Home

[GinaV24]

stevieb, yes, I feel that way, too. When I was "dating" again, I found that if the dogs didn't like someone, there was a good chance that I wouldn't either. I should have had a dog check him out before I got married, it would have saved me a lot of heartache. LOL

[Chrystaltree2]

I swear, sometimes this board can be a very weired place....lol I've never in my whole life heard anyone say that one cannot have a clean home with pets. No one ever says that because every single person knows people who have pets. Family pets are away of life in this country. For most of my marriage, we had a cat and a dog along with our 2 children. Did we have a sterile house? No. Does anyone need a sterile house? No. We had a big yard in those days and our pets went outside to play and do their business. We brushed them, bathed them, took them to the vet. They did not "dirty" the house any more than our two kids did. Actually, probably less than the kids. The dog passed on and now we have just a cat and we are in a condo and the cat is an indoor cat. Yes, we have to stay on top of the hair problem. I don't like cleaning litter boxes, it's expensive but we use those disposable litter trays. I toss the used one out and open a new one every other day. I mix baking soda in with the litter, there's never a "litter box" smell. The cat doesn't throw wild parties or have food fights with my husband; so, our house is always clean. Not sterile and spotless, just normal clean. Almost eveyone I know has a pet of some sort and they have clean homes. Not sterile, pristine, spankin clean homes. Pet-less people don't even have that...lol

[riley1]

I was raised in a home with many different kinds of pets. My DH and I have always had dogs as part of our family - as we have gotten older, the dogs have gotten smaller! We are now down to a 6 lb. Maltese. My house is clean except for the dog toys scattered all around. We also have a 25 y/o African grey parrot!

[Irshgrl31201]

Wow, I cannot believe you husbands cousins wife said something that rude. Oh well, some times pets have a way "screening" people who should not be in our lives anyway.

I do have 3 pets. 2 dogs and one cat. You definitely do have to clean more and keep on top of it. I have someone who comes in to help me clean and I also have central vac. Most of my house is hardwood floors but I do have area rugs scattered throughout. My entire house gets vacuumed every single day whether it is me of the girl who helps me and I do think that is a must with pets. The central vac makes that very easy and really only takes about 20 minutes each day.

The cat I have is actually my daughters cat but when she moved they place she lived at didn't allow cats. Now she lives in a place that accepts pets but she rescued 3 others when they were just small kittens so I just kept him.

I do hate how litter tracks out of the box when she is done using it and I have tried about everything to eliminate this and I have finally come up with something good. We have an extra bathroom upstairs in our house that nobody ever uses unless we have overnight guests. I put his litter box in the upstairs bathroom, inside the bath tub. I have what I call the kitty carpet outside of the tub that goes over my real bathroom rugs so they don't get ruined. When guests come, I move it to another room. This works for us because you don't smell anything or get little pieces of litter tracked all over the place.

[Chrystaltree2]

On 4/7/2015 Rus Girl said:

I have 5 dogs- two of them are Siberian Huskies- so lots of shedding. I do my best to groom their coats. We do our best to keep the hair and dirt under control. We both work more than full time jobs.

We do a deep clean weekly and during the week, try to keep up on the hairballs and dirt.It try to keep my kitchen as clean as possible and scrub it down before I cook.

If people don't like it, then they don't have to come to my house. I'm OK with that.

Bingo! Don't like my pets, don't come to my house. We won't miss you!

[stevieb]

On 4/7/2015 GinaV24 said:

stevieb, yes, I feel that way, too. When I was "dating" again, I found that if the dogs didn't like someone, there was a good chance that I wouldn't either. I should have had a dog check him out before I got married, it would have saved me a lot of heartache. LOL

I once had a guy tell me either the cat went or he did... You can probably guess which one of them I set free...

[Amazinggrace2]

I don't want anyone in my house that harbors those kinds of ill feelings or misconceptions about having a pet in the home. That your sister-in-law won't eat at your house because you have pets is just bizarre. I wonder if she knows what really goes on in some restaurant kitchens.

I've known some people who are terrible house keepers and their kitchen is a scary place. I'd be more inclined to worry about that then a cute furry creature.

I've always had indoor cats, and most have lived to be 15-18 years old. At one point, one of my beloved darlings was with me longer than my marriage, lol.

And when I date he has to be an animal devotee!

[GloriBee]

On 4/7/2015 mominohio said:

My question is, do you feel you can have indoor pets, yet still have a clean home? I have had people tell me that they won't visit anywhere that had pets indoors, and especially won't eat at someone's home if they have pets. My husband's cousin married a woman who wouldn't eat at my house because we had a little dog at the time, but you should have seen the cockroach infested place they lived, totally gross!

I don't exclude someone's home being clean, just because there are pets. Having pets, and being 'dirty' don't automatically go hand in hand to me.

What is your situation, and your opinions on the issue?

As far as I am concerned, our pets are family. Period! Anyone who may not want to come to my home (to eat or otherwise) can just stay home. My kitchen is clean. I wash my hands constantly while in the kitchen. The house is clean. Do I have liter boxes? Yes. Can you smell them (this reminds me of those commercials), I am guessing yes.

Again...if you don't like it, stay home!

[PamelaSue72]

My DH was never much of a cat person; he didn't dislike them, it's just that they always had dogs when he was growing up. But enter a pregnant stray who came into our house and had a litter of five. He stayed in the bedroom with her while she gave birth. I was out in the hallway with two of our other cats who sat on the hallway side of the closed door, wondering what was going on.

We still have two of those kittens from that litter and they are now 19 years old; their mama died when she was 20. Those "kittens" are the feline loves of DH's life and he would do anything he could for those furkids. And he even puts up with Tabby awakening him in the morning by laying on his chest and purring (yes, all six cats sleep in "their" bed with us). Sure beats an alarm clock!

I wonder about people who don't like having pets. A few years ago, a working acquaintance visited us. All she did was say that she couldn't believe we had eight (back then it was 8) cats. She said she didn't want a cat on her lap. She asked me where she could sit that she didn't have to worry about cat hair. It was a litany of issues about cats. I finally asked her to kindly leave. To this day, we do not speak. I don't care.

[queendiva]

Pet ownership and the cleanliness of one's home: two separate issues.

Owning most cats or dogs will certainly require more housework. My previous dog was a 5 year old pure bread rescue. He clearly had some obedience training from his first owner. As a result he only went up to the second floor- specifically my bedroom- in the event of a thunderstorm. At least half the house had a minimum of dog hair, LOL!

I now have two small dogs: one Havanese mix (6) and an elderly foster (15) terrier.

I would not trade my dog for any thing or any one. He is the very definition of unconditional love. The foster sheds like mad and has accidents occasionally. Very challenging and not even close to being a good situation for me. Any life has more value to me than a spotless home. To each her own.

What "dirt" does my dog generate more than my sons did/do? Both left dirty dishes, created the occasional "accident" and tracking in of dirty feet. My dog never leaves a mess in the bathroom- heck, he's not even allowed in there. He generates no laundry and never leaves crumbs on the kitchen floor.

If you are one who would not enter my home because I have dogs- I hope you never need a ride anywhere. There's probably dog hair in my car, too.