A&S Homes tips for living with pets

One of the—many—benefits to being a homeowner is the freedom to own pets without a landlord’s permission, and ample space for critters to roam, indoors and outdoors.

But sharing your space with a cat or dog (or bird or fish) comes with its own set of challenges, so we’ve compiled our top tips to pet-proof your home.

Scratch prevention

Unfortunately, our four legged friends are prone to biting and scratching furniture.

To keep doors, floors, and items like couches in new condition, there are a couple options.

Taste deterrents can be bought or made at home and applied to furniture.

Shields or screens for doors are available for purchase online. Keeping your pets’ nails trimmed and putting down area rugs can also reduce damage to floors.

Smell fresh

Speaking of rugs, keeping carpets welcoming means shampooing them often—professionally or otherwise.

Changing air conditioner filters often can also reduce the smells guests notice when they come over (plus it’s good for the unit).

Don’t skip out on Fluffy’s bathtime—a better smelling pet means a better smelling home, while baking soda can reduce litter box smells.

Keep it tidy

You’ll want to minimize the amount of cleaning up after your pet you need to do, and that’s where these ideas come in handy.

• Buy a pet-proof garbage can
• Groom regularly (dogs and cats can’t help shedding, but this can reduce the amount of hair you’re cleaning up)
• Get materialistic—fabrics like microfibre and leather are easier to clean than others
• Get a quality vacuum cleaner—the more pet hair sucked up on round one means less you have to clean later