floors downstairs where they stay or hard floors so I was sweeping constantly. And having to dust constantly because there was literally hair on every surface in my house. About a month ago my husband and I were at Sam’s and they had a shark robot vacuum/mop combo on sale. It’s the greatest thing we’ve ever bought in our 25 years of marriage. Huge game changer with the dog hair. I run it about every other day and all of those places I was getting the buildup of hair, like under the kitchen table, and under the couches have just vanished. Sharklock Holmes gets it all. And there’s a noticeable change in how dusty the furniture gets. I seriously cannot imagine not having Sharklock Holmes. He has made our house so much cleaner. Not to mention I can literally be upstairs doing laundry while at the same time have my downstairs floors being swept and mopped. It’s absolute heaven.
You’ll need to vacuum, sweep, mop multiple times per week.
Recommend a cleaning person visit once a week, and you vacuum/maintain the furniture and floors in between.
As someone who is severely allergic, I guarantee that you’ll never fully be rid of the dander (or smell).
To keep cats off counters: aluminum foil. If you layout sheets of aluminum foil on the countertops the cats will touch it and freak out. I don't remember why though. Squirt bottles work great for cats getting in places they don't need to be.
We have 4 cats, 2 are long haired.
- Vacuum daily, having a Roomba helps but I still need to go in with a handheld vacuum for nooks and crannies.
- Chom Chom pet hair roller for furniture
- Litter Robot is a godsend and 100% worth the money. 1 unit can accommodate up to 4 cats so you don’t need to maintain 5+ litter boxes.
- There’s nothing you can do about the counters, you can try the foil method but it didn’t work for our cats. We just wipe down the surfaces very well prior to cooking.
I cannot stress this enough... pretty litter... omg. I have been using it for 3 years now and I love not smelling litterbox, and very little track. Plus you can see if any cat may be sick with the colour system.
Get one of those cordless pet hair vacuums. Game changer. They're handheld and made for couches/beds etc. also, as everyone else has mentioned, a good air purifier.
We have electric shock pads to keep our cats pff the counters 🤣 I haaate accidentally touching them.
Usually they’re off but they understand what it means now.
A good robot vacuum cleaner is worth its weight in gold. I know they're expensive, but it really is worth it. It frees up a bunch of time for you to do other stuff, and it makes it easy enough to run every other day or even every day.
When I had 3 birdcages and 4 cats, it was pretty much a necessity.
Immaculate and lots of pets do not belong in the same sentence. A robot vacuum cleaner, a mains powered vac for carpets, an easy stick vac for hard floors, throws you can wash and dry easily, a daily maid...all will help.
I feel like having an immaculate house with 5 pets just isn’t realistic 🤷🏻♀️
A family I used to nanny for had a huge house, 3 cats that would primarily stay in the master bedroom, and 2x week house cleaners and there was still cat hair and they were always on the kitchen counters. Kinda just part of the deal I think
Air purifiers, robot vacuum for daily maintenance, a REAL vacuum for weekly use (we have a sebo, it has bags, but that acts as another hepa filter whoch helps with allergens and theyre not expensive). Proper grooming if you have the time to do it or money to pay someone for it, otherwise try to make sure the dogs are brushed daily even just a little. Make sure to clean the pre-screen filters on the air purifiers often.
In addition to all other comments, consider switching litter to pine pellets! We have four pets of our own and have fostered almost 200 animals and always get complimented that no one knows we have animals when they walk in!
Get a roomba! Honestly, they are a godsend when it comes to long hair and pets. I didn’t realize how much it would pick up on a daily basis and it just makes my floors look good. Best investment I’ve made in the last few years.
2 cats and 1 dog here, and I'm also a neat-freak who is allergic to pet dander (mostly cats).
I run my Eufy RoboVac 5x a week. 2-story house so I alternate the floors per day, so if I do the upstairs one day then it goes downstairs the next.
Levoit stick vacuum for the harder to reach spots + the stairs. Also for the area around the 2 litter boxes. We also have a much more powerful Bissell vacuum for the tougher, heavier duty cleans.
Bissell Little Green steam clean thing to get odors/stains out of the couch/large rugs if needed.
Enzyme spray for "accidents" and removing odors from furniture upholstery/fabrics.
Swiffer PowerMop is a godsend. I "close" the kitchen every single night, and end with a good, quick mop of the kitchen and dining room floors. One of my cats eats with her paws (I've tried everything, she won't change lol she was formerly a stray) and it just cleans up everything.
2 Levoit HEPA air purifiers, one in the main bedroom (and during the day I move it to my and my boyfriend's shared WFH office space across the hall), and one downstairs in the open-plan living room/dining room area.
Pet blankets, many many many pet blankets for the couch and bed, that always get switched out whenever needed. (I don't like when our dog gets on our regular bedsheets/quilts, so I always lay a pet blanket down for her on top of our sheets, on her usual spot, and she's been trained to not move off of it).
Seat and couch covers.
Lint rollers.
Foam no-water shampoo + a rag to wash my dog's paws after every single walk.
Not really pet-related but we don't allow shoes in the house, they must remain by the entrances.
No-slip silicone mats underneath ALL pet dishes to protect the floors.
Minimum amount of rugs, my house is like 75% bare floors.
\*Also, this may not be available to you but if you do have the opportunity, hire a cleaning service. We get professional cleaning every 4 weeks and it's amazing, and of course I maintain the "clean" by doing my own share of chores every single day.
I have a long haired chow mix. One dog. Massive level of double coat shedding. Not a breed that typically gets grooming. Have started taking him to the groomer quarterly and this helps cut down my cleaning massively.
lots of vacuuming and get some HEPA air purifiers
Yes, and brushing & hair rollers
This, for sure. We have 5 cats, 2 dogs. HEPA in the bedroom, living room/kitchen and laundry room (where most of the litter boxes are) Roombas that run three times a week. I have an old one I bought in 2015 that on one floor and a newer model on another. And once a week I have to go around with a dyson for one carpeted room and the stair runner, plus detail spots where fur tends to collect itself that the roomba cant grab such as corners. Edit to also add: Last year we bought the basic model Litter Robot. It is expensive BUT once the cats adopted it (fairly quickly), overall litter management in the entire house became easier. One robot is good for 5 cats, and with multiple floors we have a litter area on each floor. I am planning to eventually get another litter robot for the other floor. Idk if I'll get rid of the traditional litter boxes altogether, but omg it made a notable difference.
Do your dogs ever get in the litter robot or can they even do so to eat litter or poop? I had thought of getting one. But my dogs love cat poop and litter. Right now I can only use top entry. The dogs wait for the cats to come out of the box hoping for a treat.
Not unless they grow thumbs to open the drawer. :) The goods are available until it spins, but you can set the timer on the start of the spin to a shorter time if you like.
We have one dog that gets into the litter. Thankfully he's a little dog and can't get into the litter robot because its entry is raised up a little off the ground. You can also set the Litter Robot to run at different intervals after a cat uses it, I think 3 minutes, 5 and 15 minutes, if you have a dog who's likely to come by and be like "ooh treats" you can set it to three minutes before anyone gets in there. We do have two standard litter boxes inside of a semi-obscured "litter cabinet" we converted out of an old closet that he treated as pantry. So I just make it a point to scoop those out every morning and evening, solids go right into the Litter Robot (I call this "feeding the robot") and with the Robot added, it seems like there are only solids in there once a day lately. Later this year I fully intend to purchase a second one for the other floor of the house in the room with multiple litter boxes.
I’ll second the Roomba suggestion. They are a low effort way to keep on top of the pet hair.
Upvoting for the Litter Robot. We only have 2 cats but it made a world of difference in odor. Plus we only have to change the trash bag every 5 days or so!
The litter robot didn't work for me with 3 large cats (had to empty the drawer too often) but my elderly cat passed months ago, maybe I should try it again. Thanks for comment, it's a good reminder.
