Many times over the years we’ve been asked how we can possibly live with so many cats.
“Lemme guess. You have OCD and you vacuum every single day, right?” and “Gee, by now, cat fur must be part of your DNA!” and “The amount of fur alone must be maddening, or mat-tening. Get it? Har-Har. *elbow poke to the ribs*”
Oh, yes. We’ve just been ignoring all the fur all these years and here we find ourselves at admission time. As of November 19th of last year, the accumulated fur level finally reached our earlobes. Mom’s earlobes, specifically, which brings it just below Dad’s collarbone. Mom says it’s soft and oh, so fluffy, but everyone looks at her funny when she leaves the house dressed as a puff ball. Har-Har.
Oh, the fur! – © Colehauscats.com
Actually…. you’d be hard-pressed to find much fur lying around our place and no, we aren’t OCD because if we were, we’d rearrange the letters, OCD, to be in the correct alphabetical order: CDO. So there!
We were asked recently if we have a routine. Maybe you have one or maybe not. Maybe you’re looking for one. We have a routine and it’s surprisingly easy for us to keep everyone happy and everything clean, maybe because we’ve been doing it for so long? Or maybe because we can adapt quickly to changing behaviors and personality types? Maybe we don’t want any more demerits from Patrol Sergeant Sunny? Who knows?
Let’s start with a full disclosure – We have six SureFlap microchip-activated feeders, laminate floors throughout, a central vacuum, and a Bissell steam mop. And persistence. The cats wouldn’t let us get away with not having persistence.
A row of SureFlap feeders – © Colehauscats.com
Our Routine: The Short Version
Feeding – Twice a day
* Miss Newton, Sunny, and Ruby – Wet food breakfast at 5 a.m. or earlier, dinner at 6 p.m.
* Tessa and Viola – Wet food leftovers from breakfast/dinner night before. Pia, Quint, and Olivia refuse wet food. For now.
* Tessa, Pia, Quint, Olivia, and Viola – Kibble bowls refilled and checked twice daily.
* Sunny, Pia, Tessa, and Viola get breakfast-only “snack” (about six pieces of “special” kibble each). It’s a silly routine thing.
* Water bowl/fountains wash/refills – Every day
Cleaning – Every day
* Litter boxes emptied twice daily, faithfully. Scrubbed and cleaned once weekly unless more is warranted.
* SureFlap feeder mats cleaned daily, feeders deep cleaned once weekly unless more is warranted.
* Laundry on demand. Some days are barfy days, some days aren’t. All cat blankets/coverings/towels washed every Sunday. Sometimes, toys, too!
* Vacuuming every Wednesday and Sunday. Laminate floors really do keep things cleaner and easier to keep that way.
* Steam mopped floors every Sunday.
* Hand scrubbing/wiping/disinfecting every Sunday or more if warranted.
And, that’s it. Okay, we’re leaving out the finer details: Morning attention time, “helping” Mom comment on blogs, first nap, second nap, morning brushies with Olivia, watching the noon news together, early afternoon nap, grooming attention, “helping” Mom create blog posts including photography sessions, play and chase hour, barf time (or if no barfs make an appearance, rip up something or get into trouble somehow), mid afternoon nap, sun bathing (if applicable) and more grooming, Miss Newton’s “singing” hour until Dad arrives home, dinner, play/Dad attention time, another hour of Miss Newton “singing,” and lastly, bedtime.
Sunny in the sunny room – © Colehauscats.com
Obviously, Sunny doesn’t care about the details. Just give her the sunny, freshly repainted room and she’s happy. We’ll run through some of the finer details of our routine on Wednesday. Riveting stuff, huh?
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A Colehaus Cats flashback:
2017 – No post
2016 – Foster Fridays with Miss Itty
2015 – No post
2014 – One Word Wednesday – Teefs
2013 – Ruby Tuesdays
2012 – No post
guyz…furz in de houz ore knot. mom N dad takez care oh everee one ….incloodin de out side crew, N for that they get 984 PAWZ UP !! N how manee catz ya live with…iz how manee catz ya WANNA live with…de onlee thing we wanna noe iz… how come ewe getz break fest at 5……we hafta wait til 6…..yea…ewe…hurd…..rite……6
🙂 🙂 ♥♥
You are much more diligent than we are, though we do wash all bedding weekly. It was a shock to hubby when I had surgery and he had no idea how much cat care/work there was.
