THE PET PARENT HOTLINE

8 Pet Products That Waste Your Money (And What to Buy Instead)

Host: Amy Castro Guest: None (Solo Episode)

Episode Summary

Some pet products promise to save time, simplify pet care, or make our animals happier, but end up creating more work and costing more money than expected.

In this episode, Amy Castro draws on her experience fostering more than 4,000 animals to examine eight categories of pet products that deserve a second look. From automatic toys and water fountains to expensive pet beds, decorative litter box furniture, food puzzles, and odor-control products, she explains what can go wrong and shares simpler alternatives.

You'll learn what to consider before buying, how to recognize hidden maintenance costs, and why the most expensive product isn't necessarily the best choice for your pet.

Links

The Pet Parent Hotline: https://petparenthotline.com

Recommended Resources

Related episodes of The Pet Parent Hotline:

• Rescue-Tested Pet Essentials
• Pet Technology That's Actually Worth Buying
• Previous episode on litter box care and maintenance
• Previous interview with the president of Chem-Dry about pet stains and carpet cleaning

Affiliate Disclosure

This episode discusses categories of pet products based on personal experience and practical pet-care considerations. No specific product endorsement or affiliate relationship is identified in the episode.

Veterinary and Behavior Disclaimer

The information in this episode is intended for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Products, enrichment activities, and exercise routines should be selected according to each pet's individual health, age, physical condition, and behavior. Consult your veterinarian or another qualified professional if you have concerns about your pet's health, hydration, exercise, or behavior.

Transcript Note

This transcript has been lightly edited for punctuation, capitalization, readability, and correction of obvious transcription errors while preserving the conversational style and substance of the recorded episode.

Chapters

Approximate times based on the transcript. The supplied export does not contain individual timestamps after 00:00.

00:00 Introduction: Pet Products That Cost More Than They're Worth 02:49 Automatic Pet Toys: Convenience vs. Connection 07:23 Pet Water Fountains: Hidden Costs and Cleaning 12:20 Expensive Pet Beds That Are Hard to Wash 18:05 Decorative Litter Box Furniture: Looks vs. Function 23:00 Automatic Ball Launchers: Exercise and Safety 25:35 Monthly Pet Toy Subscription Boxes 29:38 Complicated Slow Feeders and Food Puzzles 33:47 Pet Odor Products: Stop Masking the Problem 40:04 Choosing Pet Products That Are Worth the Money

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Amy Castro, Host (00:00)

Have you ever bought something for your pet because it was supposed to make your life easier, only to discover you just spent a bunch of money creating more work for yourself? Or maybe you bought something because the ad convinced you that your pet really needed it, and now it's sitting in the closet gathering dust.

After fostering more than 4,000 animals, I've learned that some of the best things you can buy for your pets are really pretty simple. And some of those fancy products that look really great online, well, they might not be the wonderful investments that they're cracked up to be.

So today we're talking about eight types of pet products I think deserve a second look before you spend your money on them, and some simpler alternatives that might work a whole lot better.

You've reached The Pet Parent Hotline. I'm Amy Castro, and today we're talking about one of my favorite things, and that is pet products. And we're gonna talk specifically about some that might be costing you more money, more time, and more aggravation than they're worth.

And before somebody gets offended, because I'm probably getting ready to criticize one of your favorite things, I want to make something really clear. I am not saying that every product category I'm talking about today is terrible or that nobody should ever buy anything like that.

What I'm saying is before you spend your hard-earned money, you ought to know what you're getting yourself into. And I've learned the hard way, because I've spent a lot of hard-earned money on things that ended up in the garbage, ended up giving away, or ended up sitting on a shelf. And when I say know what you're getting into, I'm talking about things like ongoing cost, maintenance, and whether the product actually benefits your pet.

I've also learned that there's a big difference between what we people find appealing and what our pets actually need. Like we see a beautiful dog bed and it matches the living room furniture, or a high-tech toy that promises hours of entertainment for our pets, or some type of complicated contraption that supposedly eliminates a chore we've been doing forever. And it's really easy to convince ourselves that spending more money might mean that we're providing better care for our pets.

