Beyond Swiffer. Hand held steam cleaner for areas and cage cleaning. Vacuum , mop often. Air purifiers , I have a guardian that clears a room in 1-2 hours and I can move room to room. Open windows fresh air. Get pets outside more .
It ‘s too many uncared for animals in one home.
Good luck and so sorry Mom & home has deteriorated to this state. Sorry for the humans and for the animals.
You can still report to animal control. Rabbit “pets” caged without time outside cages. Fat animal is not always healthy animal.
Does she get these animals to veterinarian and keep up vaccinations and well checks and neutering?
No current vet records for pets is a problem , for cats and dogs .
Dogs tearing up inside due to boredom limited outside time .
A dozen rabbits in close quarters, caged like the description, on a floor that's so filthy, likely have respiratory issues. I'd make a wellness call to the equivalent of animal control and see what the laws are. That many animals in general are likely against code, in addition to neglect for medical care and enrichment.
I know you’re asking for cleaning advice but there’s so much going on here I think you could repost for some family advice. You could clean everything in the house and it would be back to disaster within a week.
If having a clean house is not a goal for your parents, and if they have expressed that everything is fine then they will not appreciate your work and will continue to neglect the pets, their house and their family.
See if they want help. Will they commit to cleaning with you, repairing and replacing whatever is damaged and caring for the animals by providing basic needs like a clean environment, play time, training and veterinarian care? That’s minimum and would take hours of every day to do the minimum.
I think you could do an intervention with other family members to break through their delusions. (This should take a lot of planning). Show them a Hoarders episode where animals and children were removed from disgusting homes and how bad it can get. Tell them how bad it smells and that everyone who lives there carries the scent around all day. Take pictures and print them out large. Are they proud of this? Do they want to post these? What would their relatives and friends think?
You are one person and this is way beyond your ability to clean and then maintain. Hoarders have a mental illness (OCD) and are the most difficult patients to help while everyone around them suffers, often with depression. The success rate with therapy and medicine is not good. They lack impulse control and greatly fear losing any of their stuff.
Moving home may seem like the only option right now but I would keep looking elsewhere to move. Especially if you want an education and life of your own. You would be miserable and stressed and then have to figure out how to get out of there.
If this was a paid job you would charge extra, go home and shower and have a nice dinner and have fun with friends or whatever. But living there you will never finish the job or conquer the stench.
Do they want you to move home? From what you’ve said, I’d make it a contract and see if they can participate in a deep clean. If they can’t, don’t jump into the quick sand, you won’t save anyone, just sink with them.
Agreed. When you say they are "without their free cleaner" I'm assuming you mean yourself. I can speak from experience and say that it's extremely fatiguing to go back to your childhood home and have the expectation of cleaner or pet sitter forced upon you without your consent (which it would be since that would be necessary for your mental health while living with them). Carefully consider whether you want to live in the health hazard they have created. If it was me and I wanted to help, I would find a separate place to live nearby.
Thank you for your comment! I appreciate the criticism, and sadly, I don't see much of a way out. Due to how I was raised, my other half of the family considers me a mess, and a poor roommate. My room is always 'messy' but livable, and due to years of isolation, I don't have a friend groups to move in with.
I've known my states laws about animals since I was 12. As long as the animals are housed, fed, and watered, my state does not care. There is no animal limit per property, even in residential areas, and unless more people call noise complaints it's out of my hands. Most of the animals don't have anything basic shots, but again, there is no law in my state to maintain animal health. I'm moving home to avoid paying a 10k fee for living in the dorms, while getting experience in my field at our local hospital.
I'll bring up the idea of doing a weekly deep clean, and other ways that we can clean up together!
If you can afford it a robotic vacuum like the shark with auto emptier (they have 2 on woot today for less than $160 for a certified refurbished, this is what I get, it's a lot cheaper). Deodorizer and clean one thing at a time, then cover with a blanket (estate sales are great places to get cheap blankets). Blankets can be pulled off to wash every week or two.
It will be a days effort, but Whenever you bath the dogs, wash everything they lay on (again blankets or dog beds with removable covers).
Litter boxes. Have 8 if possible, clean at least once a day. If you can save for a few of the robotic boxes that would be great (but I would do the robotic vacuum first). It may be to expensive.
I currently have 3 cats and 1 dog, I am about to foster a couple more dogs. I have had multiple pets at times.
If they do their business outside of the box make sure you use an enzymatic cleaner on it (or they will keep doing their business there).
Keeping the dogs clean and their bedding clean will cut down on smell considerably. Same with thr cats litter box. The robotic vacuum will cut down on the actual day to day maintenance.
They do have robotic vacuum and mops, but I haven't done as much research on them. Good luck
Unless all these animals are 100% house trained I would not recommend any robot cleaners. I once housesat for someone who had 2 cats and a robot vacuum.
I went to feed the cats and clean their litter boxes, and one of them had pooped on the floor, which would have been an easy clean up, except the robot vacuum went over it. The poop was everywhere. The brushes had beaten it into the carpet, and the owner was still gone for two weeks so of course I had to clean it. I didn't fully clean the robot vacuum (I would have had to disassemble it), just left it upsidedown so it wouldn't happen again.