You do have a routine… but it’s still a lot of work keeping your crew happy and well-housed!
I always shake my head when people presume we live in some sort of a mess of filth when we have a larger household of pets. Really? Like I don’t know how to clean or just don’t feel like it? I like it that way? And after that they have the gall to question the time we spend on them, like we could/should be spending our time on something else, insinuation: spending our time on better things. In this house, I make far more of a mess than my cats! I need someone to keep after me!
Holy carp! We are exhausted just reading about schedule! Kudos to your mom!
It’s age to steam mop laminate floors? For real? We are tile and laminate throughout the house, and it really does make it much easier to clean up. But the head peep didn’t know she could use a steam cleaner on the laminate, which is the majority of the house. That could be a game changer!
Well, before you do anything you might regret, know this: our laminate floors are twenty years old. There are some issues here and there already (worn surfaces, dents, small chunks, etc). If you try to use a steam mop on your laminate floors, DO TAKE CARE!!! Use the lowest possible heat setting available, get one that has multiple heat settings, do not use a medium or high setting or it will strip the floors of any shine surface permanently. DO NOT let the steam mop stop or set in one place FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME, even momentarily, or else it will strip the surface of the laminate permanently. Keep the mop moving at all times. We can’t stress this enough. If you do all that, you can probably use one on your laminate floor. Be warmed however, you will eventually lose any high gloss shine you might have had. Ours had no shine at all when we had them installed twenty years ago so this was nothing for us to lose. Please be careful! BTW: Our steam mop is a Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mop model 1940.
I would never have imagined steam mopping my laminate in the kitchen. You guys gave the best mom and dad ever. I hope you each appreciate them.
Routine is good; that way things get remembered! When stuff is done willy-nilly, things get forgotten.
That’s some serious routine, you look very organized ! We didn’t think of barf time, we prefer to keep that kind of event unexpected, MOL ! Purrs
It’s fascinating how well some households run. Mom only has two of us, but does a lot less cleaning than you do. She’s… casual, shall we say.
The mom says if you stay on top of it, it doesn’t get so bad. Glad your routine works for you.
Yes indeed, that routine sounds a bit familiar!
I am impressed with this schedule. I don’t vacuum that often, but I sweep up litter constantly.
Loved reading about your routine and how you keep everyone happy!
Guys, we have a furry similar system to mew…
brekkie at 8am
All bowls washed and clean napkins and plates put down ready fur dinner at 6pm [we have napkins aka paper towels to catch the food that ends up off the dish, so it’s easier to clean up the mess]
Fresh water bowls daily
Hard floors vac’d every morning and steamed mopped once a week, unless there’s accident. Plus dusting and de-cobwebbing occurs before we vac and mop.
Rugs vac’d daily and carpets upstairs effury other day.
Beds and blankeys washed once a week [more often if barfing has occurred] and fluffed up effuryday.
Litter trays changed daily… etc
And all this magic happens while we’re snoozing!!!! MOL
Then we’ll have playtime and each get a brushing session at various stages, depending on whether the staff is at work or home, plus if the weather is conducive we go outdoors while the staff does the garden.
Thanks fur sharing your routine, as it’s nice to know how other multi-cat households go about their daily regimes.
Bestest purrs
Basil & Co xox
FUR! The gift that keeps on giving! I Furminate Bear and Ellie every other day so that helps keep the loose fur off stuff. That said, I don’t even notice fur on my clothes anymore … not because it’s not there … but it’s exactly where it belongs 😉
wow, mum doesn’t have a good routine. She cleans when she needs to.
Riveting, for sure! That’s some routine, and we love that it keeps the whole gang happy and healthy. 🙂