But that's not necessarily true. In fact, sometimes the simplest and least glamorous option does the job better than the most expensive version.

Automatic Pet Toys: Convenience vs. Connection

So let's get into some of these products, starting with something that I think really perfectly illustrates how easily we can spend money trying to replace something our pets would probably rather get from us. And that is the whole category of battery-operated and automatic pet toys.

And I will say, right up front, there are some pretty amazing electronic pet toys available now, especially for cats, right? You got little balls that roll around on the floor on their own, and motorized mice and feather things that spin and things that pop in and out of holes, and toys that activate whenever your cat gets close enough to trigger a sensor.

And for dogs, there are lots of moving toys that squeak and wiggle and bounce and entertain them while we're doing something else. And I understand the appeal because most of us don't have unlimited time to entertain our animals. And so the idea of turning on a little machine and letting it handle the job sounds pretty good.

So let's take a step back though. My problem with a lot of these toys starts with their durability. And I don't necessarily mean mechanically, but things like batteries that need to be replaced a lot, or toys that go for just a short while and then need a recharge, motors that wear out, moving parts that get jammed, and sometimes a toy that your pet finds fascinating for all of about three days before they lose interest completely.

And what I find happens with these things is you don't have the batteries, so you never do replace the batteries, or they need to be charged, and so they sit on the charger and never get brought back out again. Or if it breaks, you have to make a decision about whether you're gonna buy another one or try to fix it if you can get replacement parts or kind of just add it to the shelf of broken things that you might fix someday.

But there's something else that kind of bothers me a little bit, and I discovered this for myself more than the money or the durability or the hassle. And that is when these toys become an excuse for us to stop interacting with our animals.

And I've done this myself. Again, you know, don't have time, don't feel like playing with them. So yeah, let's put on the automated toy and walk away.

And that's fine sometimes, but just using cats as an example, they need opportunities to stalk and chase and pounce and catch and engage in the kind of activities that would come naturally to them out in the wild, right?

And so a good interactive play session gives you the ability to respond to what your cat is doing when you are actively involved in the play. You can change the speed of the toy, you can change the direction, you can let them catch it, and you can keep them engaged in ways that a machine following a preset pattern is not going to do.

And I think there's really a relationship component to play as well. You know, you're spending time with your cat and you're learning what they enjoy, what excites them and how they behave.

And I'm not suggesting you need to spend hours entertaining your cat every single day. For many cats, a few short, engaging play sessions can be a lot more rewarding than flicking on an electronic toy that's running in the corner.

And dogs obviously benefit from interacting with us too. And there are all kinds of simple games you can play directly with your dog that don't require expensive equipment. Hide a toy for your dog to find, play tug with an appropriate toy, have them practice retrieving something or teaching them a new skill. You don't need to spend a fortune to make those activities interesting.

Now, an automatic toy can absolutely be useful, particularly for a pet that enjoys independent play. Just remember that it's another option in your enrichment toolbox, not a replacement for the time that you spend with your pet.

And before you spend 40 or 50 bucks on something electronic, I'd think about how easily it can be cleaned, whether replacement batteries or parts are available, how noisy it is, how long the charge or the battery will last, and whether your pet is likely to enjoy it beyond the initial excitement.

And you might find that a $7 wand toy and 10 minutes of your attention are a better investment.

Pet Water Fountains: Hidden Costs and Cleaning

My next category of product is probably going to be a little controversial, and I've talked about it before, and I know people absolutely love them, and that is pet water fountains.

And I completely get it. Some cats, for example, are fascinated by moving water, and there are cats that seem much more willing to drink from a fountain than a traditional water bowl. And I have tried many different types of fountains, and I currently have a cat fountain.

And if your cat is the kind that genuinely enjoys these kinds of things, and having a fountain encourages them to drink more water, it might be worth every single penny that you spend on it. And I'm particularly careful about criticizing anything that will help a cat stay properly hydrated, because as we know, hydration is especially important in cats, and some cats are notoriously particular about where and how they will drink.