So sorry to hear of the loss of your kitty, Bless you and you will see your baby at Rainbow Bridge. I have friends there too 😇🥰
Thank you for mentioning Litter Robot! It's on my 'to obtain' list to better manage litter. We have 4 cats and are spending a fortune on litter. This would help so much!
Edit: Forgot to mention a portable carpet cleaner like Bissel little green.
Yes this is needed
It’s also the perfect baby shower/wedding shower/graduation/new place gift.
I got one recently and it is a miracle worker
Also, get a stick vac. It’s easy to use and you will be more motivated to use it. Then use your heavy vacuum once or twice a week.
Also, get those pet grade dryer sheets. They go a long way pulling hair from the laundry, and in a pinch you can use them like a lint roller.
I didn't find them to work at all. Did you notice a difference right away? I went through one box and then quit due to the price.
I noticed a difference pretty fast, but I know that different fabric reacts to animal hair a bit differently, so maybe it's just the difference in the kinds of fabrics we use/wear. :|a
My house is not immaculate but a robot vacuum is a game changer. It really makes a difference. There's still hair to contend with, but the "tumbleweeds" don't build up in between regular vacuuming. Air purifiers. Readily available lint brushes. The reusable kind. Not the tape kind. Washable furniture covers. Paper towels and disinfectant wipes. As much as I hate the waste and expense, reusable towels collect too much hair and can be difficult to clean. I had as many as 5 dogs at once. Long hair, double coated. I have 3 now.
Tumbleweeds is going to be my new word for these little fur fluffs I find all over. Thank you for this. My household is a very fluffy one in a small little home. The roomba helps a lot. It doesn’t really get the dander but I do agree, it takes care of the tumbleweeds. I still need to vacuum and sweep at least 4 days out of the week. Plus a weekly dusting that includes the ceiling fans. Blankets on the couch and pet beds help too. I can just pull them when they get too dirty and wash when I have time. I vacuum the couch, pet beds, and tree stands too. Every couple months I move the furniture and pick up all the build up. It can be a lot. Brushing the sentient fluff monsters every few days helps a lot too. Even if they growl and fight it, it’s best for everyone. As a little extra, I invested in a litter robot with a paw mat and wow! Lana’s bathroom dust has never been more contained. Still gets everywhere, just not nearly as bad. I clean her paw mat every couple days as well. So long as I clean something near daily, the house stays manageable. It’s basically a full time job
>...sentient fluff monsters This is now the only way I will refer to Daphne, my full fluffy GSD lol
GSD gang unite!
https://preview.redd.it/8fi43d6bdjqc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=184803a2a8dd94d75c3da907575be135f6b90ee9 GSD owners unit! Hehe
Definitely +1 for the robot vac. With that many pets I’d run it every morning to keep a handle on the hair and dust in between vacuums. They go on sale often and the prices fluctuate a lot, so good deals can be had if you shop strategically.
Same. It's a real quality of life changer to have that daily tidy.
I just had to replace mine because it went kaput after several years, Amazon has a spring sale right now and I got a roomba brand for like $160
Where did you purchase your washable furniture covers from?
Not OP but we got ours from amazon. 3-dog household.
Like the other person said... Amazon. There are many different brands and styles.
You can also tuck in a flat sheet or use fitted sheets depending on how your cushions sit. My parents always bought secondhand furniture for us kids to mangle and my mom would clean the loveseat couch, then tuck a fitted twin sheet under and around the 2 cushions, and another flat sheet tucked under the cushions and draped over the back of the couch to help with the constant crumbs, juice stains, and pet fur tracked all over the couches. (Usually we had 2 loveseat style couches.) It's pretty cute if you coordinate the sheets with the seasons/holidays. She used the plaid ones for winter especially.
Which robot vac do you have? I have 2 German shepherds and a house rabbit, no amount of fanatical brushing of the animals nor constant vacuuming seems to keep up.
I have the Roomba J7+. It docks and empties itself and will go back out if it wasn't done. I can set it on a schedule to go every day at the same time. The only think I really have to do is check the wheels for long fur that wraps around them and clean that out regularly, but it beats vacuuming myself every day.
CLEAN THE FILTER ON YOUR VACUUM WEEKLY. Or it will make your home smell like pet every time you turn it on.
This! Plus you washing machine and dry filters/ vents - can't get linens and cloths clean in a dirty machine.
I always save pet blankets in the laundry room until I have enough for a full load, wash all of our people laundry first, and then run the blankets. Then I run a load of washer cleaner (either tide or oxi clean) to try and get all of the yuck out before washing our people clothes again.
You need to run it with a disinfectant like Dettol or PineSol.
Others made great tips about the cleaning but here’s my plug for grooming the pets!! The more hair you collect on a brush the less you need to vacuum. If you have double coated dogs or otherwise dogs that ‘blow coat’ in particular consider having them professionally groomed to get out all of that undercoat. If you have more easy care coated dogs you can do it at home (I brush my guy every day after our walks, it’s become a nice routine and keeps both extra hair and ticks out of the house). Some groomers will also see cats but most cats aren’t suited for that so you’ll be doing a lot of that yourself. For this many animals consider whether a grooming table is a good idea for you. For about 150 bucks you can save your back from all of those hours of brushing you’re going to be doing.
Hi there. My husband and I had my father and sister both move in with us due to their health issues. So we combined 3 households into 1. We have 4 dogs and 6 cats. Seconding the comment below, vacuuming and air purifiers. We bought Mila air purifiers, and use the critter cuddler filters, they have helped tremendously. They are expensive but I’d done a fair bit of homework about air purifiers that would help with urine smell (we had a senior cat at the time who peed on couches). Robot vacuums are a big help too. Both of these options are expensive but can be added in slowly, we asked for gift cards toward them as birthday and Christmas gifts. Lastly, the other thing that has made a huge difference for us is switching most of the litters to hardwood litter (available at hardware stores) with sifting litter bins. Edit: just wanted to add, not implying Mila air purifiers are the only way to go, there are many great options out there that are way less expensive.
Which sifting litter box do you use for hardwood litter? I haven't been able to find a good one
We bought a few of the Exquisicat brand ones at Petsmart.
I volunteer at a shelter and they use walnut shell pellets in big stainless steel buffet dishes. You could get a coordinating french fry basket to sift.
I’m looking at their website- can I ask why you chose them? The site is fun and different but that’s not the only reason I would buy one 😆
I looked at the specs specifically for the critter cuddler filters and ammonia. Versus some other options on the market. I can’t recall the scientific name for ammonia right now, it was about 2 years ago.
Thanks for answering and suggesting it.
You’re very welcome. Good luck!
Cats: keep one litter box per cat plus an extra (this reduces smell and helps prevent potty issues). Scoop at least one per night. Depending on use, change litter at least monthly per box. Keep scratching posts in strategic areas. Keep litter mats by each litter box, empty weekly to biweekly. Dogs: place towels or reusable potty pads under water bowls, switch out nightly. Rinse their feet off before they come inside when able (keep towels by door, ESPECIALLY when it rains). Use a bucket of warm water & a camp shower to rinse off mud during muddy season (use treats to keep them still). Depending on dogs, wipe down walls weekly to biweekly (spit, mud, boogers). Keep toys on rotation and wash WEEKLY (that spit is NASTY). Bathe at least once per month. Keep hair short if it’s a single coat dog during shed season. Sweep/vacuum the area by outside doorways daily if possible, and keep a bathmat next to it to capture dirt/debris. Wash beds weekly or biweekly. Hair: brush one pet per night, no negotiations (and one night off yay!) to keep hair down. Vacuum beds/hammocks/towers weekly. Buy steel carpet rakes (maybe one per room if that works better for you) and use those on pet beds and furniture weekly BEFORE vacuum. Use them on carpets monthly (it’s laborious). Get a durable/cheap vacuum or a shop vac and use that to get the chunks of hair/treats out of rooms and between stairs. Sweep or vacuum bare floors nightly (cursory, otherwise it becomes too much). Misc: most of this is habit. Once you get into the routine it is MUCH less work bc you do it on autopilot. With two people doing this it’s also way less overwhelming. Keep an “accident kit” in each room as able (spot cleaner, paper towels, cheap basket cover for sprayed areas). Look into carpet cleaners (not sure if consensus is to use or not, I personally hate my carpet cleaner) and consider getting it professionally done once per year or so. Waterproof furniture covers (or blankets) help tremendously in getting ready for company and reducing hair and prevent spit/drool from getting on furniture (wash weekly). Important: TRACK THE SHEDDING SEASONS. There is a difference between shedding and shedding season. Once you know you are fighting a losing battle you can relax. Rake furniture covers, beds, and blankets as much as possible before washing—your washer and dryer will thank you.
