It's time for a new vacuum cleaner! Has anyone bought one of the Pet Vacuum type? Do they pick up more hair, or is this just a marketing trick to get pet owners to spend an extra $30 or $40 dollars on a vacuum cleaner...Thanks!
We have the same problem. We have been through so many vaccuums. I recently bought a Bissell Pet Eraser Vaccuum and I think it does an fabulous job. The suction is excellent and it's also bagless which I really like. You can get a really good deal on them at Kohl's especially if you use a coupon. Home Depot also carries them. They are much much cheaper than a Dyson and I am totally impressed.
I have the Dyson "Animal", it works great for picking up pet hair (I have 4 cats). It has a few drawbacks though. It has a clearance of like 10", so forget about getting under the bed and the like. Also, when vacuuming hard floor surfaces the hose does not extend very well so you're constantly fighting it. I will admit that I prefer canister vacuums to uprights. Hope this was helpful.
I bought a Dyson ball a few months ago when our old vacuum died. We have a dog so I thought about getting the animal version. But I decided to just get the regular version when I figured out that the only differences between the animal and the regular version is the color and the animal hair attachment (which you can buy separately on amazon for like $60). The attachments that come with the Dyson Ball work perfectly for sucking up the dog hair that we have on our couches. I have not purchased the animal hair attachment.
I borrowed my friend's Dyson because my fancy Miela didn't seem to really affect the carpet and make it look vacuumed. The Dyson blew me away and after I showed my husband how much dust and pet hair it picked up, he hold me to get the pet Dyson. I am continually amazed at how much it picks up.
we have the dyson animal.. and it works great :) it is the purple vacuum made by dyson.. We have a yellow lab and 2 kids really keeps our floors clean both carpet an hard wood floors.. we have had ours for 3 years. I really like that it is bagless. It was a splurge for us.. but worth it :)
Lenc
Personally, I'm holding out for a Dyson Animal ~ $549.00 at Target; the basic Dyson Ball is $399.00. I've been wondering myself if the extra $150 is necessary. Either way, I figure I'll never need to buy another vacuum cleaner in my life, unless I lose it for some reason.
The thing about vacuum cleaners that's changed in the past decade or so is that most of them are made with plastic motors, not metal. Dyson is the only one I know of that still makes their motors out of metal. There could be others out there, but I haven't done much research. I can attest to the difference in motor lastability: I have a 21 year old Hoover Port-a-Power with a metal motor & it's going strong. I know people who have burned out a couple of vacuums in that time.
Brands aside, look for a metal motor with a lot of power and you probably can't go wrong.
Those Dysons sound like the ticket, but if you can't go that route, just be sure to get the strongest suction your money can buy from what ever your choices may be. I lucked into a great vacuum on the open-box rack at Sears, so both my mother and my mother in-law went looking for something similar and ended up with crappy ones from Sears. To say that theirs' suck would be grossly in accurate. ;)
Good luck.
We have many critters in and out since I do animal rescue work. We bought a used Kirby on eBay and love love love it. It picks up everything. They are a little pricey but with a toddler crawling around we thought it neccessary. Best of luck.
We have the Bissell Healthy Home and it works so good that family members with pet allergies have spent the night and not needed to take meds! The only negatives I have with it is using the upholstery tool for my stairs...it takes a while and it I don't like it on my ceramic tile. I use a swiffer sweeper for that. I have one kitty and it picks up so much I end up emptying it ~3 times for my 2000sq ft home.
I don't know about the pet kind but I've had good luck with the cannister vacuums from Sears Kenmore. I don't buy the cheapest or the most expensive either.
we bought the Dyson animal about 5 years ago and it's fantastic. we have 6 cats and you'd be amazed how much it gets. the attachments are great; the floor attachment is thin and gets under furniture and I use it on my tile. the animal attachment works great as well and really cleans up the cat trees and beds.
I agree that the hose is a little sticky and using the attachments on stairs is difficult.
we ended up buying the Dyson hand held vacuum at CostCo recently and I use it on furniture, stairs, cat trees and beds and it works great.
Dyson is amazing and worth the money for sure.
I have a Dyson and I LOVE it! I just bought a regular (yellow) Dyson and it works great on all the fur from my yellow lab and the shedding rabbit I sit often. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a descent attachment for stairs.
