Tag Archives: pets

It Sounds Strange, I Know

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Julie

If you don’t have pets, then you won’t truly understand where I’m coming from. Feeling like a furry animal is a part of your family or, further, is one of your children sounds just plain silly if you have never bonded with a pet of your own.

About 4 years ago, I lost my beloved kitty, “Sweetie.” She was a beautiful long-haired Calico. I adopted her when she was around a year old and I was single, living by myself in an apartment. She was more than my companion, she was my first child.

She was a trooper adjusting to several moves from one apartment to another. Then to a home, a husband and a big black lab mix named, Misty. She wasn’t sure about Misty at all, but she put up with her. A few years later, she got an even bigger adjustment: we had our first child. Then three years later, our daughter arrived. A house with babies and toddlers wasn’t her cup of tea, yet she was patient, forgiving and gentle. When they were too noisy or aggressive, she simply went her own way and let them be.

She was an indoor/outdoor cat and one night, she never came home. We roamed the neighborhood and called animal shelters and animal control. Animal control told us several animals had been killed by coyotes in our area and they were afraid that may have been her fate. Although that was hard to accept, she was 16 years old, lived a good life and I knew in my heart that she would have never been happy had she lived indoors alone. I could not regret letting her have freedom to roam outdoors.

We went a few years without a cat, but I always missed having a feline companion. We adopted a nice little tabby cat (who is still a part of our family), but the bond wasn’t the same.

Then, we found this little cutie at the Humane Society (BTW, all of our animals are shelter animals…you can read their stories here.).

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Keeping Your House Clean with Pets {Sponsored Post}

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Julie

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of BISSELL Homecare, Inc.. All opinions are 100% mine.

As you may recall from my recent post about our newest family member, I have four pets. Yes, four. All of whom have hair that sheds to one degree or another.
Just like my human children, I am tackling messes my furry kids make each day.
Here are 5 tips to keep your house looking and smelling clean with pets:

Vacuum floors at least twice per week and make sure you get in to all the corners, using your vacuum’s hose and tools. (Hint: If your children aren’t old enough to help with vacuuming the floors, give them the job of doing the corners – it’s a great way to keep them busy and involved)
Vacuum your fabric furniture at least once a week Vacuum attachments with brushes are especially good for removing pet hair. Remember to get down in to the corners and lift up the cushions while you’re at it!
Scoop the cat litter once a day This is especially true if you have 2 or more cats like I do. (Hint: This is another great job for your kids!)
Keep the cat litter fresh with baking soda Whenever I scoop the litter, I add a small amount of baking soda to absorb the smell. True, some litters already have baking soda in them, but I add a little extra to keep the odor neutralized. I also use a plug-in air freshener in the laundry room where the litter boxes are kept.
Place a mat or small rug in front of the litter box Doing this helps keep the litter scatter at bay. It doesn’t collect it all, but it definitely helps! (I also use an enclosed litter box which helps a lot too!)

To help you keep your home looking it’s best, BISSEL is providing a $20 off coupon plus FREE SHIPPING on the following products when you use the promo code POWERGLIDE:
PowerGlide Pet Vacuum with Lift-Off Technology – 2763
PowerGlide Pet Bagged Rewind Vacuum – 38631
PowerGlide Pet Vacuum – 1044
Valid 9/12/2013 – 11/30/2013