Spring Cleaning: Pet Edition

I am majorly into refreshing things right now. This weather has me itching to go full Scandinavian and paint everything white. Which is why  I just posted a new You Tube video on 5 ways we spring cleaned and streamlined over the weekend. Bottom line...I am spring cleaning ALL THE THINGS. In fact, we're mid sunroom/office renovation as I type! And we're painting several things white. Win-win.

Because my fur children are such a big part of my life (and I know you guys love seeing them in the videos), I thought I would share how I refreshed their routine recently.

Just like with other parts of my home and life, I sat down to find the 'pressure points' in the fur child category. Were they doing something that was driving me crazy? What could I do better? And this is what I came up with:

• Scratching one chair corner: These cats are pretty good when it comes to scratching. They don't claw anything in the living room because we keep a standing scratching post in one corner. They run over and use it and then go about their business. They NEED this scratching post for cat biological reasons (something about needing to stretch those muscles upright). And I also keep their nails trimmed (we started them as kittens and trim their nails just like dogs...it's really easy and takes like five minutes). But the one place I kept catching them being naughty was an arm chair in my home office. So DUH I realized I needed to buy another standing scratching post. Problem solved.
• Fur tumbleweeds: Oh man. Even though I Dyson my floors daily, sometimes little fur tumbleweeds appear in the hallway...especially with a long haired dog. We just bought a cordless, handheld version and I get a thrill out of using it like a six year old. But no more tumbleweeds!

• One fat cat: Okay so, little bit embarrassing but one of the kitties has a belly. And no matter what I did, I couldn't get him to drop the weight. I switched up their cat food to  Rachael Ray Nutrish Zero Grain pet food  in Zero Grain Whitefish Dry Cat Food  ( zero grains/gluten/fillers, zero 'meat by-product' and zero fake colors/flavors and whitefish is an awesome highly digestible protein source). After transitioning them to the new food these cats seriously think this food is the best thing ever and their weight is significantly better. Even though I had a cute little top down shot set up for the blog the cats ran over and photobombed my set up! But the best part is they never, ever over eat. Some other dry cat foods have basically cat crack dust over it that make the cats keep eating. I've tried science based cat food before but I had to either buy it at the vet or a  specialty store. This is literally on Amazon, at Target and the grocery store...so where I always am. (Get $3 off here!). The last thing worth mentioning is Rachael’s personal proceeds go to Rachael’s Rescue, created to help shelter pets. As of today, over $9 million has gone toward food, medical supplies and treatments for animals in need! You can follow them on social here:  Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. 

• The dog escape artist and his new gate: Our hound is actually The Great Houndini. He escapes EVERYTHING when we leave the house. Usually, we pen him in the kitchen...except he's chewed through wire, bungee cords, wood and knocked over gates that rely on tension between door frames. BTW this dog is about four inches off the ground and the same shape as a basset hound. We have no idea how this happens. Regardless, we'd created a massive process and contraption to keep him in the kitchen and it was getting down right ridiculous. This weekend the husband built a gorgeous, gorgeous gate with a small latch that is flush with the wall. It is a bazillion times easier to use and looks way better. I'm super excited. The hound is not. 

How are you refreshing your life right now for spring? What about your pets?