But I think people sometimes buy fountains without really considering what goes into maintaining them. And I'll be the first one to admit that I have let a fountain go too long because I'm thinking in my head, oh, it's got a filter, it's got a cartridge, the water's still moving, it looks clear, and then I go to clean it and it is slimy and disgusting, and I can't believe I allowed my cats to drink out of that.

And that's the part the advertisements don't show you is what you're gonna look like and how you're gonna feel when you're standing at the kitchen sink trying to get that slimy, disgusting buildup out of a tiny pump, or cleaning inside those little tubes and crevices if you can even get in them, or discovering that the replacement filters are proprietary, of course, and they cost a small fortune over the course of a year.

And those filters, like I said, are not a substitute for cleaning. Water fountains can still accumulate biofilm, hair, food particles, debris, saliva, and depending on the fountain design, cleaning one properly can take a lot more effort than washing a water bowl.

Keep in mind, too, if you've got more than one animal drinking from this fountain, all of that cleaning process and all of those filter replacements are gonna have to happen more frequently, and that's the problem that I ran into.

One other little sidebar note, also take into consideration the source of your water. If you are on well water like I am, that water is not treated and not chlorinated. So that water in that fountain is gonna go bad a lot faster than chlorinated treated water. So there's no substitute for frequent cleaning.

So now take that work and that effort and that money and compare it to a good quality stainless steel water bowl. You pick up the bowl, you dump it in the sink, you wash the bowl with soap and water, you rinse it, refill it, and you're done. And if it's dishwasher safe, even better.

So I have actually found that I tend to use my water bowls a lot more often than I use the fountain. But keep in mind, water bowls still need to be cleaned frequently, and the CDC recommends cleaning water bowls every single day.

And if you've just got one or two bowls, it's a really easy routine. Do it while you're doing your own dishes. You don't have to wait for it to be empty. There's probably slobber and debris in it when it's not.

And so if you make it part of your routine like I've done, it's gonna be really simple.

Now, if you're still considering a fountain, that's great. I would just ask yourself whether there's a real reason that your pet needs one. You know, have you noticed your cat drinks more from moving water? You know, if you've got one of those cats that jumps up on the sink and begs for you to turn the faucet on, yeah, get a fountain.

If your pet has a medical condition that makes encouraging water intake particularly important, definitely consider one. You know, if your vet has recommended one, absolutely listen to your vet.

Just make sure you look for a model that's easy to take apart, easy to clean, and doesn't require outrageously expensive replacement filters.

But if your pet is perfectly happy drinking from an ordinary old bowl, there's no reason to complicate something that's already working. And remember, especially with cats, the location and availability of water can make such a huge difference. Having multiple clean water stations around the house may be more useful than having one expensive fountain in a place that your cat doesn't particularly like.

Expensive Pet Beds That Are Hard to Wash

And now we're at my personal pet peeve, and that is pet beds, particularly expensive pet beds that are impossible to wash.

I can't even count the number of pet beds that I have gone through, fell in love with, and threw away shortly thereafter. And it drives me crazy because some of these beds look absolutely wonderful when they're new.

My pets are super excited to get in them because they're enormous and they're fluffy and they're cushy and they've got all of these features that feel like they're sleeping on a luxurious hotel mattress. But then, as inevitably happens, your dog pukes on it or has diarrhea, or comes inside after rolling around in God knows what and decides that the expensive bed is exactly where they want to lie down and rub that smell around.

And if you've ever tried to clean a giant dog bed that does not have a removable cover, you know what a pain in the butt that can be.

Some of them are gonna be way too large to fit in your washing machine, and even if you manage to squeeze it in, by the time you bunch it up and squish it in there, it's never gonna really get clean. Or you try to bunch it up in there and all the filling bunches up, and so it's all squished off to one side, or it takes forever to dry, and it never quite looks the same again.

