Pets Need Organizing, Too!

One thing that irks me about a lot of sites and books on this subject is that 'pets' tends to mean 'dogs.' I've tried to come up with ideas that can be used by anyone, whether you have a bird or a dog.

Pet supplies tend to fall into four categories:

1) Grooming:

This category could include brushes, nail clippers, nail tips, and decorative items like bows.

My favourite way to organize these items is to them into a sturdy box that I can cart all over the house and which is pretty enough to leave out where it can be accessible.

I tend to groom my cats in the living room, so the box sits on a credenza near the couch, but I can easily move it to another room if I need that space for something else. A friend has a dog she prefers to groom in the bathroom, so her supplies are kept near the toilet.

2) Food:

You might want to store your pets' food in your pantry if you have room there. Stack cans together if your pet eats wet food as well as unopened bags of dry food. Once a bag of dry food has been opened, I suggest pouring the contents into an airtight plastic container to maintain freshness.

I once had a hedgehog that required live meal worms. Those little critters had a whole section of the refrigerator to themselves.

3) Toys:

Cats are happy with things like Q-tips, paper balls, and rubber bands, none of which requires organizing since it'll wind up under the couch soon enough. If you're the kind to actually go out and buy them toys, then you're on your own for how to store them. Perhaps a basket? That's my favourite way to store dog toys. Your dog can help herself and it's easy to store the toys when you need to tidy up in a hurry.

4) Waste:

Cat litter is the bane my existence. I think I should invest in a bentonite mining operation (not that that has anything to do with organization!). The best way I've found to deal with cat litter is to buy it by the case. Keep a big scoop in the box for transferring the litter to the pans. As for the pans, I'm really fond of the furniture that is starting to crop up which allows you to hide your litter pan in plain sight. The best ones also have space for storing your litter scoop, pan liners, hand vac for small cleanups, and plastic bags for daily scooping.

For dogs, find a place in your home entrance where you can store waste bags at the same place as leashes and doggie clothes. A drawer in a dresser works great, as would a basket under a bench or a bag hung from a hook.

Small pets like hamsters usually have wood shavings for bedding. The wrapping for those isn't conducive to storage so it's a good idea to transfer the bedding to a plastic container that can be store in the vicinity of the cage.