vacuum cleaner

Review: Bissell Air Ram® – The Life Changing Magic of a Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

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When you share your life with cats, you’re going to be vacuuming. A lot. Whether it’s litter or cat hair, there’s always something that needs to be picked up. And when you only have a heavy, clunky old vacuum cleaner, and a two-story house, like I do, vacuuming is not the most fun activity. I had been researching cordless vacuum cleaners for quite some time, but until I received the Bissell Air Ram® for review, I had no idea just how wonderful a cordless vacuum really is.Continue Reading

Ruby’s Reflections: Why I Don’t Like Saturday Mornings

Ruby's Reflections| 33 Comments

Ruby's_Reflections

Hi, everyone! It’s Ruby! I finally get to write something again! Life has been good. Keeping Allegra in line and making sure Mom doesn’t work too much are full time jobs, but I also have to watch the birds and squirrels on our deck, and eat, and play and sleep – a kitty’s work is never done!

The only thing that I don’t like about my life is Saturday mornings. Why, you ask? Well, that’s when “The Monster” comes out at our house. The Monster is loud, and things disappear in its wake, and I want it to go away and never come back, but every Saturday morning, it comes upstairs from its’ corner in the basement. Mom says she needs to use it to make our house nice and clean. Whatever!Continue Reading

Bissell Lift Off Deluxe Pet Deep Cleaner Review

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My entire house is carpeted (with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms.) The carpet in my living room, hallway, and upstairs bedrooms is off white. And it’s the original carpet, so it’s about 35 years old. It has been through as many years of homeowners with cats. Between the original owners and me, my carpets have dealt with a total of seven cats so far. Nobody who walks into my house believes me that the carpet is that old.

I vacuum weekly, and for the first 20+ years that I’ve lived in this house, I’ve had my carpets professionally cleaned. But for the last few years, I discontinued the professional cleanings. Between Buckley’s heart disease, and Amber getting older, I didn’t want to stress them out by having to lock them into a bathroom for the time it would take to get the whole house cleaned. When Allegra and Ruby joined me, I thought that the time was right to have the carpet cleaned professionally again, but Allegra hates being locked up so much that she actually starts trying to dig her way out from under the door. And Ruby is terrified of the sound of the vacuum cleaner.

My solution: get a steam carpet cleaner, and do it myself.Continue Reading

Cats and Vacuum Cleaners

Feline Lifestyle| 37 Comments

cat_with_vacuum cleaner

When it comes to cats and vacuum cleaners, there seems to be no grey zone: cats either hate them, of, if a slew of videos on YouTube is to be believed, love them. I’ve never had a cat who loved the vacuum cleaner, and with the exception of Allegra, all my cats have always been afraid of “The Monster,” as we call it at our house.

It’s not surprising that most cats dislike vacuums. They’re loud – even to us. Imagine what they sound like to far more sensitive cat ears. They move at the cat’s level, and seem to be able to go anywhere. They eat everything in their path. What’s not to be afraid of?

Feebee was terrified of the vacuum cleaner and would hide under the bed until I was done. Amber’s hiding place was the shower stall in the downstairs bathroom. Buckley was neutral about the vacuum cleaner when she was my office cat at the animal hospital and would watch it go by while sitting on my desk. Continue Reading

Ruby’s Reflections: House Cleaning

Ruby's Reflections| 12 Comments

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Hi, everyone! It’s Ruby! Mom says I have a “propensity to get myself in trouble.” I think that’s human speak for “I know how to have fun!”

The other day, I was helping Mom clean the house. I like almost everything about that, except for when Mom brings out the big scary monster. It’s this big blue thing with a long tail, and it makes this really scary noise. And it moves all over the house, and eats stuff that is in its path. I hide all the way in the corner of the living room behind an end table when the monster is running free, because I know it can’t get back there. I don’t know why Allegra isn’t afraid of that thing – she actually follows it around the house!

Other than the monster, though, helping  Mom clean is great fun. Allegra and I both like to bat at the lambswool duster. It’s like a big fuzzy toy, and we like to try and subdue it! I think Mom likes when we help her, because she always praises us, and we even get treats after the big monster goes away.

But the other day, I guess I did something Mom wasn’t thrilled with. She had sprayed something on a small stain on the carpet, and then turned away to grab a paper towel. I immediately went to investigate. There was some white bubbly stuff there that looked very interesting. I cautiously stuck my paw in it. Next thing I know, I hear Mom scream “Ruby, no!”Continue Reading

Bissell Perfect Sweep Turbo: the spilled litter terminator

Products| 17 Comments

cat with vacuum cleaner

If you have a litter kicker like I do (we won’t name any names here, but her name starts with the letter “R”…), you know it’s a constant battle to keep the area around the litter box clean. I’ve always used a Dustbuster, and it worked fine, but it didn’t always pick up everything. When the PR agency for Bissell contacted me to see if I wanted to try the Bissell Perfect Sweep Turbo, I was definitely interested.

The Bissell Perfect Sweep Turbo is a cordless rechargeable sweeper. The product is described as follows:Continue Reading