OT - Long-hair pets in the house

[LiveMusic]

I love animals. But I moved in with my brother a few weeks ago and I don't know if I can take this. He has a golden retriever. I had one. I love these dogs. Nice dog. But sheds like crazy. This dog scratched CONSTANTLY. I finally told him I can't take this anymore, take this dog to the vet. They said the dog has fleas and he is scratching that and that's causing infections and stuff. I dunno about that. Seems to me the dog has a permanent skin affliction.

 

He has two long-hair cats. One is nice and friendly and playful, one is worthless. Both cats shed like crazy.

 

Clumps of hair are everywhere. Yuck. I pick them up all the time. I'm not a very good housekeeper. In fact, I'm a slob but I'm going to have to do something.

 

The hair in this house is just horrific. I don't know if I can live here. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for managing this. I mean, yeah, sweep and vacuum every day or whatever but I thought maybe someone had some insightful tips.

 

And the cats sometimes do not use their litterbox, they pee or crap outside it. He has to hide the litterbox behind a door because the dog will get into it and eat the cat crap. It shouldn't be any big deal to a cat to do a little navigating but it's not in the open.

 

It's a pretty serious problem. Especially for someone who has allergies. I also have a super senstive nose. I can't even stand to stay in his office, where the dog stays by his side all the time. The odor just knocks me out. He can't even smell it. I put an air purifier in there with ozone generator and it helped tremendously very quickly.

[Lee Flier]

AGGHHH. That's crazy, Duke, nobody should have to put up with that including the animals themselves.

 

OK, here's what you do. First give the dog a good bath. Any kind of dog shampoo from the pet store will do, but here's the important part: after you shampoo him, use a creme rinse conditioner (for people) on him. I recommend Infusium 23, it works really well. Mix about a cup of it with a cup of water and pour it all over him, let it sit for a minute or two and rinse it off. You will notice a SHITLOAD of hair comes out with it. Then brush him out as best you can (more hair will come out). This should keep him from shedding much for the next few weeks, if you're sure to brush him. If he starts to shed again at that point, repeat the bath. But the creme rinse trick works REALLY well to remove most of the loose hair and prevent more shedding.

 

Next, get some Advantage flea spray from the vet. It's pretty much a certainty the dog has fleas, and yes constant scratching from fleas can cause other skin conditions. Advantage works for at least a month per treatment and NOTHING else really works for a large, long haired dog. They'll try to sell you on the drops that go on the back of the neck, but get the spray bottle. The drops just don't work for big dogs (you can get them for the cats though). Bathe him first (so the spray doesn't wash off) and then give him the spray when he's dry.

 

The cats can also be bathed and flea treated, but I don't know how to do that for a long haired cat and it takes a very brave soul to bathe a cat. As I said, for flea treatment the Advantage or Frontline drops on the back of the neck work well.

 

Finally, get the poor cats an enclosed litter box. There are litter boxes that have a hood over them so the dog can't get in. The cats probably resent the dog's intrusion into their private territory and usually if a cat goes outside the litter box it's because they're pissed off about something - likely either the dog invading the box, or the box isn't cleaned often enough. The cats might also be itchy and irritable from fleas and lack of grooming. If my cats get fleas their entire personality changes until I get rid of them. If you itched constantly to the point where you scratched or bit your skin raw, you'd be irritated too, and maybe feel tempted to piss on somebody. If bathing the cats is out of the question, just do the drops and brush them regularly.

 

If you do exactly what I said and don't scrimp on anything, it should help a TON. Good luck.

[LiveMusic]

Okay, very cool tips. He has an enclosed litterbox that's like a travel crate thing but the door, the dog can just stick his head in there and chomp away. So, I'm not sure what you mean about that.

 

As for bathing, he bathed the dog a few times (with some kind of med shampoo), like three times in ten days but it still didn't do it and that's when I told him the dog needed treatment. CONSTANT scratching. BTW, this has had like a lifelong skin problem.

 

The good news is the dog is MUCH better. Vet gave her some shots and drops. Drops for cats, too.

 

That conditioner trick, that sounds good. The cats, no hope to bathe them, I don't think.

 

As for sweeping and vacuuming a lot, man, what a pain to get around all the stuff on the floor. I need to figure out a way to get a cleaner floor space so it's easier. I don't know how to do that, just like any house, if you don't have stuff on the floor, you just have a blank house. I wish I had this superpowerful vacuum hose you could just turn on and it would suck out all the hair but not tables and chairs.

[Rog]

I bathe my long haired cat.

 

I don't use special cat shampoo but I make sure I don't use anything scented and I rinse him very, very well. Make sure you keep the cat indoors until he's dry and he's had a chance to groom himself too.

