Dog owners, bird owners, hamster, ferrets...and all other pets, except cats. Do you do anything special to keep your house smelling fresh?

Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Do you worry about PET odors in your home? What tricks do you uses to keep your home smelling fresh?

I did a separate discussion for CAT owners, since there seems to be a unique attention (at least in ads and with products) about trying to keep CAT HOMES smelling fresh!!!!??? Is that a real worry, over other pets?
10/02/2012
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Contributor: Sundae Sparkles Sundae Sparkles
I have a hamster and Yes I do worry about pet orders.
I spot check his home everyday cleaning his wheel and water area
I take apart and clean his home once a week
I give Moxie a dust bath once a week
I really want the Hamster litter kit as another way to control odors

has anyone used anti oder drops in their small pets water?
I'm not sure if I wanna go that far but I have a real odd paranoia of things smelling even though everyone says the hamster area doesn't smell....
10/02/2012
Contributor: Trysexual Trysexual
My Beagle does a good job of keeping herself really clean and I bathe my shih tzu from time to time. They sell odor absorbers @ lowes I use that have linen/vanilla/ocean breeze scents that help too. Alternatively you could leave baking power out. I vacuum often too.
10/02/2012
Contributor: charletnarouh charletnarouh
Vinegar and baking soda is great for pet odors. I'm a dog groomer and we keep a cage free facility. As you might imagine, between potty accidents and wet dog smell, it's a challenge. We clean with baking soda and distilled white vinegar. It works great and our customers are usually shocked that there isn't an odor in the shop. Plus, it lets us avoid harsh chemicals and fumes. The smell of the vinegar can be strong while you're cleaning but it goes away completely once it's dry. We use it on our epoxy flooring and all the surfaces, bathtubs, counters, etc, including tile with grout. The baking soda is great for cleaning textured surfaces too! Even bleach doesn't get our grout as clean as the vinegar and baking soda. For all of our floors, we sprinkle baking soda everywhere and then scrub with a long handled scrub brush dipped in vinegar/water solution. Then we suck all the water up with a hoover floor machine, but you could accomplish the same thing with a sponge mop, I think. The only trick is to make sure you get all the baking soda dissolved or it can leave white streaks. But even if this happens, a sponge or cloth dampened with vinegar and water will eliminate the streaks really fast. I clean our textured walls before cleaning the floors with a damp sponge dipped in baking soda. Then I use a vinegar soaked scrub brush to scrub it off the walls. Then I clean the floors. I had a roommate with a cat who refused the use the litter box. Once I discovered that the roommate's entire bedroom had become the litter box, I kicked the roommate out and had to deal with the carpet. It took over 2 gallons of white vinegar but I even got the smell out of the carpet!
10/02/2012
Contributor: KyotoAngel KyotoAngel
We stick his furry little butt in the tub and give him a bath, but other than that he doesn't really smell that bad so we don't need to do anything special unless he's having a mood swing where he's peeing in the house a lot.

When that happens it's usually that carpet powder you sprinkle on and then vacuum up later considering his favorite spot seems to be the hall carpet.
10/03/2012
Contributor: LadyDarknezz LadyDarknezz
We don't do anything special, but we clean over here a LOT due to the fact that my dog sheds all the damn time. We have to give her special baths to reduce the shedding and I have to brush her every day. Pomchis do tend to have a lot of fur after all lol.
10/03/2012
Contributor: indiglo indiglo
With small animals (or anything that has a cage), I've found keeping the cage clean has always taken care of any possible odor problem. That means cleaning it regularly and removing uneaten food before it gets yucky.

With the dog, bathing regularly helps, and I've always kept blankets or throws on the main couch and furniture. Then those get washed and replaced every week during regular cleaning. Rugs can also be washed to get doggy smell out, and occasional cleaning with a carpet shampooer on the carpeted areas.

A couple other sure fire methods I've used over the years are just opening up the windows to air the place out, and simmering cinnamon sticks on the stove. (With a parrot, I'm very limited on what kind of odor removing products I can use, but simmering cinnamon sticks on the stove is still safe and works really well!)
10/03/2012