And if you can't get it thoroughly clean and dry, then what are you gonna do, right? Keep spraying it with deodorizer and hoping for the best?

I've dealt with enough pet bedding over the years to know that washability is probably the number one thing you want to consider when it comes to a pet bed. It doesn't matter how nice something looks when it comes out of the package if you can't maintain it in the real world.

And, you know, it really is recommended that you clean your pets' beds and blankets weekly. And obviously, you may need to do it more often when something gets dirty, or if you've got a pet that has issues, is ill or has incontinence.

And that doesn't necessarily mean you should buy the cheapest bed available because some animals really do benefit from specialized bedding. You know, a dog with arthritis might need extra support, or a senior pet might have trouble getting on and off a bed with high sides, or an animal that has had surgery recently might have a very specific comfort or position need.

But I would rather spend money on a well-constructed supportive bed with a removable, washable cover than on something that looks magnificent but is practically disposable the first time somebody has a serious accident on it.

And unless you're willing to go to the laundromat, as I have been doing lately with my pet beds, because normally they fit in our washer and dryer, but right now I've got a temporary washer and dryer that is one of those teeny tiny stackable ones. So I take my pet beds once a week and spend $8 a load to get them washed.

So unless you're willing to do that, you probably want to think about how easy that pet bed is to wash.

I will add one other thing to pet beds too, and you're gonna have to experiment with this if you have a stinky dog.

So I have one dog in particular, she's just stinky. She's laying right here right now. I don't smell her from afar, but certain beds, when she has slept on them a couple of times, it doesn't matter how many times you wash them, the smell doesn't come out.

I haven't pinned that down yet. It's got to have something to do with whatever the filling is or whatever the cover is made out of. But that's something to consider too. And when I learn more about that and I figure it out, I'll let you all know.

A couple of other tips. If you've got a pet that's prone to accidents, a waterproof liner or mattress protector can be a very worthwhile investment because then you're only washing the bed cover and not washing the entire bed itself every single time.

And sometimes the best solution is maybe you get some type of bed that has washable bedding and you buy a couple of extra covers and you stack them up. And that way you can peel them off and throw them in the laundry as they get dirty.

Or you'll have extra covers, if nothing else, to rotate through the laundry. So your dog or cat's not sleeping on the floor while the bed is in the washing machine.

So think about the entire life of the bed. Think about your pet, how they use it, what's going on with your pet in their life and their activities before you buy the bed. Think about how you're gonna clean it. Can you get replacement covers? Is the material gonna hold up to their scratching or digging if they like to do that before they lay down? And can your pet get on and off of it comfortably?

Because I don't care how beautiful it looks in your living room, if cleaning it's gonna require three hours, a garden hose, and a prayer for a week of sunshine, I've been there, I've done that, and I'm no longer interested.

Decorative Litter Box Furniture: Looks vs. Function

My next category, and I will admit right up front, I have not tried every single type under the sun, but I have tried a few of them, and that is decorative litter box furniture.

So we're talking specifically cats here for just a minute, because I think that this category really illustrates something that many of us are struggling with if we have cats, and that's figuring out how to accommodate them without having our entire house look like a kennel or a cat shelter.

And litter boxes, I don't care which kind you have, they're not particularly attractive, folks. Nobody wants one as the centerpiece of their living room, and I completely understand wanting to hide it.

And that's why the decorative litter box cabinets and such have become so popular. They look like furniture with little entrances for the cat and a compartment inside for the litter box. And some of them are actually pretty nice.

But you need to understand how you're gonna use it, and you need to understand your cat and their preferences, and you need to understand how it might differ if you've got just one cat versus a multi-cat or multi-pet household, because the design can create problems if you're paying more attention to how pretty the furniture is than you are about the cat that's going to be using it.

So, first off, you need to think about the size of the litter box that can fit inside. A lot of commercial litter boxes are already too small for larger cats. And now you're trying to stuff that litter box into a small cabinet and your options are even more limited.