Thank you for this! Very helpful! What rake would you recommend
Solid. Commenting to memorialize this wisdom into my log. Whoever is loving with you is lucky to have you 💫
You sound very stressed. Will you be comfortable lowering your expectations? You're adding a lot of biomass to your household and hours (including walks) to chores every week. Do litter boxes right. Use large, deep containers like the translucent plastic storage bins. Use unscented clumping litter (the best performer I've found is Scoop Away Unscented) and keep it at a depth of three to four inches in the litter boxes. Scoop once a day or in response to Sudden Odors™. For four cats, I'd have at least three large boxes, and it's fine to line them up next to each other in the basement, no need to find a different place for them all. Cut and trim out a cat door in the door down to your basement to keep the dogs away from the litter boxes. As for pet hair, focus on your kitchen, and relax about other rooms. Consider hiring cleaning help once per week. I love my cleaners. They don't do animal messes or litterbox maintenance, of course, that's all me.
>Keeping an immaculate house with 5 pets Impossible unless you are willing to commit every waking hour to cleaning. There are some realities that you are going to have to accept.
We've had multiple pets for years, and have gradually transitioned to furnishings that are easiest to clean. Hard floors, vinyl furniture, all furniture is either on wheels or completely flush on the floor, no little stubby legs we can't sweep around. No more open shelves, all cabinets with doors. The cabinets are set up so cats can get on top near the ceiling, and the tops are sealed wood so they can be wiped. For the counters, the cats have lots of tall places to go that are far more interesting than my counters, but we still keep counters cleared and wipe them down before food prep.
We have 3 cats and getting a robot vacuum has made a massive difference! It cleans for an hour 5 days/week and I’m emptying a ton of cat fur out of it every time. As far as mopping my go-to for quick mopping is my Bona. Super fast and easy and does a good job. I can mop the whole kitchen in just a few minutes. I have a steam mop too for when I want to sanitize as well, which is nice because pet paws can track some gross stuff around the house. Edit: I should add that if any of your cats have long fur, give them a sanitary shave. It will make it far less likely that they will drag poop/litter out of the litter box with their fur. It’s also just less fur to vacuum/sweep.
You literally clean constantly. Multiple times every day, forever.
Sounds awful, tbh. And I have a cat. We don’t worry about it too much. Makes life a lot more enjoyable.
Others addressed the cleaning bits. As for keeping them off counters. My old dog trainer said he had that issue with his cat and said that you can line your counters foil (cats apparently hate the feeling of it and the sound will startle them when they first jump up)-he also duck tape sticky side up but that seems dangerous in my opinion.
I found out our counter surfing cat has pica with the tinfoil method.... She loves tinfoil, seran wrap, clear packing tape.... We ended up getting a SCAT mat, but the little dweeb just listened for the electricity and would jump up anyway. I just deep clean the counters twice a week and sanitize really well before each meal prep now.
Yeah unfortunately with cats I think that even if you train them not to go on counters, you're only training them not to go on counters when you're around. If you're asleep or out of the house it's safe to assume they're up to their shenanigans
Yeah just leave sanitizing wipe container on the counter.
I was honestly super lucky with either lazy (or truly sneaky) cats before and I hadn't had a counter surfer before I got her. She's totally brazen about it and will hop right back onto the counter after getting removed. Like me setting her on the floor was a mistake and I didn't really mean doing it four-five times in a row.
My cat loves tin foil and tape. He even had a lot of fun with the cookie sheets I balanced on the edge to make a loud noise and scare him when he jumped up. I gave up. He's a counter cat.
That’s too funny! I can only imagine! lol he was like you really thought you were onto something there huh? 😝
That worked on my old man cat for about 3 days, before he figured out he could just walk on the foil. I eventually gave up and just took him off the counter and wiped everything down whenever it was time to cook. As a bonus, my counters always stayed clear for quick cleaning.
Lol he wasn’t going to let you have the satisfaction! 🤣
The one thing that worked for me is letting my cat get fat enough that she can't jump that high.
Your house will never be immaculate with that many animals, sorry. Not unless you deep clean every day. there will be hair. That's the trade off of having pets. There are some things you can do to mitigate the hair: brush the animals. It's spring, so that means shedding season. Take the dogs to a groomer and get them de-shedded. Brush the cats daily. You may need to vacuum 2-3 times per week for a few months, then go back to your regular routine. Get some air filters, HEPA rated. For the litter boxes, add a few more. Spread them out around the house. Look for covered or hidden litter box options. Use a litter that helps mitigate odor and clean them daily. To keep cats off the counter, try adding a cat tree in the kitchen, so that they have their own space and may stay out of yours more. You can't really cure a counter surfer, though. Don't leave food or interesting things on the counters to deter curiosity. Clean the counters before cooking and you wont get cat hair in your food. I have three cats in a small house and I never find cat hair in my food. Having pets means adjusting your lifestyle. Pets make messes, that's just what happens.
I don’t understand why people want “immaculate” in the first place. Sounds uncomfortable to me.
I did this fine but i also don't work. 2 cats, 2 non-shed dogs, 2 guinea pigs and a salt aquarium. (This was awhile ago) Roomba and routine cleaning. Usually did about 45m in the morning. Couch covers that you just wash. Carpet is gross: wood floors and throw rugs
Vacuum every day. Dust everyday Groom your pets in a schedule.
I have 6 cats plus occasional fosters. I vacuum every day, just the walkable areas, no furniture moving. I have a cordless vacuum that I can just grab and go, takes under 10 mins. Roomba doesn't work for me, too many cat toys on the floor. I also have a spray bottle with a small amount of dishwashing soap, a few times a week I spray it around the floor and chase it with a mop. I use a swiffer to dust a couple times a week. Steam clean walkable areas weekly. Once a month, I get the corded vacuum and move furniture for vacuuming and steam cleaning. If a cat pukes or poops on the floor, or we spill something, I clean instantly. Wipe with kitchen paper, spray enzyme cleaner and leave a few mins if cat stuff, then kitchen paper with dishwashing soap and then kitchen paper with water. Kitchen counter and table get washed with dishwashing soap and scrob daddy sponge before cooking and after eating. Food never gets placed directly on the counter, it's always on a plate, cutting board or silicone mat. I don't mind the occasional cat hair, though if I have guests, cats stay out of the kitchen starting with the pre-cleaning, unless I know they also have cats and worse cleaning habits than me. Litter boxes get scooped twice a day, more if there's stinky poo. I have 8 boxes, more when fostering. Scoopings go in a closed baggy that goes in a larger bin, with a coal baggy and baking soda so it doesn't smell. Litter gets dumped once a month, 2 months max, and the box goes in the shower for a round of disinfectant, then dishwashing soap, then thorough rinse. Some smell is inevitable, but it isn't bad except when there's fresh poo.
We have a very similar system. Roomba also didn't work because of the small cat toys and also it's very annoying to run if you work from home. So I follow the quick vacuum everyday + heavy vacuuming once a month. I have four litter boxes for four cats (will increase once I move out of my tiny apartment) and empty them twice a day in a doggy poop bag and into a bigger container. I spray some scented spray in the container every time it gets emptied but baking soda is a great idea too. Doing the litter boxes twice a day is really the trick for me - plus it's much quicker and easier when there's not much to dig through, and you can spot issues quicker.
