The Crazy Cat Lady & Swiffer

I grew up in a home without pets. I had one dog whom I christened “Tojo” for a few months when I was ten. One day he hopped a ride on the back of my dad’s truck, unnoticed, perhaps in an attempt to find an owner who would give him a better name. We searched for this dog for months. A year later we finally found him living at my (seldom visited) aunt’s house. He had been renamed “Squirrel.” I’m not sure that was a step up in the name department. Because her children had grown attached to Squirrel, he remained at their home. I didn’t have another pet until I was an adult.

Disclosure: I am a Swiffer Fanatic and this is a partnered post. However, my Swiffer Sweeper has been my go-to cleaning tool since it was created in 1999.

I didn’t consider myself a cat person until after I married. My father-in-law found a newborn half-frozen kitten in his barn. Instead of taking her to his house, he brought her to me. I wasn’t sure what to do with her. I named her Icy, fed her with a toy baby bottle, and fell in love.

From there it’s been a downhill slide into the world of “Crazy Cat Lady.” We now have four rescue cats; one we adopted from the animal shelter, one we rescued from the side of a busy road, and two failed fosters. They each have a unique personality, sometimes good, sometimes bad. It’s Pet Appreciation Week so here’s a tribute to our cats.

Mitzie is our oldest, at seven. She was named after an anime character during my kids’ manga reading phase. She’s learned how to turn on the kitchen faucet by herself. She’s also learned how to dart out the back door at lightning speed. I owe a lot of my exercise habits to chasing her around the backyard.

Okie, also named during the unfortunate Manga phase, is next, at six. My family tends to call him “the jerk cat” because he smacks them with his paw whenever they walk by. With me, he comes to sit in my lap and purrs contentedly. Good cat.

Our two fosters are both five. Daisy is a Siamese who was abused before she was rescued. Even though she’s been with us for five years, she’s still terrified of strangers and loud noises. It took a long while but she has *sort of* warmed up to us. She will sit in the same room and tolerate some petting, usually on her terms.

Trix is cuddly and lovable. He’s always there to stick his paw in our face. He loves attention and will happily paw until you pet him. He also has a bad habit of running out the front door when I answer the doorbell. My neighbors are used to me running in circles around the front yard, chasing the cat.

What I don’t appreciate about my pets is the mess they make. Hairballs. Fur clumps. Shedding. Scratching litter onto the floor. To help keep my home “paw-fectly” clean, I use products from Swiffer and Febreze.

Don’t want my house to smell like pets (or worse yet, litterboxes) when someone comes to visit? I give the rooms a spray of Febreze Air Heavy Duty Pet Odor Eliminator. It has 2X more odor eliminating power so smells are gone fast! I add a quick spritz of Febreze Fabric Pet Odor Eliminator to curtains, upholstery, and chairs-since these items are hard to wash- and I’m ready to say, “Come on in!”

Afraid there’s so much shedding around the house I could donate enough to cover a small furless cat? I’ve got choices. I can give a quick dust with my Swiffer Sweeper, my Swiffer Wetjet, and my Swiffer Dusters.

My Swiffer Sweeper is my everyday go-to item. I use it with either the Swiffer Sweeper Dry or Wet Pet Refills with Febreze Odor Defense that Trap + Lock. The dry cloth has ridges that contour with my floor, picking up an embarrassing amount of pet hair. The wet cloth whisks away dirt and grime, leaving my floors clean.

My Swiffer WetJet is great for whole house cleaning, but I use it most for spot mopping. Take that hairballs and the occasional pet accident. As far as the Swiffer dusters, these have 50% more fibers than regular dusters and pick up 3X as much dust as feather dusters. Score! That means I dust less. That makes me happy.

Worried they might harm your pet? Independent studies by the ASPCA have found all Swiffer products, including Swiffer Sweeper, Swiffer WetJet, Swiffer 360 Dusters, are safe for use in households with pets. Independent studies by the National Animal Poison Control Center say they have no evidence that Febreze, when used according to label instructions, is harmful to pets.

Learn more about Swiffer at their website. Learn more about Febreze at their website. Swiffer and Febreze products are available at most major retail and grocery stores, including Kroger.

If you have pets, #Don’tSweatYourPet. Appreciate them instead! How will you be celebrating Pet Appreciation week?

Simply Southern Mom

You Might Like These Posts:

17 Comments