You know, a cat needs to not just be able to get inside that cabinet and that litter box, they need to be able to turn around and they need to be able to do that comfortably, and they need to have room to dig and get into a good, comfortable position.

You also need to think about access. If your cat is older or has mobility problems, crawling through a little opening and turning left, turning right to get to the litter box in a confined space may become uncomfortable and they may become unwilling to do it.

And if you've got multiple cats, an enclosed area with only one entrance can definitely create a situation where one cat can block another one's access, and now you've got a cat that doesn't want to use the litter box at all.

Then, and this is where I really ran into trouble, is cleaning it. You know, if you've got to pull that furniture away from the wall, open three doors to get at it, remove the litter box, and practically crawl inside yourself to sweep the litter out of the corners, or possibly scrape up urine or poop, how enthusiastic are you going to be about doing that every single day? Probably not so much.

Now, I want to be fair to covered litter boxes because research has found that many cats don't really mind having a covered litter box or an uncovered litter box as long as they are both large and kept clean.

But you also need to know your own cat, because some individual cats do have very definite preferences and you want to pay attention to what they're telling you.

So my advice to you is to make sure the setup works for the cat and that it's convenient enough for you to maintain it properly. If you're spending several hundred dollars on a litter box cabinet because you want to make your home look nicer, that's definitely your decision. Just be certain you're not sacrificing the very things that made the litter box comfortable and accessible for your cat.

And just as a personal sidebar note, and I have not received it yet, but I'm going to be experimenting in my podcast room with keeping the litter box in there. And I have ordered a partition screen for three reasons.

Number one, because I don't want to look at the litter box all the time. Number two, for privacy for my pets, and number three, to try to keep litter from flying as far as it normally does with just an open litter box.

And what I like about the idea of the screen is there are at least three ways, but for sure two, that cats will be able to get in and out, which is really important to them. But then the visual I can block off as much or as little as I want to.

So I'll keep you posted on that experiment and how that comes out.

Automatic Ball Launchers: Exercise and Safety

All right, let's move back to dogs for a minute and talk about automatic ball launchers.

Automatic ball launchers are fascinating to watch. You put a ball on the machine, it shoots across the yard, the dog races after it, brings it back, and eventually learns how to drop it in the machine again. And the dog can apparently play fetch without you having to do much of anything.

And for someone with a dog who would happily chase a ball all day, that might sound like the greatest invention ever to burn off some steam, but I would be very careful about treating nonstop ball chasing as the ideal form of exercise for your dog.

A lot of dogs are so enthusiastic about chasing things that they don't always recognize when they've had enough. Just think about it, right? Repeated sprinting, abrupt stops, sharp turns, and jumping can put a lot of strain on muscles and joints, especially if your dog is out of shape a little bit, or a little bit overweight, or still growing as a puppy, or is older, or has some type of existing orthopedic condition.

And then there's the question of how much exercise your dog actually needs and what kind of exercise is really beneficial.

I think running flat out after a ball for 20 minutes isn't necessarily a substitute for going on a walk or sniffing around the neighborhood or exploring different environments or really engaging your dog's brain because it's a pretty repetitive activity.

And I'm certainly not against fetch. It's a great activity for a lot of dogs, and there are plenty of ways to make it safe and interesting. But I think it's worth remembering that just because a dog will keep chasing a ball doesn't mean you should always keep throwing it.

So whether it's manual throwing a ball or using a machine, you definitely want to do this activity with care. You know, keep play sessions appropriate to your particular dog, talk to your vet about the motions and movements and time length that would work best for your dog to get exercise, and pay attention to signs of fatigue or discomfort that they might be experiencing.

And be especially careful with puppies and dogs that have joint or mobility concerns.

So again, just like all the other automated play options we talked about before, use carefully and don't allow it to become a substitute for interacting with your dog.

Monthly Pet Toy Subscription Boxes

My next category is monthly pet toy subscription boxes.

And I have to admit that I totally understand why subscription boxes are so appealing. Who doesn't enjoy getting a package in the mail, especially one filled with fun things for your pet?