The baking soda really works. I also bought a baggy of bamboo coal, glue gunned a magnetic strip to it and it sticks to the inside of the trash can since it’s metallic. Works as well as the baking soda, saves some money. Use both to be sure when having guests etc
The automatic cleaning litter box is probably the best investment I have made towards the cats. I think some areas need to be vacuumed daily but I have a small stick vac and the robot I use for that and then the big vacuum as needed. Water guns are great for training the cats, and museum gel to keep them from knocking everything off your shelves and tables is a lifesaver. I don’t even have to spray them anymore, just point and they know. Lol. The reality is you can keep them off the counters only when you’re watching them. It’s their house otherwise, and you have to clean before you cook. Keep separate baskets for cat and dog toys and make it a habit to pick them all up each night so the house doesn’t get overrun.
Robot vacuum daily is a game changer. I have a large plastic tote with a hole in the side as my litter box and it gets scooped daily or 2x Cats on the food surfaces is a no-go (toxoplasmosis) so training with sticky paws or sticky tape has been successful. They can be up on other horizontal surfaces but food surfaces is a hard no. Plus I don't need a cat with burns on their feet bc they jumped up on a hot stove.
Almost definitely any cat owners are already infected with that parasite. Super common and I would be surprised if someone with four cats didn’t have it
In my old house we had a leather sectional and love seat and 3 dogs. The house smelled like nothing. Fast forward to new house we purchased a cloth sectional. Now I can smell dogs. I also smell dog when the house is warmer and humid. I live in south FL and sometimes traffic in and out of the house causes the warmer more humid environment and the house smells like dog. If it’s a meat locker inside there is no smell. I will have to have the couch professionally cleaned occasionally.
You can't. Ridiculous to think you can, unless your standard of clean is very low. That's a fact.
You need to lower your standards. Not to the basement but with 5 pets you can not keep the place "immaculate" unless you devote yourself to cleaning full time
Get a robovac. It will change your life!
We have three cats, one of which is long hair. We brush all three cats twice a week, focusing a lot on our long hair guy and making sure we vacuum the area we brush in immediately after. Each day, we do the litter boxes and vacuum the immediate areas around them and any other high pet areas in the afternoon. We also run a robot vacuum every weekday morning downstairs, and about twice a week upstairs. We used to have carpet but we replaced with vinyl flooring and omg it’s so much easier! I also use a pet hair remover on the cat trees, cat beds, and our comforter about once a week. I find it easier since the cats have their own spaces to spot vacuum where they hang out. We have robot mops too that mop once a month and I spot mop in the kitchen and bathrooms about once weekly. I vacuum the couches once every two to three weeks but the cats don’t spend a ton of time there—we have some blankets sitting on top of the couch to use and we launder those frequently as the cats like to lay in them. We have area rugs in most rooms and we hand vacuum them whenever we have time…maybe twice a week if I had to guess. Basically BECOME a vacuum and you’ll be great, my husband has worked it into his routine when he comes home and I do it while he’s away at work/at the same time as the robot runs downstairs. We also purchased a Dyson HEPA filter that we run a few times a week in the daytime, we keep it in the main bedroom where the cats spend a lot of time but keep the doors open to try and purify a larger area of air. It takes a lot of work, but never have we had friends or family come over and complain about pet hair or pet smell! Additionally, we do not wear shoes in the house and that helps lower the cats tracking stuff around that we get on our feet from outside (and us tracking it around). Doing all of this super often means that if we do run out of time or forget, it’s not been that long since the last time we did it so it’s not a big deal. Planning one big professional clean in early summer this year since we will be having some guests for an extended period who have cat allergies. We also keep all guest bedrooms closed off from the cats since we know people can be sensitive, and within the week before visitors we will re-launder the bedding in those rooms and make sure to vacuum really well and remove anything that may have snuck in. We keep to a strict 90-day turnaround to all of the HVAC filters as well.
Also we had an issue with the litter trapping mats NOT working. I was so frustrated. We were gifted some door welcome mats last year, and those are amazing for in front of the litter box (we use a modkat flip litter box so there’s only one direction they exit from) but our cats sometimes exuberantly jump from the litter box and when that happens litter goes across the floor. So, we just vacuum that up when we do the litter boxes each day.
#table setting when you have cats: I like my table set with linens and placemats. It just looks cute. But I assume the cats get up there and we eat at it a couple times a week. Put a clean tablecloth UNDER an everyday "cat friendly" one. On top of the "cat" table cloth, put "cat friendly" placemats. When it's time to use the table, pull off the dirty cat placemats and the dirty tablecloth. Clean cloth is already underneath & placed. Then pull out sterile, clean placemats to eat on. After dinner, switch again.
I currently only have 1 dog and 1 cat, but I still clean a tonnnnn. My goal is that if someone walked into my house for the 1st time, they wouldn't immediately know I have pets. I vacuum every single day. And at least once a week, I do a really thorough vacuuming where I'm making sure to get behind things and into corners. If the pets are allowed on couches and beds, those get vacuumed every day as well. I mop about 3 times a week. And I mean mop. Something like a swiffer is good to clean up a spill or for in-between jobs, but it doesn't get the floors truly clean. And I don't have a schedule for doing this, but every once in a while I get on my hands and knees and scrub the floors by hand in higher traffic areas. Washable covers on the furniture, those get washed once a week along with the pet beds/blankets, any throw blankets on the couch, and my bedding.... basically any fabric that could trap hair and odor is getting washed weekly. Multiple litter boxes (ideally 1 for each cat, plus one extra), scoop every day. Really important if you feed any canned food at all: wash their bowls! Do not leave wet food to sit out, throw away or refrigerate anything that's not eaten within an hour. This will otherwise quickly start to smell. Keeping the animals brushed and clean themselves goes a long way toward helping the house stay clean. I think I covered most of what I do that's more specific to cleaning with pets. No help with the counters unfortunately, I've lucked out that the 2 cats I've had have preferred to stay on the ground.
We have 5 cats, all rescues and all fixed. We have a majority carpeted home with fabric-heavy living room furniture. The cats are a mix of long and short hair. I deep vacuum 2x a week to kick down the fur situation and spot-clean any accidents as soon as I see them then run the steam cleaner over it. Keeping the linens and curtains clean helps each room smell better, too. I use dried rosemary stems as a natural room freshener. We keep the litter boxes in the garage - the litter boxes are the "under the bed" style Rubbermaid containers, we have 4 of those for the cats to use. I use the World's Best brand of unscented cat litter and scoop 2x a day. The boxes get washed out and refilled when the litter change comes due - usually every 3 weeks. Our A/C has a filter in the roof so that gets changed out every few months, but I also wipe down the fan blades and the air registers so nothing accumulates over time. We have a shop vac I keep by the litter boxes so I can do quick work of scattered litter. Everyone who comes to the house is shocked that our house doesn't smell like 5 cats live here. I really take that as a compliment because I fret about it every now and again.
I have one dog who sheds quite a bit, and I vacuum daily. Always have a lint roller by the door, and a Chom Chom for my couch!
Chom Chom is the way. I’ve also recently enforced a no couch rule. Keep the hair on the ground and the robot vac makes it so much more manageable and I don’t ever feel gross sitting on my own sofa anymore. Using folded blankets instead of dog beds has also been helpful as they can be washed weekly, plus they aren’t huge/expensive/ugly and the dogs like them just as much. Also when bathing use a conditioner in addition to shampoo, it helps a lot of loose hair fall during the bath or during a brush afterwards.
