Tackling Pet Smells in the House!

If you read my ‘about me’ section on the blog you will know that I love animals and have a house full, including 2 Labrador’s and 5 cats…and whilst I love having all of them in the house with me, they do come with their little quirks….pet smells being one of them….carpet scratching being another, but that’s a post for another day!  As much as I like to try to keep the house clean and fresh it’s almost a pointless task, as soon as I hoover the house, along comes the dog and rolls all over the rug finishing off with an almighty shake and out comes another round of pet hair on the once clean carpet….and believe me I’m not spending my day attached to a hoover…so you deal with it…I think being quite laid back helps a lot!

Pet smells is a tricky one as you and I know once you get used to a smell you don’t really notice it anymore, so I do ask people to the house if it smells doggy when they come in, they’re all very polite and say no, but I’m pretty sure it does some days!

There are a few things I try to do to help keep the cat and dog smells at bay and to a minimum which are:

Hoover up those pesky hairs!

I do feel like sometimes I’m constantly hoovering the house, especially at the times when the pets are moulting the most, but to help minimise the smells then you need to try to keep on top of them.

Plug-in air fresheners are your friend

Plug-in air fresheners can hide a multitude of smells, especially when you have guests that perhaps are pet free so not accustomed to a house which has lots of pets! I tend to have a couple dotted around the house in key areas where I think they are most beneficial, one being next to the cat litter tray!

Pet Odour Sprays

These are a really hand thing to have in the house, febreze also can work quite well.  What you’re looking for however is a spray designed to take away the odour altogether and not one that just masks the smell for a little while.  I have one that I use around the cat litter box as I have one cat who refuses to use the box but instead goes on a training mat in front of the box….occasionally she misses so out comes the spray.  I’ve heard that a soda water spray can also do the trick although yet to try myself.

Wash their bedding

Doing all the above and then leaving the bedding untouched is pointless, you need to give their beds a good wash in the washing machine and hang out to dry (if we ever get some sunshine!) this will kill any cat and dog odours lurking.

Regular Grooming

At certain times of the year your pets will shed their hairs more than normal, to help you can use a brush designed to brush away the moult or undercoat.  I’ve always used standard brushes or combs and recently treated us to one of these brushes and couldn’t believe how much more hair was coming out, they really do work!  Top tip: If grooming in spring time, leave the hair taken off the pets for the birds, they’ll use for building their nests, I pop some in a bird feeder or a little left loose on the grass and they take it all away.

Along with grooming, don’t forget about their teeth, both dogs and cats can suffer from dental problems and the sooner you start with a toothpaste the easier it will be, aside from helping prevent tartar and potential dental disease it will keep their breath as fresh as can be for a dog or a cat.

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