Robot vacuum with pets: what matters?
By Lukas · Last checked:
Three things: a brush that pet hair hardly wraps around, a base station that empties it, and a camera that usually recognises dog poo and drives around it. In the app you also block off the bowl, litter tray and sleeping spot. With a pet it's especially worth it: if you vacuum every day because of the hair, my calculator says it saves you around two hours a week on 60 m².
How much time you save with a pet
If you vacuum every day because of the hair, my calculator says it saves you just under two hours a week on 60 m², including getting ready. If you also mop once a week, it's just over two. That adds up to 99 to 119 hours a year; if you vacuum twice and mop once a week, it's 45.
The robot, on the other hand, runs every day on a schedule, and you hardly have to do anything for it.
“I bought my first robot vacuum partly because of the tomcat I had at the time. He was constantly scattering cat litter around the flat, and it drove me mad. Back then, in my first and second flat, the robot helped me a lot with the cat litter.”
Lukas, author of this siteA brush that hair hardly wraps around
Rubber instead of bristles does help a little. What really matters, though, is how the main brush is built and mounted.
Dreame, for example, uses two rollers in some robots that are only attached on one side, with the other side open. Rotation and airflow push the hair to this open end, where it gets sucked away. In tests, even long hair hardly got caught this way.
Other manufacturers work in a similar way: Narwal hangs a cone-shaped brush on one side only. Roborock splits the brush in the middle, where the hair gets sucked away.
On hard floors many robots clean well; on carpet the difference shows. According to Stiftung Warentest, the rating for picking up fibres on carpet is what matters for pet owners. The grades there range from good to poor.
A base station that empties it
The bin in the robot is small and quickly full of fur. Without a base station you'll often empty it yourself every day with a pet. A base station empties it after cleaning, and you only change the bag now and then.
Depending on the model, that's due every few weeks to months, sooner with a pet that sheds. The bag usually closes when you take it out, so you hardly come into contact with dust and hair.
A camera that recognises dog poo
If a robot drives through dog poo or vomit, it spreads it all over your home. Without a camera it usually can't recognise anything like that. Models with a camera and AI usually recognise it and drive around it: in tests with fake dog poo, good models avoided almost all of it.
There's no guarantee, though. The runnier and flatter an accident is, the more likely even a camera will miss it. If your pet is still young, already old or currently ill, take a quick look at the floor before it starts.
Block off the bowl, litter tray and sleeping spot
In the app, set up no-go zones around the food and water bowls, the litter tray and the sleeping spot. That way the robot leaves the bowls alone, and your pet has places where it isn't disturbed.
How to get your pet used to the robot
At around 55 to 70 decibels a robot is quieter than a normal vacuum cleaner. Only the base station gets loud for a moment when it empties it. Still, get your pet used to it in small steps.
First let your pet sniff the robot while it's switched off. Then start it in another room, on a quiet setting and while you're at home. If your pet stays calm or gets curious, give it a treat. Never force it towards the robot.
A retreat the robot can't reach is important. Only once your pet stays relaxed do you let it run on a schedule while you're out, with a dog for example during the walk.
Check now and then: brush and wheels
With a simple brush and a pet, pull off wrapped hair about once a week; some manufacturers say every two weeks. Anti-tangle brushes need this much less often. Hair also collects on the side brush and wheels.
- Your pet often has accidents, for example because it isn't house-trained yet, and you don't want a model with a camera.
- Your pet still panics as soon as the robot moves, even after weeks of gentle getting used to it.
- There's no room for the base station: without it you'll often empty the bin yourself every day with a pet.
- You mainly have deep-pile carpet: many robots don't get hair out of it well, and some get stuck.
- Bowls, beds and toys are somewhere different every day, and you don't want to tidy them away or block them off in the app.