You sign up, every month the box arrives with a selection of toys and treats and chews and whatever that particular company offers, and they make really good gifts too.

And if your pet goes through toys quickly and you consistently use everything in the box, you might be getting a decent value. So more power to you. Keep getting it.

The problem comes when the monthly deliveries continue, whether you need them or not, right?

So maybe the first few boxes are super exciting, your dog gets a couple new toys and some treats, and everybody's happy. Or your cat, I should say, because then you have cat subscription boxes now.

But after six months, you've got a basket overflowing with toys, half of which your dog never plays with, and you're still getting another shipment every month that you've paid for.

Or your cat's decided that out of all the toys you purchase, the only ones worth playing are one particular little mouse and the cardboard box that everything came in.

And while the subscription might be advertised as a bargain because the retail value of the contents supposedly is much higher than the subscription price, that doesn't necessarily mean you're saving money. You're only getting value from things that you're actually using.

So for me, I'd rather buy toys based on what my individual pets enjoy, because each one of them has a particular preference of what they like to play with.

And cats can be just as particular, you know, and what one cat finds completely irresistible may hold no interest whatsoever for another. And so that's what's tough about subscription boxes is they're semi-customized, I know, some more than others, but they're not customized specifically to your exact pet.

And to be perfectly honest, you can keep things interesting on your own without constantly buying new toys by just doing what every good human parent knows to do. You got a bunch of toys for your kids, put some away and then rotate them into the sequence periodically. And it'll be just like getting something new.

So that's something that I've started doing is we've got a toy bucket, and it's not one that the pets go get toys out of. So I'll pull five or six things out for everybody to play with and then put those up for a while and pull out five or six quote-unquote new ones.

They're not new, it's the same ones, but they maybe haven't seen them for six months or six weeks, whatever it might be, depends on how many toys you have.

So keep that in mind too. You can kind of create the novelty of a new toy on your own without necessarily having an entire subscription box full of things that you may or may not use.

Also, don't overlook the fact that toys wear out. So make sure you're checking the condition of your pet's toys and replacing damaged ones, and that's a better use of your money than continually adding new toys to an already overflowing collection of perfectly good toys.

And so I don't have anything against subscription boxes. If it's making you happy, if your pet enjoys and is using all of the contents and the price works for you, keep it.

But I would encourage you to look at what you're actually receiving and what you've actually used over the past few months before automatically renewing for another year.

You might discover that you're better off spending that same money on a few carefully chosen toys and treats that your pet genuinely loves.

Complicated Slow Feeders and Food Puzzles

My next category is overly complicated slow feeders and food puzzles, and I've got a stack of them.

So I've tried many different kinds, and it's a particular category where I really want to distinguish between a product being useful and a particular design being more trouble than it's worth.

You know, I love the concept of enrichment feeding, and there are plenty of benefits to making animals work a little for their food in ways that are appropriate for them.

You know, especially if you've got a dog that eats too quickly, a slow feeder can really help pace your meals. And food puzzles can also provide mental stimulation for dogs and for cats. For cats, having opportunities to search for or manipulate food can encourage some of their natural hunting behaviors.

But have you seen some of these contraptions? You know, with little sliding drawers and tiny compartments and spinning pieces and removable pegs and narrow channels and crevices that seem particularly designed just to trap little bits of food where you can't reach them.

And when you start putting moist or sticky food into something like that, cleaning it is going to become a project in and of itself. Kind of like those water fountains that have too many moving parts.

So if you've ever spent more time digging moldy food out of a puzzle feeder than your pet spent actually playing with it, you probably know what I'm talking about.

And I think sometimes we forget that enrichment doesn't have to be complicated.

You know, you can scatter a portion of your dog's food in a safe, clean area and have them search for it. You can, as we did this past summer, put them under a bunch of Solo cups in the yard that we reused and they hunted around and got the treats out from under the Solo cups.