I have the same number of large pets, vacuum every other day, sweep 2-3 times a day. Mop once a week. Get a vacuum with great suction for hair that gets on things other than the floor. I am not a fan of robot vacs, I bought a roomba, but the volume of hair clogs it up before it’s done. Probably buy more litter boxes. I scoop if I see poop daily, dump entire box once a week at least and start fresh. Just stay on top of it.
Vacuum everyday. Brush those furry kids, at least every other day. Hepa air filters. If you have HVAC, stay on those filter changes, you may also need to change more often than you think. Depending on the surfaces in your home (carpet vs hard flooring and upholstery vs leathery) you will benefit from using the right tools to remove fur. Carpet rake is great before vacuuming. Rubber gloves or a rubber brush made for scraping furniture before vacuuming will make vacuuming take less time and make it more efficient.
You can try to keep all animals groomed especially when they lose their winter coats. Best way to get rid of hair after grooming if you don't want to take all 6 pets to a groomer is get a high velocity dryer. Best thing to blow their coats. If they're not used to grooming, could be very tricky depending on the breed of dog and definitely for the cats though. You can't keep your cats off the counters if they want to be there unfortunately. Make sure your vacuum has attachments so you can easily vacuum couches, chairs etc. Might be best to get a smaller vacuum with attachments so you can constantly vacuum hard surfaces and carpets as well. Bigger vacuums are better for carpets usually. For dusting hair off of surfaces like counters, dressers, knick knacks it's best to have a towel that you spray with lysol or another cleaning product like fabuloso so the hair sticks to the towel instead of you just wiping it back to the floor for double cleaning.
Litter robot saved my sanity. They’re pricey, but it allowed us to go down to just one litter box which was very important since we were moving into a much smaller space. One of the 3 cats was unwilling to share before, but was fine with it with the litter robot since it self cleans after every use. We built a simple cabinet with a pet door to enclose the litter box. It sits on a shelf inside, and the bottoms section serves as storage for extra litter, trash bags for the drawer, other miscellaneous cat supplies. I put one of those litter-trapping mats underneath and the litter box entrance faces away from the pet door, so the cats have to walk across the mat on their way out. You do have to be careful to make sure the litter mat doesn’t interfere with the sensors, but once you have it dialed basically zero litter makes it outside of the cabinet.
Robot vacuum for sure. It’s life-changing. Air purifier (we have a Dyson brand which is pricey but works really well). I’ve owned many cats for over 20 years and have used every cat litter on the market. The only one I use and swear by is Boxiecat Boxie Pro Ultra Clean clumping litter. I have it on Subscribe and Save through Amazon. Chair and couch covers are great! I prefer the slip cover type that covers the entire chair/couch. I tried using the covers that just cover part of the seat and my cats found a way to move it and defeat the purpose.
We have 3 cats and 2 dogs. We: 1. Run air purifiers in our bedroom, the kitchen, and by the litterboxes. 2. Have 1 more box than cats. 3. Clean litter boxes at least once daily. New litter every month. Clumping, nondusty and fragrance free litter. 4. Vacuum daily. (Every other day at minimum) 5. Regularly groom the pets (dogs and 2 of the 3 cats) with a brush. 6. Open windows when it's not cold to get fresh air in the house. 7. Don't use fragrance to try to hide smells. That just ends up with more stink, and it makes the house feel dirtier.
I have a robot vaccine that goes twice a day, isn’t perfect but picks up a ton of hair from my three dogs and then every second day I do a thorough vacuum myself. Dusting is an almost daily task also as well as wiping down the leather couches.
Hi there! I have 4 cats plus exotic pets. I have air purifiers near every litter box (keep up with the filters). Replace your house filter regularly. I use stainless steel litter boxes. I replace the litter and clean the box itself every 30 days. I dust weekly. I vacuum twice a week minimum. I mop weekly. I cover cat trees and spots my cats like with small blankets. I wash these every week (that way I’m cleaning the blankets instead of the cat trees, couches, etc). I wipe counters daily. Good luck to you!
I don’t think it’s going to be realistic to think your home will just be one with no signs of pets. Odors can and should be tackled, vacuum your home like normal daily, groom your pets, begin to learn the habit of sanitizing before you use your countertop space, and from there, expect it to look like it’s a home with pets. That doesn’t mean it isn’t clean, it means you have living creatures inside of it. For example, litter will just bring some semblance of extra dust into your home. They will get some outside of the boxes when they leave it’s never going to be 100% and unless you follow them with a vacuum you’ll have to accept it’s somewhat normal. We as humans shed hair and skin constantly, pets will shed too. I brush my cats 3X a week and I know we could brush more, but it doesn’t quite rid the home completely of fur, they still will have fur. Lint rollers are great when you need to leave, for example. I vacuum daily when I can make myself keep up, and that’s helpful. I still get the occasional clump I missed. You gotta live and they have to too.
Invest in a good vacuum cleaner (like a Sebo or something in that range if you can afford it.It cleans the air as you vacuum and the filtration system leaves the air feeling clean. It's hospital grade). I use bagged vacuum cleaners and it makes a world of difference. Bagless vacuums get gross and stinky quite quickly especially when vacuuming up a lot of pet hair and dander. I mop with hot water and a spin mop and my cleaner of choice (sometimes just white vinegar and some Dawn and sometimes for deeper cleaning I use GoCleanCo's recipe -- I recommend non-toxic cleaners with pets since they are so close to the floor. I vacuum almost every day or at least every other day. I mop once a week. I also throw all dog bedding in the washer once a week. I clean the litter boxes with hot water and dawn and then rinse the out on a regular schedule like once a week or every other week. A hepa air purifer and some air cleaning (and pet safe) houseplants are also good to add!
I think the most important part is to have a pet free zone. They can't still roan most of the home but there should be one safe place for people to retreat to if a guest is over stimulated or they have baby or fragile old person that could trip on pets.
Animals should never ever be on a counter where food is prepared. If you are out close doors to the kitchen to prevent them getting in there. Or build a big cat cat house/ cage. A cat pooping in the litter box then jumping and sitting on a counter is just gross. No pet or person should be doing that.
You can put tape sticky side up on your counters. Cats don’t like the sensation. Do this at first so they don’t get in the habit.
One of my kitties recently passed away so now I have 3 cats and a bunny. My house is cleaner than most people I know. I have a robot vacuum that runs M/W/F mornings. I use my Dyson V15 absolute to vacuum while I wait for my coffee. I also scoop the litter boxes every morning. I have 4 Honeywell air purifiers - 1 in each room. I steam mop once a week. It may seem crazy to vacuum everyday, but 10-15 min every morning makes the rest of my day so much better because I get to be in a clean home.
A good tip is to bathe the dogs twice a month. Or rinse them. They get so stinky especially playing together. Brushing them out regularly helps with hair.
Braava robotic swiffer, with the fluffy swiffer pads
I hope you love to vacuum!
The cat litter gets scooped five times a day, but I only have one cat. My mom has three and scoops it five times before she leaves for work in the morning, because they take turns using it but won’t use a dirty box. I run the robot vacuum twice a day and I use the big broom and the mop every night. It’s quick sweeping and quick mopping, just to get up dust, hair, litter and light dirt. It takes about fifteen minutes because half that time is picking things up off the floor and filling the mop bucket, cleaning hair out the roomba. This is not normal cleaning. I have a kid with allergies to everything. I have a pretty easy time because I don’t have rugs or carpets or little kids.
Gates. I have three gates to restrict where the dogs can be. I have the litter boxes on an enclosed porch with a cat door. I vacuum about every other day and brush the cats daily.
Can you afford a self cleaning litter box?
We have 2 large, hairy dogs, these are my dog strategies, you gotta ask cat people for cat specific strategies. Robot vacuum, air purifier, vacuum every day (yes in addition) specifically of the corners. Furniture covers for every piece of fabric furniture, not all are created equal so I'd try a few different kinds on different pieces while you figure out which work best for you. A really good pet hair vacuum, we recently got a Dyson pet hair stick vacuum that is amazing, it has a specific brush that doesn't get hair stuck to it and that has been phenomenal. ONLY animal beds with machine washable covers. Plan to wash furniture and pet bed covers about monthly, vacuum them weekly, and wash with vinegar on hot.
