Having pets in my home was something I knew I wanted for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved animals. But as an adult with my own place, I understand what a huge responsibility they are. Not only are there the big things that immediately come to mind like providing their necessities, training and exercise, but there’s also cleaning up after them.
I often affectionately refer to my cats and dogs as furballs. But those furballs leave the kind of furballs behind I don’t have any affection for. The cats may clean themselves but they don’t clean up after themselves. Basically, having animals in your home = dirt. Constantly. I wonder just how many OCD clean freaks and germaphobes actually have pets that live inside.
Humans shed their “fur” just like other animals. We just happen to have a lot less than our cat and dog counterparts. On any given day Chris is picking a long blonde hair or 2 off his shirt after sitting on the couch or giving me a hug. And that layer of dust sitting on your shelves, it’s mostly made up of dead skin cells. Yuck. But when we add really furry creatures to the mix, we up the dirt level 10 fold.
Except for the few hairless breeds of dogs and cats, they all shed their fur just like we lose the hair on our heads. Some shed more than others and some just have a heck of a lot more hair than others. And the level of shedding depends on the time of year. Spring – Summer at our place is like Christmas is July. Miss Piper is the worst culprit will her long, fluffy white fur. And not only does it quickly gather in corners forming those real balls of fur, it shows up everywhere because we have dark wood floors and furniture.
Ares comes in close behind Piper. His fur is short but it’s coarse and wiry. Every night when I sweep the floor I get a little pile of those black strands. And if you’re wearing a light colored shirt when you come over, don’t expect to leave without at a few little souvenirs from the resident Boston Terrier.
Little O is actually just about as furry as Piper but he doesn’t shed as much as she does. You can see the hair floating away when you pet him during high shedding season but it doesn’t come out in tufts like hers. Plus, his orangey coloring isn’t very visible around the house.
Sometimes it seems like Chaos doesn’t even shed. You never get fur on your hand or see it flying off when petting him. You can’t see it anywhere around the house or when you give him a bath. The only time I was actually able to confirm that he does shed and he’s not some alien dog from another planet was when had on a black t-shirt in the spring and I noticed a few short hairs stuck to it after cuddling by him.
We try to make sure to brush them regularly and bath the dogs but it doesn’t seem to cut back on the fur build up that much. I’ve heard that putting oil in their food or feeding them Omega-3 tablets can help lessen the amount of shedding because it keeps their coats healthier but it’s not something we have tried. There are also different types of combs and shampoos labeled to help with shedding but I haven’t heard great results when done at home.
Short of letting the collecting fur continue to grow into giant furballs and take over our home, we just have to clean a lot. There is a lot of wiping shelves and counters and vacuuming that goes on to fight the fur. And we have to use the dreaded attachments on the vacuum. Is it just me or does anyone else hate using the attachments? I honestly didn’t even use them before I had all these furbabies. I also didn’t clean as well, oops.
I can see why a lot of people simply don’t have indoor pets because they don’t want all the furballs that come with the furballs. It can get irritating having to constantly clean and sometimes feeling like you live in furland. We work hard to make our homes nice and always being able to keep them that way is something some people just can’t handle. For us, it’s worth it. I’d take the furballs with the furballs any day because the awesomeness of living with all the live furballs otherwise outweighs living with the furballs they create. Although I highly suggest investing in a good vacuum and some lint rollers.
How do you keep your fur-filled home from becoming uh, fur-filled? Does anyone else harbor feelings of resentment toward the vacuum and it’s attachments?
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