You can hide treats around a room. You can put food inside an appropriate or easy-to-clean toy, or create simple games using items you've already got around your house. Again, providing that they are safe and your pet won't eat those toys or destroy them.

And for cats, you can do the same thing. You can hide small portions of food in different locations or use simple puzzle feeders that encourage them to explore and work for their food.

So when I shop for feeding equipment or puzzle toys, I want something I can clean thoroughly and easily, especially if it's, like I said, a puzzle bowl where you're going to use it every single day.

I also like to think about how long the product will remain useful. You know, if it's so complicated that you dread setting it up and cleaning it, chances are it's eventually going in a cabinet.

And I think about one toy in particular that it actually wasn't that complicated, but it had three different swinging compartments that animals would need to tip with their nose or tip with their foot.

And it was like you had to take it apart, you had to fill the compartment, you had to put it on just right, getting your hand in there to clean out the compartment, because even if you put dry kibble in there, it still left grease residue.

It just ended up on the shelf. And I'd look at it and say, I should probably bust that out. I don't really want to deal with it.

And that's the thing, you don't want to get something that you spend your money on that you decide later on you don't want to deal with.

And that's kind of a shame, right? Because we know food enrichment can really be a terrific way to improve your pet's day, but you got to find something that works for you that doesn't turn into a lab experiment sitting on your kitchen floor, or something that's as complicated as putting together some mail-order furniture.

Pet Odor Products: Stop Masking the Problem

And the last category I want to talk about is something that can become a major money pit, especially if you have multiple pets, and that is odor-control products, right?

There are sprays, powders, scented litter additives, carpet fresheners, air fresheners, plug-in fragrance devices, and all kinds of products designed to make your home smell better and mask pet smell.

And believe me, after years of running a rescue and having lots of animals in my house, I understand the desire to keep things smelling fresh. But one thing I've learned is that if your house smells bad because of something related to your pets, what you really need to do is figure out what's causing the odor, not try to cover it up.

Spraying fragrance on top of something that needs to be cleaned doesn't solve the underlying problem. It just gives you a combination of whatever the original smell was and whatever perfume you sprayed on it.

So, like we like to say around here, it smells like stinky dog with flowers on it.

So think about a litter box that's starting to smell, right? You can keep pouring deodorizing powder into the litter or baking soda or buying more heavily scented products, but if the litter needs to be changed or the box itself needs to be cleaned or maybe needs to be replaced, that's what you really need to be addressing.

And think about it too. Your pets, or let's talk about cats here with litter boxes, have so much more sensitive noses and are more sensitive to smells than we are. And so fragrances that might smell good to us could be really overwhelming or unpleasant to them.

So in your attempt to make your litter box smell good, you might be putting things in it that are driving your cat away from using it. And some cats definitely will avoid litter boxes that they dislike the scent of the litter or the cleaning products that are being used.

And the same goes for pet bedding and carpets. You know, if an animal has urinated on something, you may need an appropriate enzymatic cleaner designed to address that type of contamination rather than a spray that's just going to cover the odor.

So you really need to understand the products that you have and the directions on how to use them and make sure you're using A, the right product, and B, that you're using it properly.

If you listen to our episode with the president of Chem-Dry, one of the things that he talked about was the spot that you see on the surface is significantly smaller than the spot that has gone down to, let's say, other layers of your carpet padding. And so you need to keep that into consideration when you're cleaning as well.

So sometimes the problem isn't that you need a stronger cleaning product. It's there's something that you haven't gotten to, like the padding underneath the carpet, or the inside of your dog bed that's not waterproof, or a spot that your pet has repeatedly been using.

And if you're constantly battling unpleasant odors around a particular animal, which I mentioned before about Gunny being the stinky dog, don't overlook the possibility of a health or a behavior problem with that particular pet.

You know, a cat that's urinating outside the box and you're constantly trying to clean it up and cover it up may have a medical problem that needs veterinary attention.

And that's one of the things that we always say. Before you assume it's just a litter box issue, let's focus on the fact that it could be a cat issue and get the cat to the vet.