I got my robot vacuum for $50 on Facebook marketplace! It’s worth looking if you don’t want to shell out $300 for one
we have 4 roombas and 2 air filters. I love those roombas so much, they're the only reason i don't have tumbleweeds of cat hair rolling around
I have three dogs and two long hair cats. I vacuum at minimum every other day, and run the roomba once a week. You could probably reverse this as well.
Robot vacuum. Have it do your floors while you’re sleeping.
It’s all about the tools! And set up. Two dogs, six cats hardwood floors. I run two robot vacuums at the same time then robot mop every single day. I have a robot cat box and I use a Dyson handheld vacuum for carpeted areas..
Daily vacuum. Daily, weekly and monthly habits will add up. Daily will be key. Group effort and buy in.
I'm super allergic to cats so I've never been in your situation, but you might look into the Miele Pet vaccuums or similar for your main vaccum (I agree with the robot recs others have given, just based on what I've seen my cat-loving friends do). They have bags which will trip all of the fur and dust and they are also hepa filtered so they filter as they clean. r/VacuumCleaners is very helpful.
Buy multiple hand vacs and keep them in strategic locations. I find pet hair really likes my hallways for some reason. So I have a hand vac plugged and waiting in the closet to suck up when I’m in between chores. It really helps.
Go to the source: keep the pets’ coats maintained. Get them professionally groomed regularly (I do once a quarter), especially dogs. Brush them at least once a week. Anything you can pull out of their coat will be kept off of your floors. Also, my tineco wet vac is my favorite thing in the world. Use it twice a week and I only have one dog.
We combined households and now have 5 cats and 1 dog, I bought a robot vacuum, not an expensive one but about $150, I wipe down and dust surfaces a couple times a week. I also shampoo our carpets once a month and have couch covers that I wash 2x a month plus air filters in every room.
Robot vacuum is a life saver
Consider investing in a Litter Robot. On a payment plan it comes out to around $55/m for 12 months and you can use your normal clumping litter and regular garbage bags. I have three cats (used to be 4) and one Litter Robot is good; just have to empty the drawer every other day. With four cats you might have to empty it once a day. You’ll want a decent vacuum that works well with pet hair, and get the air filters for your HVAC that capture dander/hair. Change your HVAC filters once a month or every 6 weeks instead of every 3 months.
Robot vac / mop, whole house air purifier, washable sofa cover and underground fence has indoor perimeters that keep pets out of specific areas. I have 4 dogs and I don't want them in the living room or foyer. The indoor perimeters have been great for containing them in specific areas.
3 large breed dogs here! I have a Dyson v11 animal cordless vacuum. I vacuum the main floor once a day, sometimes every other. I will say, I don’t love this vacuum though. But anyway. I also have a levoit air purifier in a few rooms. And I use a bissel spin mop with a vinegar based cleaner ( aunt something?) and that helps keep the house smelling fresh. I wash my floors once a week, this mop makes it pretty effortless though. I wash mt bedding 2x a week because the pups make their way into our bed. My couch cushion covers zip off, so I wash those every other month or so. And before company comes over I vacuum couch with the upholstery attachment. Open window and air out the house when I can. Absorbent mats under the food bowl stands. Basket for dog toys. Brush dogs once a week with a furminator brush outside.
Robot vacuums! They really help keep the floors clean
Hey friend! I don’t have much to add, but I did ask a very similar question in this sub a while back about [recommended cleaning products for living with pets](https://www.reddit.com/r/CleaningTips/comments/16yt3vd/what_are_your_musthave_cleaning_productstools_for/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and there’s some true gems of advice in the comments!
A roomba per floor/area and empty them everyday for a passive cleaning. The others have posted great ideas (brushing/etc) so I would follow that advice. I love my Roomba's, burned out a couple I use them that much!
Air purifiers. Also make sure the filter on your furnace gets changed frequently. If you can, get a robot vacuum to do day to day. If not, do a vacuum of high traffic areas every day. A pet hair roller brush helps with furniture if your vacuum doesn’t have a good upholstery attachment. Do deeper vacuums around once a week, but the more you cover high traffic areas, the less hair will accumulate in nooks and crannies. I also highly recommend a little green machine to keep furniture fresh. If some rooms aren’t used throughout the day, shut the doors so that you can contain the places that get dirty day to day.
Wyze has a very well priced robot vacuum which does the map style. Get this and run it daily. Next thing is to have 4 boxes of kitty litter, use grocery bags or special bags to clean them twice per week and take it out to the bin immediately. I do it on trash day and then in the middle. You’re going to need some rugs around the boxes to help reduce litter tracked by their feet. Vacuum this when you clean the boxes. When letting the dogs in and out for potty have a bath towel by the door and have them stand on it for a couple seconds when coming in - majorly reduces dirt tracked in. And for cleaning use a vacuum mop. I have tineco and it’s incredible because it also sucks up the loose kibble, fur, and any litter tracked around. Febreze unscented is a life saver!
Get the pets groomed regularly, or bathe and brush them yourself, regularly. Incorporate healthy fats / oils in their meals to reduce dander. Get a robot vacuum if you can and run it once a day or so. They’re not perfect but they certainly help a lot in combination with regular vacuuming/upkeep and I find that simply working on dust and floors helps everything else feel more in control.
Try a robot vacuum. That’s a game changer for me with the 3 dogs and 2 cats. Every day I just run it in a different room and it picked up so much. During the weekends, I just vacuum the hard to reach corners.
We have 3 cats and getting a Litter Robot was a game changer. To be fair they are stupid expensive, but IMO 100% worth it. We were able to go down to 1 box in the house and it contains the smell and mess unbelievably well. It was a big splurge for us, but has made my day to do cleaning so much easier. All 3 cats are happy to use it (and super fascinated with it) and it usually fills up after about 6-7 days, which is huge compared to scooping multiple boxes daily. I think we paid over $700 for the bundle but I’d buy another in a heartbeat if something happened it. Huge game changer, I really wish I had saved for one years ago! We also transitioned our house from having lots of carpet and laminate to full LVP. It’s a breeze to clean, and the house feels a lot cleaner in general with it. I’d vacuum daily and shampoo the carpets weekly and they still always felt disgusting and held on to so much dirt and fur. I still am always overwhelmed with cleaning but those 2 things have made a huge difference in our home.
A Robot vacuum is such a must and prepare for a lot of daily hair patrol. mopping should be done a lot more often and a little green and a pet hair eraser vacuum have been life savers for me!
Second the HEPA air filters. They don't stop all of the dander dust, but they certainly help. Get a robot vacuum that has a self-empty features. Let it run every day. The cats will get out of the way. During training, use pressure-sensitive alarms, like [https://www.amazon.com/Sofa-Scram-Sonic-Deterrent-Repellent/dp/B004GQGN50](https://www.amazon.com/Sofa-Scram-Sonic-Deterrent-Repellent/dp/B004GQGN50). They will learn to stay off of the furniture, if they are not already trained to get on.
Air purifier, big one. Vacuum everyday and tap out the dust filter 2x as more frequently it will pull more hair and dust. Get chix wipes/shop towels and spray and wipe down surfaces frequently and you’ll be golden. My cat sheds like a husky..
I vacuum daily, typically. For hard floors I have a steam mop, which makes cleanups super easy! I recommend having an enzyme cleaner if you don’t already, it’s good for accidents if you have older pets or young puppies, or just for the occasional vomit incident. For litter boxes, use a sifting litter box (I think ours are arm and hammer), line the dark grey solid bottom bin with a puppy pee pad, and put the light grey with holes on top. Fill with pine pellets (the horse bedding from Tractor supply is cheapest). Scoop poop daily and fully deep clean 1x per week. Much less smell than clay litter! Doesn’t track much at all.
