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Stinky smells, messes can be avoided at home. Or you can clean 'em with these handy tips
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Aug 30, 2008
Pets can be stinky, slobbery, messy and hairy.
And they can be just so darned endearing, which is why so many pet owners are willing to put up with the odors and messes that come with bringing animals into their homes.
Still, having pets in the family doesn't have to turn your home into a hovel. Banishing odors and cleaning up the unsightly stuff takes commitment and effort, but it's possible to have a house that's pleasant and livable for animals and humans alike, cleaning and pet experts say.
''We just sort of dismiss animals as dirty, but whose fault is that?'' said Julia Szabo, a pet columnist and author who shares a New York apartment with six dogs and five cats — or at least, that was the count as of last week.
Pets can't clean, she said, so we need to do it for them. In fact, she thinks having a pet can be a terrific incentive to keep on top of those housekeeping chores or get kids to help with the housework.
Apparently, though, many of us need guidance. Szabo said pet messes and odors are a favorite topic among callers to Morning Living, a show on Sirius Satellite Radio's Martha Stewart Living channel where she frequently appears as a pet expert. She also writes columns for the New York Post and Country Living magazine, and her books include Animal House Style and the upcoming Pretty Pet Friendly.
Odors are an area where Szabo advocates a little preventive maintenance. Dogs, particularly, can get to smelling a little, well, doglike, so brush and bathe them regularly, she said.
Szabo recommends a grooming tool called the Furminator, which removes the downy hairs from an animal's undercoat that seem to stick to everything. She also recommends using a soap-free pet shampoo such as TheraNeem, a product that contains neem oil, which she described as very emollient and healing. Or buy plain neem oil from a health-food store and add it to a soap-free shampoo such as Tropiclean, she said.
Although cats are normally fastidious groomers, they benefit from brushing and may need bathing, too. Cats and water don't mix, however, so unless you can get the cat used to baths as a kitten, it's probably better to turn that chore over to a groomer, Szabo
said.
Make sure you find a reputable one, she cautioned. She recommended asking your veterinarian for names.
Of course, no amount of bathing will prevent the odor caused by a pet eliminating where it shouldn't. And that's a significant problem. It's often cited as the reason by owners relinquishing pets to shelters, said Adam Goldfarb, an issues specialist with the Humane Society of the United States.
Goldfarb recommends an enzyme-based cleaner for smelly messes such as urine. Follow the instructions, and make sure you get it all, he said. If even a trace of odor is left, your pet might be attracted again to that spot.
You might even want to invest in a black light to identify all the affected spots, Goldfarb said. Dried urine glows under its light.
Szabo's favorite odor-fighting products are Get Serious!, an odor, stain and pheromone extractor with a proprietary formula, and the enzyme-based Simple Solution. Either product can be added to the laundry to remove pet odors — or even the residue of stinky humans — from sheets, towels and other fabric items, she said.
Cleaning expert Linda Cobb has her own favorite odor remover: Odorzout, which contains minerals called zeolites that absorb and trap odors. It's a granular product you sprinkle onto a surface and then vacuum up, said Cobb, who writes cleaning books and does TV and radio appearances under the moniker Queen of Clean.
Particularly with accidents on carpet, you may have to apply the stuff repeatedly until it pulls the odor all the way from the carpet pad, she said. With each application, let the product sit 24 hours before vacuuming, she recommended.
Litter boxes for cats, rabbits and other litter-trained pets present their own odor challenges. Fastidiousness is the key, the experts say. Goldfarb recommended scooping the litter box daily and having plenty of boxes — at least one per cat and one for each floor of your home.
Cobb likes the litter box additive that Odorzout makes, or you can choose a charcoal-based litter, she said. However, she doesn't recommend a scented litter, because cats often don't like fragrances.
Be especially careful about what you put in a rabbit's litter box. They're notorious for eating just about anything and could be harmed by ingesting clumping litter or a chemically treated wood product, Szabo and Goldfarb said.
Szabo recommends World's Best Cat Litter, made from corn; CareFresh pet bedding, made from cellulose fiber; or Purina's Yesterday's News litter, made from recycled newspaper. (No editorial comments, please.)
For cats, she likes those litters as well as Swheat Scoop, made from wheat, and Feline Pine. However, she'd avoid corn- or wheat-based litters in homes with both dogs and cats. Suffice it to say lots of dogs think corn and wheat, combined with the protein in used cat food, are just yummy.
This is probably a good place to insert a caveat: If the animal's accident is uncommon, check into the situation. It could be a warning sign of a health or behavioral issue, Goldfarb said.
Then again, maybe the human is the one with the behavioral problem. Leaving a dog indoors too long is practically asking for an accident, Goldfarb noted. So is letting a litter box go uncleaned for too long or placing the box where it's not easily accessible. Even placing a box near an appliance or some other source of noise can make skittish cats avoid it, he said.
What about smells from so-called pocket pets — mice, gerbils, hamsters and the like?
For the most part, routine care should keep their odors in check, said Gary Riggs, a veterinarian at Barberton Veterinary Clinic. The animals tend to use one area of their cages for elimination, so check daily and scoop out any feces, he said. Once or twice a week, change the litter completely.
If the animal eats foods such as lettuce that can spoil, be careful to remove the leftovers after mealtime, Riggs said.
He recommended avoiding deodorizing-type beddings, which can be toxic; cedar chips, which contain oils that can be irritating or cause respiratory or liver problems; and bedding made from corncobs, which can promote the grown of mold or fungus. Instead, he likes paper-based bedding or types made from aspen or low-dust pine.
Pet hair is another common problem, especially with cats and dogs, so Szabo recommended investing in a good vacuum cleaner. She has so many animals that hers rarely gets put away, so she chose a Dyson that not only picks up a good bit of the hair but looks stylish sitting out.
''It's become part of the family. It's another pet,'' she joked.
She also makes frequent use of a lint roller, but she's found a better option for big cleanups, like when company is coming: Sticky Sheets, oversized (23 inches by 35 inches) adhesive sheets that pull hair and lint off a large area with one tug. ''It's like waxing your sofa,'' she said.
Cobb's favorite hair-removal methods are rubbing furniture with a damp sponge, rubber gloves dipped in water, a dryer sheet or a dry soot-removal sponge. She also likes 3M's Fur Fighter, a fur remover with a microfiber pad that can be vacuumed and reused repeatedly.
Pet urps — you know, hairballs and vomit — are another common problem, and they always seem to happen on carpet. Cobb swears her cat puts one paw over its mouth and runs on the other three legs to get to one of her carpeted rooms before letting it all out.
She has a homemade remedy: Pick up the solids, but don't try rubbing or cleaning the spot otherwise, she said. Instead, pour a heavy layer of baking soda on it. As it dries, the baking soda will pull the moisture and pet-food coloring away from the carpet.
When the spot is dry, pick up the remnants or suck them up with a vacuum cleaner's hose attachment.
Most of the time, you won't even have a stain left to deal with, Cobb said. If you do, she recommends cleaning with a mixture of a half-cup hydrogen peroxide and 1 teaspoon ammonia. Test it in an inconspicuous spot first, just in case.
Heck, if all else fails, you can always rearrange the furniture to cover the spot.
Only you and your pet will know.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.
Pets can be stinky, slobbery, messy and hairy.
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