Dealing With Pet Messes: An Animal Lover's Story
Cat and dog hair, tracked-in mud, scratched floors ... see how one pet guardian learned to cope and to focus on the love
If you have pets, I know you have a dirty little secret inside your home. More to the point, if your life is anything like mine, your home is your dirty secret. Let’s shed the embarrassment and rejoice in our luck in getting to live with our messy little love bugs whose adoration outweighs the damage they cause.
Buster and Stella
Not long after that came our first dog, Buster, who we were convinced was in need of a canine companion. Thus, Stella was quickly ushered into our motley mix as well. The puppies were initially terrified of the cantankerous cat duo, but as they grew, so too did their edge over the cats. This resulted in an endless volley between species akin to an episode of Tom and Jerry; the scenes would start with one of the animals comically running in place to get the needed traction to stampede toward or from another. Our wood floors, along with just about every vertical and horizontal surface, have taken on a patina that only a pet lover can appreciate.
Not long after that came our first dog, Buster, who we were convinced was in need of a canine companion. Thus, Stella was quickly ushered into our motley mix as well. The puppies were initially terrified of the cantankerous cat duo, but as they grew, so too did their edge over the cats. This resulted in an endless volley between species akin to an episode of Tom and Jerry; the scenes would start with one of the animals comically running in place to get the needed traction to stampede toward or from another. Our wood floors, along with just about every vertical and horizontal surface, have taken on a patina that only a pet lover can appreciate.
While this mayhem no doubt sounds ludicrous to anyone without pets, it’s really hard for me to resist. This is because the critter chaos always ends with all four animals curled up together as a pack using one another as pillows. These mortal enemies by day can turn into one contiguous mass at night, leaving no room for us humans to sit on our own sofa.
Even our beloved upholstered dining chairs that I vowed to protect from these beasts have become another bed for our spoiled felines. No matter how mad I get at the cats for tracking filth all over the chairs, I take pause at the joy they bring me and vow to clean up after them once their nap is over.
Even our beloved upholstered dining chairs that I vowed to protect from these beasts have become another bed for our spoiled felines. No matter how mad I get at the cats for tracking filth all over the chairs, I take pause at the joy they bring me and vow to clean up after them once their nap is over.
Please don't disturb me while I sleep on my, I mean your, bed.
Dirt is a never-ending theme in our house. That’s because each of our beloved creatures has a self-carved hole in the backyard. Buster and Stella are both so prolific in their attempt to dig to China that we’ve had to replace fence posts they’ve unearthed.
Once they’re ready to come inside, they try to rub themselves clean. We have a chair rail in our hallway that tracks perfectly with the dogs’ height. As much as I loathe having to add wall cleaning to my weekly to-do list, I wouldn’t trade my loving oafs for anything in the world.
Dirt is a never-ending theme in our house. That’s because each of our beloved creatures has a self-carved hole in the backyard. Buster and Stella are both so prolific in their attempt to dig to China that we’ve had to replace fence posts they’ve unearthed.
Once they’re ready to come inside, they try to rub themselves clean. We have a chair rail in our hallway that tracks perfectly with the dogs’ height. As much as I loathe having to add wall cleaning to my weekly to-do list, I wouldn’t trade my loving oafs for anything in the world.
Rather than fighting the issues our animals cause our house, my husband and I have learned to design our home around them. The deep purple hue of the sofa wasn’t chosen haphazardly; the darkness does an amazing job of masking the ick that builds up between twice-monthly washings. We chose patterned rugs for the same reason. Mops and brooms are stored at every entrance point from the garden. Towels are always stacked en masse by those same doors during the rainy season. And we invested in the best-quality vacuum cleaner we could find to handle the endless fur.
I could complain till I’m blue in the face about the work my animals make for me, but it would be pointless. Animals are uninhibited, messy beasts, which is what makes them so darn funny and lovable. No matter how icky my house gets on any given day and how much work is required to repair the damage they’ve caused, it’s all worth it to have them in our lives.
Houzzers: Confess your pets' dirty little habits.
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More:
So You're Thinking About Getting a Dog
So You Want to Get a Cat
What Chihuahuas Can Teach Us About Interior Design
Many years ago my husband and I went to our local animal shelter looking for two playful kittens to bring life to our new house. Instead we came home with a pair of middle-aged cats who couldn’t stand each other. The older of the two, Fenster, spent much of that first week hiding fearfully from his new feline roommate, Zoe, inside our chimney. Our living room paid the sooty price for this standoff.
The cats soon shed their power play and became best buddies. In lieu of the chimney, they turned the sofa into their mutual hangout, which they took to sinking their claws into. As much as it killed my husband and me to watch the beautiful sofa take such abuse, it warmed our hearts that these two once-abandoned cats had made our house their cherished home.
It didn’t take long for them to also include our pine bed frame, window screens, a couple of wood doors and every curtain in their collection of scratching posts.