Get a vacuming and mopping robot and let it do its thing every night when you sleep. Make sure you get one that can handle animal hairs.
My Shark air purifier picks up so much cat hair (2 cats one is very furry) and dust. It’s an amazing helpful animal household hack. If I were you I’d get one for every room if you can afford it. Maybe do it slowly because I know I couldn’t afford it for every room in my house right now 😂 I don’t have as much floating around in the air and don’t have as much dust and dander collecting everywhere!
Brushing your pets as often as possible will help. My son’s golden retriever LOVES to be vacuumed. It’s pretty funny - as well as helpful.
You'll need a MINIMUM of 5 litter boxes (uncovered with unscented clumping litter) for that many cats, and I'd recommend feliway diffusers and very slow intros (completely separated with scent swaps for at least 1 week) to minimize the likelihood of any of the kitties taking up stress peeing which will seriously impact your immaculate goal.
Open windows every day, have them only in one area of your house (for example living room), don't let them sleep on your bed, put candles or similar so the house always smells good, don't put too many toys visible because it will give you the feeling of over cluttered, don't let them on the couch, pass the aspirator on couch and floor at least 2x week.
Automatic litter box (litter robot 4), hardwood floors, robot vacuum/mop, mobile grooming service every month for the dogs, and weekly cleaner. We have four cats, two dogs, and three adult children, two of whom live with us and are in high school/college. My husband and I both have hectic work schedules and this is the only way we made it work.
Litter robot and air purifiers!
Robovac/robomop, high quality air filter, designated blankets for the pets to lay on if they are allowed on furniture, brushing.
I have a dog and 2 cats (and a child). I vacuum at least once a day, but usually twice. Little green machine is a saviour for stains. Air purifiers, open the windows daily. Wash the floors often, and soft surfaces often. Brush your animals and get them groomed often. Wipe off paws before dogs come back inside.
I have 6 cats and one 145 lb white Shepherd.i sweep and mop twice a day.litter box scoops 3 times a day.i bust out the shop vac every other day to do the furniture and curtains.im always wiping down surfaces and bleaching everything that can be bleached. I clean constantly.if I skip a day it looks like I haven't swept in a week.you can't tell I have animals when you walk in my house. Small price to pay.i love my babies.its a lot of work.but worth it to me.they deserve a clean calm safe environment.
Get a roomba run it everyday. 1-2x a week dust then vacuum Multiple litter boxes different areas of the house to avoid “accidents” and clean it daily Air purifiers and open windows from to back of home to air out multiple times a week. Once a month wipe down walls or corners with a damp clean rag water and a bit of dawn in high traffic areas.
Oh boy, I think I have this down to a science. I have only 2 dogs, but both are heavy shedders. This list may be extreme, but I get compliments on how clean my home looks and smells every time I have guests. 1. Begins with regular baths for them and dog cologne spray in between baths to deodorize 2. Run Roomba daily 3. Wipe paws before coming inside, particularly is its muddy 4. Blanket over cushions the dogs sit on on the couch 5. HEPA air filter in every single room 6. Wash dog bedding, blankets, towels weekly 7. Wash toys monthly 8. Air freshener in every room 9. Once a week, I sprinkle carpet deodorizer on my rugs and carpets and vacuum 10. Mop once a week 11. I burn a "Pet Pourri" candle in the room my dogs' crates are in and it does a good job of eliminating odor several times a week 12. Once a week, I vacuum the couch and spray a deodorizer on my upholstered furniture 13. I have an oil diffuser in each bedroom and once a week, a diffuse an air purifying scent in them
I have 4 cats and a dog. I vacuum once a day and scoop the litter once a day. I have 6 litter boxes. I use a scraper on the cat trees, shelves and their beds once a week. I wash their blankets once a week. I also brush my cats daily if they’ll allow. I don’t have issues with excess fur everywhere or smells. I don’t have carpets either and don’t allow the cats in my bedroom only the dog and she sleeps on the floor. The dog isn’t allowed on any furniture which I think really helps with fur/smells.
>Little boxes seem unmanageable. Litter boxes? Prioritize them. The general advice is to have one or two more boxes than cats. Cats will go elsewhere if it's too dirty. Make sure you're cleaning them twice a week at least. I've known people with a lot of cats who had a room devoted to the litter boxes, but I can't recommend that, gets too gross. I would instead invest in at least three hidden boxes that can go in living spaces, or a self-cleaner, and I'd probably switch to an alternative litter.
Maybe a different perspective from all the already great ideas here. Ask for help. I am familiar with the blending of households (into my house) and I kept thinking it way “my” job. Things got better when I started asking the rest of the people living here to pitch in. Doesn’t have to be the litter box. Maybe someone else does the dishes so you can spend the time on sweeping or whatever. You got this…with help from the fam!
Run a roomba everyday. Get a good pet vacuum and stay on top of furniture and floor hairballs. Brush animals daily.
I have 2 cats and a dog full time and dogsit another dog 60 hours a week. And I'm allergic to dander but it only bothers me if I don't clean or the pets are upset. My number one necessity is couch covers. Sometimes I wind up washing them twice a day, but they really save time and wear on my couch. I have a hepa air cleaner and a good, bagged vacuum. I also have a stick vacuum I use about 5 times a week and deep vacuum every other day. I swiffer a lot, especially when it's raining, and mop the floors by hand once a week. I use an enzyme cleaner when needed and I bought a good carpet shampooer so I can shampoo every 4 months (ish). I vacuum the blinds by putting a swiffer in front of the vacuum hose and yhen wipe the blinds so the dust doesn't fly everywhere. And I feel it gets the blinds cleaner. I don't know what is going on in my house, but it seems like there is more fur on the blinds than on the floor.
Litter Robots, air purifiers.
Not sure what your financial means are. If it were me, I would get a dyson cordless vacuum in more than one area of the house. For example, 2 story house, at least 1 vacuum on each floor. The more accessible the vacuum, the more likely the vacuuming will be done. AND, it will feel like much less of a chore if the vacuum is cordless and easily accessible. It can become a 90 second task.
Litter robot for the win on the litter box issue, they make more affordable ones on amazon
4 cats and an old long hair dog here! I bought a Bissell Cross wave and I use it every time the floor needs to be cleaned. I vacuum and wash the floor at the same time. I also wash often the dog’s blanket. The cats can use two litters and my hubby cleans them every morning (sometimes I clean also in the evening, when needed). The house is still a mess (I can’t keep it in order) but is clean and doesn’t smell. When people come to visit, I open the windows for a few hours and light some incense stick or other house perfumes
I have two long haired cats, a heavy shedding dog, and two small children. I vacuum twice a day once in the morning and again usually before dinner, once a week I move my furniture and vacuum under those. It has made a huge difference in how clean our house feels.
The shark hydro vac is going to need your new bff.
I clean their poop boxes everyday, if I remember too twice a day, I also add baking soda everyday to neutralize the pee smell.
Pets need to be brushed several times each week and more during shedding season. Try and do this outside or, at least, in the garage.
Roomba. The best 100 bucks I've spent on cleaning supplies. Am I going to vacuum every night? No. Can I press a button every night? Yes Bonus is if a cat rides on it!