 

To bathe a cat, get the water running right first, you don't want to have to sort that whilst holding down a fiesty moggy. Make sure it's luke warm and not running very fast ... we have a shower in our bath with a detachable hose which works well.

 

After the water is running fine, grab the cat, close the bathroom door so he can't escape and put him in the bath and firmly (but not too firmly) grab the back of his neck and hold him down. If the temperature is fine then the water won't bother him too much but make sure you don't get his head wet and make sure no water goes in the ears. He will struggle at first but as long as you don't let him move about then he'll quickly get the message he's going nowhere.

 

You have to regularly groom long haired cats. Get a grooming mit and put him on your lap. It can be tough if it's an older cat and hes never been groomed though.

 

I use flea drops ... a few on the back of his neck. I also treat the house: no point protecting the animal if he gets fleas from the house as well as from outside.

[Lee Flier]

Originally posted by LiveMusic:

Okay, very cool tips. He has an enclosed litterbox that's like a travel crate thing but the door, the dog can just stick his head in there and chomp away. So, I'm not sure what you mean about that.

I'd recommend this

 

Or this

 

As for bathing, he bathed the dog a few times (with some kind of med shampoo), like three times in ten days but it still didn't do it and that's when I told him the dog needed treatment. CONSTANT scratching. BTW, this has had like a lifelong skin problem.

Well it's certainly possible that the dog has other skin problems, but the fleas never help, and bathing alone doesn't do any good for fleas, you need a strong flea treatment. Like I said, Advantage spray is the only one I know that works for a long time and also isn't terribly toxic to humans or the pet. The stuff you get at pet stores does not work.

 

There's also a product called Flea Busters which is a boric acid based powder and you can put it on carpets, furniture etc. It will kill fleas and break their life cycle. It takes a week or two to work, but it's non toxic to humans and pets, doesn't smell at all, and works really well.

 

The good news is the dog is MUCH better. Vet gave her some shots and drops. Drops for cats, too.

That's good!

 

That conditioner trick, that sounds good.

My life with long haired dogs was hell until I learned that one. You will be stunned at how much less hair gets shed off when you do this trick! Much easier and nicer than constant vacuuming.

 

And yeah, Rog's tip about the grooming mitt for cats is good - they really like those. Long haired cats and dogs who are groomed regularly are a pleasure and are happy, those who aren't groomed really suffer and also make life tough for humans.

[henrysb3]

I just heard a vet say that with multiple cats you need 1.5 litter boxes per cat. I realize this might be overkill, but you might see if there's a second location the cats can use and the dog can't access, perhaps across some barrier the cats can jump but the dog can't. The best cat pet I ever had was a HUGE black Halloween guy who rarely used the litter box - he marked outside. If your brother's pets are allowed to go outside, sprinkle a bit of the used litter in different corners of the yard to get them used to the idea of making the daily deposit there. Near your neighbor's deck would be a site you might consider (previous thread). Spreading the joy around the yard also will keep rabbits and other garden pests on their toes and maybe away from your crops. Grooming the animals outside also helps.

 

Our present dog has allergies that make her itch and scratch. It's seasonal, and the vet gives her a shot every once in a while to relieve the symptoms.

 

Long haired pets require lots of grooming. I'm not sure whether the lack of cold weather in your area prevents them from growing the thick undercoat that is often the culprit in pet hair shedding. Our dog, a Papillon, doesn't have that type of undercoat, so she doesn't shed nearly as much, but she can't stand the cold for more than a few minutes before she starts shivering. Our previous dogs (Shepherds, Welch Corgi and Lab mix) all could happily lay in the snow and not appear uncomfortable, but they all would shed that equivalent of goose down twice a year.

 

Henry

[LiveMusic]

Yeah, the golden I had, she would shed little tufts of hair like goose down when it got hot. I don't think my brother's dog does this, it's just regular long hair. The cats are just as bad if not worse. Beautiful animals. Very long black hair with the greenest eyes I've ever seen. But they do NOT go outside, so that's a problem. That 1.5 boxes per cat, that's interesting. I haven't even thought of that and it might be appropos because these two are brothers and they fuss and fight sometimes.

[Lee Flier]

Ahhh. Yeah, definitely some cats in multi-cat households have issues with sharing their litter box. One of mine did when she was younger actually, she wouldn't go in it if the other cat had. She eventually got over it, although she still fusses if I don't clean the box immediately. Other than in the winter, it's mostly not an issue though, cuz mine go outside.

