A cute kitten or puppy can be a great source of comfort and enjoyment for homeowners and renters everywhere. Unfortunately, these cute pets can also be the source of extensive damage to your home’s interior finishes and furnishings. From carpet stains to furniture scratches, the list of pet damage can be very long. Fortunately, there are easy and cost-effective temporary surface protection products available to prevent this costly damage.
Carpet stains are the most common type of damage suffered by pets. This damage occurs before the pet’s home is broken or with older, incontinent pets. While there are products on the market to mask odor from these areas, they do little to protect the carpet from further accidents. The carpet film or carpet “mask” commonly used during construction works very well to cover the carpet so that urine or feces cannot soak into the carpet and padding. Since the film can stay on the carpet for up to 45 days, owners have time to train their pet or to replace the film as needed on a monthly basis. Carpet films can be found at local contractor supply stores, as well as large home centers across the country.
Scratches on doors are one of the most costly damages suffered by pet owners. Whether constructed of wood, fiberglass, or metal, doors can be temporarily protected by using DoorGuard ™ door guards. The DoorGuard ™ easily attaches to the door with giant rubber bands and provides a strong ¼ “layer of cardboard that pets cannot easily penetrate with their claws. The DoorGuard ™ can stay in place indefinitely, giving you time to the pet owner to install a pet door or other means. to avoid scratches in the future. DoorGuard ™ is available online only. To prevent door jambs from being scratched, there are several products on the market, including Jamb Saver ™, a temporary plastic jamb protector, or Jamb Pro ™, a compressed cardboard version that works in a similar way. Jamb protectors are available at select surface protection stores or contractors or by purchase online.
Perhaps one of the most common complaints from pet owners is scratches on wood or upholstered furniture. Woodworking Protection or Protecta-foam ™ is a safe and reliable product designed to protect wood and other surfaces from damage. This sticky foam easily wraps around the legs of wooden chairs or tables to protect them from the clutches of pets. In the test studies, both kittens and puppies completely avoided the surfaces protected by the sticky foam. It was unclear if it was a particular foam smell that the pets avoided or simply if the foam did not provide tactile satisfaction. Protecta-foam is available through purchase online or at select retail outlets.
Sticky mats or “sticky mats” used during construction can also be a great way for pet owners to control the effects of hair loss on floors. These sticky mats are designed with peel-off plastic sheets that collect pet hair or dirt. When the plastic sheet is covered in hair or dirt, the pet owner simply peels it off and discards it to reveal a clean sticky sheet. The mats are packaged in 30-sheet or 60-sheet packs and each sheet can last up to 7 days. Adhesive mats are available at pet stores, surface protection stores, or specific contractor retail stores.
In short, new pet owners can use many of the same products that builders and contractors use during construction and remodeling to avoid costly surface damage. Surface protection products give new pet owners time to train their pets and cost-effectively protect them against the normal damage caused by new pets.