Before Your Pet Is Housetrained

td>good advice for anybody dealing with animal dirt.
I once heard one of Frank Muir’s storiesTo clean up the mess, you will need the following:
on that old BBC radio programme My Word! Forrubber gloves (as described above); lots of paper
his story, Frank was attempting to “explain”towels, toilet paper or newspaper; a scrubbing
the origin of “The more haste, the lessbrush; and diluted chlorine bleach or disinfectant in
speed” and did so by turning this phrase intoa bowl or other wide-topped container
“The more Hayes’d, the less peed”(don’t use the chlorine bleach on dark
after a story about How to Live with ancoloured surfaces).
Incontinent Afghan Puppy.Your first step involves removing the
The only trouble is, he didn’t explain whatunpleasantness. If the particular crime committed
to do if you are “Mrs Hayes” and have toby your new pet is liquid, then put the paper
clean up after a new pet that hasn’t quitetowels, newspaper or toilet paper over the top of
learnt the rudiments of housetraining or whereit and blot it up. A towel can also be used for this,
the kitty litter tray is. Frank Muir was certainlybut be sure to soak it in disinfectant afterwards
correct in emphasising that cleaning up the messand wash very thoroughly, preferably separately.
quickly is the best way to help the kitten orIf the crime is solid, then pick it up with a paper
puppy learn that the carpet behind the sofa ortowel (etc) and dispose of it. With a particularly
under the dresser isn’t the place to do itnasty mess to tidy up, you will have to make
(along with the usual methods your vet or petseveral attempts at scraping traces of the mess
owners’ manual will teach you, whichup. This is the nastiest part of the job, so work
involve lavish praise when things are done in thequickly.
proper place and judicious use of a water pistolAfter this, you have to make sure of two things.
when they’re not).Firstly, you have to make sure that no traces
Cleaning up after a kitten or puppy has made aremain that have a smell that makes your new
mess isn’t pleasant. There is no way thatpet think that this is the correct place to go.
you can avoid smelling the repulsive stuff.Secondly, you have to make sure that all the
It’s one of those nasty jobs that you justbacteria are killed for hygiene reasons. To do this,
have to grit your teeth and do it (my childrenpour some of the dilute chlorine bleach or
once tried putting pegs over their noses to keepdisinfectant onto the site where the mess was
out the stench. This does not work). But oncemade. Scrub thoroughly. You will have to rinse the
you’ve taken a deep breath and got readybrush in the bowl of bleach from time to time to
to tackle it, what do you do?get any particles of excreta off.
First of all, I should start with a word of warning.Once you have scrubbed very thoroughly, then
Cat faeces often carry toxoplasmosis bacteria,blot up the liquid from the carpet, again using a
which is a particular hazard for pregnant womenpaper towel (etc). Once again, you can use a
and their unborn babies. If you are pregnant, youtowel for this, but don’t use the same
should not clean up cat faeces or even emptytowel that you used for blotting up any liquid
the litter tray (pay someone else to do it or getmess. Dispose of this.
your husband/partner to do it —Sometimes, you may get repeat offences in the
you’ve got a perfect excuse). If there issame site. In this case, then you will need to
no way around it, then be sure to wear rubberrepeat the scrub-and-blot routine a few times in
gloves kept exclusively for this sort of dirty jobone house cleaning session. If the crime scene is
(rather than the ones you use for washing dishes)in an obscure place, then you can try shaking
and wash your hands very, very thoroughlypepper over the spot to put your pet off when it
afterwards. Come to think of it, that’stries to sniff around the area again.