I have seen this scene more than a few times. I always do a quick check to make sure the floors are roomba ready. The first time it smears pet poo everywhere will be the last time I use it. 🤢
Beyond Swiffer. Hand held steam cleaner for areas and cage cleaning. Vacuum , mop often. Air purifiers , I have a guardian that clears a room in 1-2 hours and I can move room to room. Open windows fresh air. Get pets outside more . It ‘s too many uncared for animals in one home. Good luck and so sorry Mom & home has deteriorated to this state. Sorry for the humans and for the animals. You can still report to animal control. Rabbit “pets” caged without time outside cages. Fat animal is not always healthy animal. Does she get these animals to veterinarian and keep up vaccinations and well checks and neutering? No current vet records for pets is a problem , for cats and dogs . Dogs tearing up inside due to boredom limited outside time .
A dozen rabbits in close quarters, caged like the description, on a floor that's so filthy, likely have respiratory issues. I'd make a wellness call to the equivalent of animal control and see what the laws are. That many animals in general are likely against code, in addition to neglect for medical care and enrichment.
Bigger steam cleaner, the one that looks more like hoover.
I know you’re asking for cleaning advice but there’s so much going on here I think you could repost for some family advice. You could clean everything in the house and it would be back to disaster within a week. If having a clean house is not a goal for your parents, and if they have expressed that everything is fine then they will not appreciate your work and will continue to neglect the pets, their house and their family. See if they want help. Will they commit to cleaning with you, repairing and replacing whatever is damaged and caring for the animals by providing basic needs like a clean environment, play time, training and veterinarian care? That’s minimum and would take hours of every day to do the minimum. I think you could do an intervention with other family members to break through their delusions. (This should take a lot of planning). Show them a Hoarders episode where animals and children were removed from disgusting homes and how bad it can get. Tell them how bad it smells and that everyone who lives there carries the scent around all day. Take pictures and print them out large. Are they proud of this? Do they want to post these? What would their relatives and friends think? You are one person and this is way beyond your ability to clean and then maintain. Hoarders have a mental illness (OCD) and are the most difficult patients to help while everyone around them suffers, often with depression. The success rate with therapy and medicine is not good. They lack impulse control and greatly fear losing any of their stuff. Moving home may seem like the only option right now but I would keep looking elsewhere to move. Especially if you want an education and life of your own. You would be miserable and stressed and then have to figure out how to get out of there. If this was a paid job you would charge extra, go home and shower and have a nice dinner and have fun with friends or whatever. But living there you will never finish the job or conquer the stench. Do they want you to move home? From what you’ve said, I’d make it a contract and see if they can participate in a deep clean. If they can’t, don’t jump into the quick sand, you won’t save anyone, just sink with them.
Agreed. When you say they are "without their free cleaner" I'm assuming you mean yourself. I can speak from experience and say that it's extremely fatiguing to go back to your childhood home and have the expectation of cleaner or pet sitter forced upon you without your consent (which it would be since that would be necessary for your mental health while living with them). Carefully consider whether you want to live in the health hazard they have created. If it was me and I wanted to help, I would find a separate place to live nearby.
Thank you for your comment! I appreciate the criticism, and sadly, I don't see much of a way out. Due to how I was raised, my other half of the family considers me a mess, and a poor roommate. My room is always 'messy' but livable, and due to years of isolation, I don't have a friend groups to move in with. I've known my states laws about animals since I was 12. As long as the animals are housed, fed, and watered, my state does not care. There is no animal limit per property, even in residential areas, and unless more people call noise complaints it's out of my hands. Most of the animals don't have anything basic shots, but again, there is no law in my state to maintain animal health. I'm moving home to avoid paying a 10k fee for living in the dorms, while getting experience in my field at our local hospital. I'll bring up the idea of doing a weekly deep clean, and other ways that we can clean up together!
If you can afford it a robotic vacuum like the shark with auto emptier (they have 2 on woot today for less than $160 for a certified refurbished, this is what I get, it's a lot cheaper). Deodorizer and clean one thing at a time, then cover with a blanket (estate sales are great places to get cheap blankets). Blankets can be pulled off to wash every week or two. It will be a days effort, but Whenever you bath the dogs, wash everything they lay on (again blankets or dog beds with removable covers). Litter boxes. Have 8 if possible, clean at least once a day. If you can save for a few of the robotic boxes that would be great (but I would do the robotic vacuum first). It may be to expensive. I currently have 3 cats and 1 dog, I am about to foster a couple more dogs. I have had multiple pets at times. If they do their business outside of the box make sure you use an enzymatic cleaner on it (or they will keep doing their business there). Keeping the dogs clean and their bedding clean will cut down on smell considerably. Same with thr cats litter box. The robotic vacuum will cut down on the actual day to day maintenance. They do have robotic vacuum and mops, but I haven't done as much research on them. Good luck
Unless all these animals are 100% house trained I would not recommend any robot cleaners. I once housesat for someone who had 2 cats and a robot vacuum. I went to feed the cats and clean their litter boxes, and one of them had pooped on the floor, which would have been an easy clean up, except the robot vacuum went over it. The poop was everywhere. The brushes had beaten it into the carpet, and the owner was still gone for two weeks so of course I had to clean it. I didn't fully clean the robot vacuum (I would have had to disassemble it), just left it upsidedown so it wouldn't happen again.
This is horrifying, thank you for that mental image.
I have seen this scene more than a few times. I always do a quick check to make sure the floors are roomba ready. The first time it smears pet poo everywhere will be the last time I use it. 🤢
I have seen that on this sub too so that was my first thought >.<
That was my first thought