Bathroom Habits

Most dogs, if properly trained, do their business outside; you'll need to carry disposal bags with you on your walks to keep your neighborhood clean, but you shouldn't have to be constantly cleaning up your pooch's messes indoors. If you are, it's time to consult with a dog trainer to work on Fido's housebreaking, or possibly a vet to check for medical conditions.

Cats, on the other hand, usually have their bathrooms indoors, in the form of a litter box. This small plastic rectangle can be the scourge of anyone trying to keep a house clean with pets. How do you keep it from turning your home into a toxic waste site?

The answer is simple—don't skimp on cleaning. "Your litter box cannot be too clean," Katz says. For a home with two cats and one litter box, for example, she recommends scooping the box at minimum twice a day and changing it completely about every 10 days. That means after the litter is dumped, filling the box with water, a bleach solution and a sudsy dishwashing detergent like Dawn and giving it a good scrub before refilling.

"Don't clean with an ammonia product because that mimics the smell of cat urine," she says. If you have more cats or cats with medical conditions, you'll need to clean more often and perhaps have more litter boxes.

It's also advisable to buy a new litter box about once a year. "When cats scratch a litter box, they create divots in the plastic, and that porous material can absorb the stool sitting on top," Katz says.

Better information. Better health. WebMD