Pets in the home

I love my pet bunny Allistair. He looks like a little cow and loves watching TV with me. My husband and I rescued him three-and-a-half years ago, and have since outfitted him with cages, flown him back and forth between Halifax and Toronto and even have enlisted help from bunny sitters on occasion to help keep him happy. But, having a pet doesn't help much in terms of cleanliness.

His adorable black and white colouring also means that his hair - and there is a lot of it - shows up on almost every surface.

The sawdust that makes his bedding spills out of his cage and gets tracked across the floor, leaving obvious signals to all visitors that a pet lives here.

And, let's not forget the chewing. Bunnies love to chew and throw things. If there's a cellphone, remote or cord hanging around in his view, he goes running for it. More than once, I've picked up the phone to find the signal dead, only to realize that Al had put his teeth to work on it once again. And, let's not forget the fateful visit to my parent's home, shortly after they completed renovations, when Al decided the newly painted baseboards looked like a good snack.

Keeping a clean home and a happy bunny means a lot of days chasing around the apartment with a hand vac, a swiffer and doing laundry whenever we pick him up. It also means diligent babysitting when he's running around, in order to keep that dial tone going.

What do you do to help keep a clean home and a happy pet?