Or a dog with persistent body odor could have a skin or an ear problem. Now we have eliminated that in Gunny, but I have had situations in the past with stinky dogs, and it turned out that they had yeast infections or some other type of bacterial infection, and that can make a dog and everything they touch smell really, really bad.

So if something smells abnormal or keeps coming back despite proper cleaning, it definitely deserves a closer look with your veterinarian.

Another thing to keep in mind too when it comes to pet cleaners and pet deodorizers is that you have to be really careful about some of the fragrances and essential oils that you bring into your house with your pets.

Some concentrated oils can be really harmful, especially to cats. So it's worth checking whether a product is appropriate for use around your animals rather than just assuming something that's labeled natural or something that your cousin uses in their house would be safe in your house with pets.

So all that to say is, you know, I do believe in using products that actually clean and remove odors. Having a good enzyme-based cleaner and using it appropriately is something I consider genuinely useful to have if you have pets.

What I question is spending money month after month on fragrances that simply mask the problem.

And I think there's another consideration here, which is that we may and often do get accustomed to smells in our own homes. And if you're used to having animals around, you might not notice certain odors as readily as someone who walks through the front door for the first time.

So if your goal is to have a clean, fresh-smelling home, I'd definitely focus first on consistent cleaning, washable bedding like we talked about before, properly maintaining your litter boxes.

I have a whole episode on litter boxes, but most people don't clean them and scoop them and replace them often enough by a long shot.

But the key is to identify the source of recurring odors. And I know those things aren't particularly exciting, but doing these things can be far more effective than another expensive bottle of something that promises to make your house smell like a tropical vacation.

Choosing Pet Products That Are Worth the Money

I want to end with something I think is important because I don't want anyone walking away from this episode thinking that I'm against spending money on pets, or that we should all be trying to get away with the cheapest possible supplies.

I am absolutely willing to spend money on something that genuinely makes my animals' lives better, or keeps them safe, or makes their care truly easier.

With as many animals as I've had in my life and the current six that I've got now, I've learned that there are times when spending money up front absolutely saves you money and aggravation in the long run.

But I don't think price is a reliable way to measure quality, and I certainly don't think an impressive product description tells us how useful something's gonna be once it becomes part of your daily routine.

So before making a purchase, I would just encourage you to think through how you're gonna actually use it.

If it needs replacement filters, batteries, subscriptions, or special supplies, figure out what those are gonna cost over time. If it needs frequent cleaning, make sure that process is manageable. And if you're buying something because you think it will solve a particular problem, consider whether it addresses the actual cause of the problem.

And I've found that some of my favorite pet care solutions over the years have been simple, durable, easy to clean, and not particularly expensive. And sometimes just super easy and convenient to replace.

If I've spent $8 on a litter box, I have no problems throwing it away when a new one is needed. But if I've spent $80 on it, I might think twice, and that could be a huge mistake.

So if you're trying to stretch your pet care budget, those are some of the qualities I'd encourage you to look for.

And if you'd like to hear about some of the actual products I've found worthwhile over years in animal rescue, we've got a couple of episodes about rescue-tested pet essentials and tech that's worthwhile.

Those are good companions for today's conversation because sometimes knowing where to spend your money is just as useful as knowing where you might be wasting it.

I'd love to hear from you about this episode. What's the pet product you were absolutely convinced you needed only to discover it was a complete waste of money?

Or maybe if you have one of the products that I've talked about today and you absolutely love it, I want to hear that too. Because what works for one household doesn't necessarily work for another, or maybe I'm completely wrong and it's just me.

So you can reach out through The Pet Parent Hotline website, and if you know someone who's shopping for the latest and greatest pet gadgets, share this episode and those other two I mentioned because maybe we can save them a little bit of money.

So thanks for spending part of your day with me, and we'll see you next week.

Thanks for listening to The Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, text a friend right now and tell them I've got a show that you need to hear.

And remember, your pet's best life starts with you living yours. So take good care of yourself this week and your pets.