Recently we took in a second cat, a stray kitten that was in need of a home. She is adorable, playful, great with the kids, but definitely adds to the mess in our house! With multiple cats the job of keeping the house clean gets a little tougher!
Here are a few tips that we use to keep our house clean with multiple cats.
The Cat Hair
Both of our cats are super soft and happen to shed a lot! To keep on top of the cat hair we vacuum regularly, but that doesn’t quite get all the hair.
The gold standard of pet vacuums is of course any Dyson Animal model, but there are many more options out there as well, like this Shark cordless pet vacuum.
Brushing
Brushing your cats regularly keeps the cat hair at bay. If the weather’s nice, we try to do this chore outside to keep the hair from blowing around the house.
Removing Hair
My cats love to sit on the windowsill and leave large amounts of hair on the curtains. The quickest way we’ve found to fix this is to run a tape roller on the curtains. Even my younger kids can help out with this chore and there’s no need to drag out the big vacuum.
Washing Bedding
Cats are creatures of habit and tend to pick out favorite nap spots where they’ll shed a ton of hair. Our cats love to cuddle on the office chair and in our bed. We keep a towel on the office chair and a cat bed on our bed.
Then we can shake out the towel and bedding and throw it in the wash. This saves us from having to wash our large comforter or vacuuming the office chair every day.
The Litter Mess with Multiple Cats
The biggest mess with having multiple cats is the litter box! Our cats are not fans of sharing so we have two. I don’t mind this at all, because if a cat doesn’t feel comfortable going in the one and only litter box, they will find somewhere else to go and then you’ll have an even bigger mess on your hands.
The Litter Box
Using a litter box with a “roof” serves two purposes. It keeps the cats from kicking litter out of the box and typically has a filter built in that is meant to absorb odors. Adding a mat under the box helps to trap stray litter that may spill out.
The Litter
We use scoop-able litter and scoop every day or two. We also keep a dustpan and brush right next to the litter box to take care of any spills as soon as we see them.
A stick vacuum close by works great too! For the smell, try adding a sprinkle of baking soda to the litter to help absorb odors.
Accidents
Hopefully your cats will stick to their litter box, but if they do happen to have an accident, it’s important to clean it quickly and thoroughly so the cats don’t think this is an acceptable act to keep going!
My two suggestions for cleaning cat urine are white vinegar or Nature’s Miracle
Hopefully, these tips help keep your multiple cat home free of hair and smelling fresh! Then you can put your feet up, grab a cup of tea, and snuggle with your cats!