[Shars]

Some useful advice....get yourself some yellow household gloves http://www.allsafetysupplies.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/TN_GLX133Y.jpg put them on, and where you see the fur, rub your hand over it and it will clump up into balls.

It will remove hair quickly and even on carpets,fabics,soft furnishings and its cheap!

The other thing is you can use a washing up sponge with the green scrubber on on side http://www.higherpowersupplies.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/jn/240/FCLO2464.jpg and use these to wipe the hair up with.

Both ways are effective and get rid of hair and dust quickly.

I would get that dog back to the vets to, it could have mange which can affect humans if left and turns nasty if its not treated and causes unessasary suffering to the animal.

Hope that helps.

As for the cat problem, add some catnip into the litter box as they will get excited and go in there instead because cats love the stuff.

Try the above and see how it goes.

I have a long haired dog and use the above tips everywhere when shes shedding and its pretty quick and doesnt leave smells like when you hoover up and it gets trapped in the bag.

[deanmass]

I have tried bathing my long haired pets, but when drying them using the Monty Python hold-by-the-tail and beat against the rug method of drying, I am only able to bath them once..(well, I COULD bath them more, but they are gonna just keep stinking til they are buried...

[Charlie-brm]

I like having two goldens at at time but they play fight a lot so it's like time lapse photography watching the hair accumulate on the rug. The oldest is blowing coat like crazy this month and always scratching. I'm going to try that creme conditioner tip.

 

They're not always cuddly:::

http://members.rogers.com/blackrivermedia/images/dogfightm.jpg

 

A chronic scratching could be a food allergy. Check into that. For example Iams is well regarded but it can be the cause of dry skin for many dogs.

[Shars]

LM, how did you go with the hair problem?

be intresting to know

[Bbach1]

Speaking of animal hair and alergies: My eleven year old daughter wants a puppy really bad. I was going to give in because she (my daughter, not the puppy) has such beautiful brown eyes that I pretty much give in to anything if she begs enough. However, my wife and family are all very alergic to pets, pet hair, food, dust, sun, shade, etc, etc. So then, my daughter and I sought out some low shedding breads (most some kind of poodle cross - yuk), but the wife still nixed that. No pets in the bucky household.

[theblue1]

Well, by the time I got to the end of your post, the answer was clear to me: ya gotta move.

 

But your brother still needs to take care of business, too, for his own sake and for his pets.

 

I don't know how bad the flea season is where you are, but sometimes you can break the cycle of fleas for a whole year with an application of Advantage or Frontline for a couple months -- on all the animals. Just doing the dog will not solve all the problem, in all likelihood.

 

But DO NOT -- UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES -- use the over-the-counter concoctions from Hartz or other animal product purveyors. Despite claims to the contrary, they are extremely dangerous to cats. I didn't believe it at first, thinking the vets just wanted to keep their lucrative Advnatage/Frontline franchises -- but I've never met a vet (or animal activist) who didn't think they were dangerous. (The cat-adoption-activist who helped me find homes for 3 rescue kittens I took in was adamant about only using the prescription products. She said she'd seen a number of animals that became sick or died after the Hartz flea poison was used on them. (I don't say this to bum out people who've used it in the past. I just think it's important to warn people about this product.)

 

Unfortunately, the prescription flea meds are expensive. Fortunately, you can save a fair bit by getting the anti-flea meds online from PetCareRX and the like. But you will have to get the animals looked at by your vet, in all likelihood, before you can get a script for them.

 

But, I'll tell you what: one of my cats got fleas like crazy. I could flea comb him every day and get 60-70 fleas a day. Day after day.

 

After a while there were fleas -- and, especially, flea larvae -- in my dreams. I could barely stand to look at my carpet to imagine what was wiggling around down there...

 

But Advantage knocked it out like that. Scary fast. And (presumably because the cat is always scattering its now-flea-toxic-dander everywhere -- that's making nature work for you... sorta) fleas in the surrounding area/house are usually knocked out, too.

 

Okay, that covers the fleas...

[whitefang]

I have two Shi-Tzus. we keep them cut short because we have other things in life then to groom them eight hours a day. And we happen to think they actually look BETTER with short hair than long! Shi-Tzu's fur mats easily. Don't forget when brushing, use one of those fine bristled, metal bristled brushes and brush against the "grain". But since their fur grows quickly, and gets pretty long before they get back to the groomer's, I'm gonna try that conditioner trick.

 

When my ex and me were breeding silver Persians(cats), we learned two things; 1. Bathing a cat requires more protective clothing than a football player, and 2. A breeder told us that a cheap and effective substitute for kitty litter. Do you take a daily paper? Put a section on the bottom of the litter pan. You can roll it up at day's end, throw it in the can outside and nobody is the wiser. Granted, the younger the cat, the easier the conversion. Saved us tons of money, as we had seven cats in our cattery, and the paper cost us only $1.45 a week!