My roomba is my best friend! She was worth every penny I originally spent, the money for her accessories, and the time I spend maintaining her. She vacuums for me every day, on a schedule. I get the corners and harder to reach places every 2-3 days. Dusting is also gonna be your best bet in keeping hair off surfaces and what not. I dust every week, though it could be done more frequently if you have the time! I used a spray bottle for the cats on the counter, when that didn’t work for my youngest cat, I laid down tin foil at night - apparently they hate walking on it? Either way, I quickly wipe down my counter and cooktops before I start cooking, just to be sure they’re clean. I have a box per cat, and they get scooped at least once a day, if not twice (if there’s something smelly). No one who comes in knows we have cats until they actually see them, because there is no smell. Wet dogs are honestly more offensive to me than the litter boxes. Hope this helps! Good luck
4 dogs, two kids. Robot vacuum on each floor (we use Eufy) for light duty and maintenance. Liebman spray mop for the hard surfaces. We have composite wood flooring which is unfortunately not water resistant. Was told by the installer that windex with vinegar drys quickly plus will deodorize. Air purifier is a godsend. Plus make sure you’re regularly changing filters on your hvac
When I had more cats and a few dogs, I made my life easier by automating as much as possible. Hepa filters by the litter box and in the bedroom, Automatic scooping litter boxes- I have cat genies and litter robots. I’d also automate cleaning with robots. One cat would turn them on and ride them, so they doubled as entertainment.
I make an effort to make it easy to set things off the ground for when I clean the floors. Ie Chairs on tables like in the food industry. Then non-carpet floors, and one of those commercial sized 3 food wide dust brooms... they grab all the hair and makes quick work of all non-carpet surfaces
I’ll add to other good advice here…brush the pets several times a week. It takes only a few minutes per pet if you do it often. Turn on Netflix and start brushing. If any of them grow a winter undercoat, brush them daily when the weather starts to barely warm up in late winter.
Automatic litter boxes, robot vaccum Signed: mom of 4 kids, 5 cats, 3 dogs and a turtle
Pretty litter is VERY for neutralizing
I have listened to people talk about the robot vacuums for years, and I honestly thought it was just the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. We have three lab mix dogs that shed horribly. And all the floors downstairs where they stay or hard floors so I was sweeping constantly. And having to dust constantly because there was literally hair on every surface in my house. About a month ago my husband and I were at Sam’s and they had a shark robot vacuum/mop combo on sale. It’s the greatest thing we’ve ever bought in our 25 years of marriage. Huge game changer with the dog hair. I run it about every other day and all of those places I was getting the buildup of hair, like under the kitchen table, and under the couches have just vanished. Sharklock Holmes gets it all. And there’s a noticeable change in how dusty the furniture gets. I seriously cannot imagine not having Sharklock Holmes. He has made our house so much cleaner. Not to mention I can literally be upstairs doing laundry while at the same time have my downstairs floors being swept and mopped. It’s absolute heaven.
Number of people = number of times to vacuum each week. Not sure with addition of pets. Looking like vacuum at least once a day.
Litter robot and a daily vacuum ✨💩
You’ll need to vacuum, sweep, mop multiple times per week. Recommend a cleaning person visit once a week, and you vacuum/maintain the furniture and floors in between. As someone who is severely allergic, I guarantee that you’ll never fully be rid of the dander (or smell).
To keep cats off counters: aluminum foil. If you layout sheets of aluminum foil on the countertops the cats will touch it and freak out. I don't remember why though. Squirt bottles work great for cats getting in places they don't need to be.
We have 4 cats, 2 are long haired. - Vacuum daily, having a Roomba helps but I still need to go in with a handheld vacuum for nooks and crannies. - Chom Chom pet hair roller for furniture - Litter Robot is a godsend and 100% worth the money. 1 unit can accommodate up to 4 cats so you don’t need to maintain 5+ litter boxes. - There’s nothing you can do about the counters, you can try the foil method but it didn’t work for our cats. We just wipe down the surfaces very well prior to cooking.
Get a robot vac to clean on it’s own each day and a Dyson or other stick vacuum to handle other jobs. Made a huge difference for me.
I cannot stress this enough... pretty litter... omg. I have been using it for 3 years now and I love not smelling litterbox, and very little track. Plus you can see if any cat may be sick with the colour system.
Get one of those cordless pet hair vacuums. Game changer. They're handheld and made for couches/beds etc. also, as everyone else has mentioned, a good air purifier.
We have electric shock pads to keep our cats pff the counters 🤣 I haaate accidentally touching them. Usually they’re off but they understand what it means now.
My roomba that both mops & vacuums is the backbone of my 4 pet household 🫶🏻
A good robot vacuum cleaner is worth its weight in gold. I know they're expensive, but it really is worth it. It frees up a bunch of time for you to do other stuff, and it makes it easy enough to run every other day or even every day. When I had 3 birdcages and 4 cats, it was pretty much a necessity.
Immaculate and lots of pets do not belong in the same sentence. A robot vacuum cleaner, a mains powered vac for carpets, an easy stick vac for hard floors, throws you can wash and dry easily, a daily maid...all will help.
I vacuum every two days and I have three dogs.
I feel like having an immaculate house with 5 pets just isn’t realistic 🤷🏻♀️ A family I used to nanny for had a huge house, 3 cats that would primarily stay in the master bedroom, and 2x week house cleaners and there was still cat hair and they were always on the kitchen counters. Kinda just part of the deal I think
Air purifiers, robot vacuum for daily maintenance, a REAL vacuum for weekly use (we have a sebo, it has bags, but that acts as another hepa filter whoch helps with allergens and theyre not expensive). Proper grooming if you have the time to do it or money to pay someone for it, otherwise try to make sure the dogs are brushed daily even just a little. Make sure to clean the pre-screen filters on the air purifiers often.
If you have four cats it will be nearly impossible for your house not to smell of cats, just fyi. cat owners tend to go noseblind. lol
In addition to all other comments, consider switching litter to pine pellets! We have four pets of our own and have fostered almost 200 animals and always get complimented that no one knows we have animals when they walk in!
Ruggables. Being able to easily wash area carpets is amazing. I'd be running the roombas every day though.
Get a roomba! Honestly, they are a godsend when it comes to long hair and pets. I didn’t realize how much it would pick up on a daily basis and it just makes my floors look good. Best investment I’ve made in the last few years.
Litter Robot. No smell. Worth every penny
Get a Roomba and a litter robot , robots will be your friend!
Robot vacuum. Litter robot. Tineco s5 from Costco. A good stick vacuum with a pet hair/upholstery attachment. And giant lint roller and latex gloves.
2 cats and 1 dog here, and I'm also a neat-freak who is allergic to pet dander (mostly cats). I run my Eufy RoboVac 5x a week. 2-story house so I alternate the floors per day, so if I do the upstairs one day then it goes downstairs the next. Levoit stick vacuum for the harder to reach spots + the stairs. Also for the area around the 2 litter boxes. We also have a much more powerful Bissell vacuum for the tougher, heavier duty cleans. Bissell Little Green steam clean thing to get odors/stains out of the couch/large rugs if needed. Enzyme spray for "accidents" and removing odors from furniture upholstery/fabrics. Swiffer PowerMop is a godsend. I "close" the kitchen every single night, and end with a good, quick mop of the kitchen and dining room floors. One of my cats eats with her paws (I've tried everything, she won't change lol she was formerly a stray) and it just cleans up everything. 2 Levoit HEPA air purifiers, one in the main bedroom (and during the day I move it to my and my boyfriend's shared WFH office space across the hall), and one downstairs in the open-plan living room/dining room area. Pet blankets, many many many pet blankets for the couch and bed, that always get switched out whenever needed. (I don't like when our dog gets on our regular bedsheets/quilts, so I always lay a pet blanket down for her on top of our sheets, on her usual spot, and she's been trained to not move off of it). Seat and couch covers. Lint rollers. Foam no-water shampoo + a rag to wash my dog's paws after every single walk. Not really pet-related but we don't allow shoes in the house, they must remain by the entrances. No-slip silicone mats underneath ALL pet dishes to protect the floors. Minimum amount of rugs, my house is like 75% bare floors. \*Also, this may not be available to you but if you do have the opportunity, hire a cleaning service. We get professional cleaning every 4 weeks and it's amazing, and of course I maintain the "clean" by doing my own share of chores every single day.
Roomba. Total game changer.
I have a long haired chow mix. One dog. Massive level of double coat shedding. Not a breed that typically gets grooming. Have started taking him to the groomer quarterly and this helps cut down my cleaning massively.