 

Whitefang

[LiveMusic]

Originally posted by Lee Flier:

Originally posted by LiveMusic:

Okay, very cool tips. He has an enclosed litterbox that's like a travel crate thing but the door, the dog can just stick his head in there and chomp away. So, I'm not sure what you mean about that.

I'd recommend this

 

Or this

Those links don't work? Can you tell me what you are talking about?

[ani]

When I first took the little stray kitten to the Vet to get him cleaned up and up to date on vaccines, he was too young to treat thoroughly with Advantage. The Vet told me to apply the drops very sparingly while using caution not to overdose. When I got to the counter, the manager of the store was present by the cashiers desk when I asked for the drops. Having the kitten of 1 1/2 pounds in my hands, the manager asked if the drops were for the kitten. When I told him yes, he highly recommended against the vets referral to Advantage for kittens and said that the kitten was much too young and too small to be treated without endangering him.

 

The manager then recommended Ivory Liquid Handsoap for bathing the kitten. He said to use NO alternative to the product, and to thoroughly bath the kitten with the soap. Said the soap was non toxic in every way to humans and pets, and yet said it will kill fleas upon contact. Now that the kitten is older, I use both the Ivory to bathe and the drops periodically. My kitten and cat are pretty well flea free, but I think that some fleas got into my daughters carpet when my son first brought the stray home. I think that I'll try the Flea Busters that Lee mentioned; thanks Lee.

[Programgirl]

Food allergy could definitely be the cause of the skin problem. My dog has issues with chicken, but when I switched her over to a lamb and rice formula her skin cleared right up, almost overnight. I use the Nutro Max brand but Iams is also good. You have to switch them over gradually though, or they will throw up everywhere.

 

Invest in the vet brand flea products - it is totally worth it. Do not use the grocery store brand! Once when I was dirt poor and my cat had fleas I thought I could get away with this. She ended up having seizures for days.

 

For the pet hair rubber gloves work great, and you can rinse them off when you're done. A good brushing outside on a weekly basis will also help a lot. My dog has fur like wires - if I didn't brush her regularly, it would be like living in a cactus in my house.

 

Just some things I've learned from experience.

[LiveMusic]

As for ease of cleaning all of the hair on these hardward floors... what do you think would be best? You can buy a Swiffer mop thing with disposable towelette things. I also saw a 48" mop-like thing that has adhesive paper, like a pet hair picker upper. You roll it over the furniture and floor. That would be better from not making hair fly around. I have allergies. Well, either of those would make hair fly around like sweeping would.

 

I also thought of just vacuuming the floor. Of course, money is an issue and with the regularity this will require, these refills will get expensive. If vacuuming the floor works, it would cost zero. I wonder if they make a vacuum for floors.

 

Shit, these aren't my pets but man, I dunno if it's worth this. I have no choice. Either figure out how to deal with it or leave. My brother, nothing bothers him. NOTHING. Amazing. The friggin Buddha is hyper compared to him.

[ani]

LiveMusic,

 

Perhaps a wet/dry vacuum, maybe a shop vac, would work well for the situation you are in. The water solution in the vacuum would keep the dander from being exhausted in any way. Also, having a nozzle instead of a roller head would allow you to maneuvre around obstacles and would allow you to vacuum furniture as well.

[LiveMusic]

Originally posted by Ani:

LiveMusic,

 

Perhaps a wet/dry vacuum, maybe a shop vac, would work well for the situation you are in. The water solution in the vacuum would keep the dander from being exhausted in any way. Also, having a nozzle instead of a roller head would allow you to maneuvre around obstacles and would allow you to vacuum furniture as well.

Hey, that's an idea! That might be the ticket.

[ani]

When seeking the purchase of a wet/dry vac you might inquire about those that will allow you to drop deodorizing tablets or drops into the water. They will help to sterilize the surroundings.

 

Some use plain water, others require specialize formulas such as the Bissel brand. I'd go with a multipurpose vac that would allow you a broad range of use instead of those limited in their capacity.

[boosh]

http://www.frantic-nutbush.com/dread.jpg

Long Haired Pet?

[gtrmac]

In spite of a lot of good suggestions from everybody it would seem to me that a house with three long haired pets is not a good place for someone with allergies, even if the pet owner was fastidious about cleaning up the hair which is not the case I guess.

 

I think you have to bite the bullet and move out or else you'll be spending a lot of time and energy cleaning up someone else's mess.