How can someone who lives in an apartment with three cats keep a new rug looking new?

I just wouldn’t spend a lot on the rug. If you know that it may become damaged, be frugal and get a cheap rug.

Back when I used to try to keep a rug cat hair free, I found that going over it with a fine brush and then a strong vacuum worked well, but not perfectly. To be fair though, I’ve never really had a very nice vacuum. I’ve found that a good pet stain remover should deal with hairballs no problem (remember to dab, not rub, etc). The real issue is the fur getting worked in. Invest in a nicer vacuum than the rug. Also, in the interest of full discretion, I’ve given up on rugs rather than trying to keep them clean, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I have 5 cats and just got a new rug. I didn’t spend a lot on it and I have no attachment to it. I have come to accept that being able to have my lovely, little furry babies means that I have to accept that there are certain things that I just won’t be able to do/have: nice furniture, cat hair free clothes, clean floors, etc.

You can try to scotch guard the carpet to make clean up easier. Make sure to vacuum regularly to keep it looking nice. Invest in a good carpet cleaner that is made to clean-up cat fluids.

I don’t think carpet will look new for that long. Fake hardwood floor looks really lovely and is a LOT easier to clean than wall-to-wall carpet. My mother has been slowly replacing any carpet in the house with it because she’s got 5 cats (and 6 children!). The stuff she likes is Pergo, and I agree – it looks great and doesn’t show any ware thus far, which is saying something considering the use it gets – the first room that she installed it in was the family room.

In my co-op, we’re required to have rugs.

Hair is not my problem. It’s the fur balls and vomit.

@SirBailey Ahh. Then go with something with a non-shaggy texture like berber carpet, that way the kitty vomit can’t get all tangled into it. And you could go for a color that’s neutral but visually textured or slightly patterned so that even if you can’t get stains out totally, it won’t be as obvious… Maybe something sort of like this?

@SirBailey, I would think tinyfaery’s suggestion of scotchguarding would be your best bet. Also, talk to the vet about dietary changes to cut down on the furballs and vomiting.

We decided early on that we could have either kids and cats or nice rugs and furniture.

Now, 30 years later, we are about to get the nice rugs and furniture.

Ouch!

In 1978 my maternal grandfather died and left me $500, a hefty sum for him in those days. I picked out a hand-woven Navajo rug (after looking at what felt like 1000) in Santa Fe.

Milo is systematically unweaving it even though the rug is flat and has no discernible nap.
He pooped also on a 9×12 needlepoint rug that took me a year to make. However, I had locked him in the room, unwittingly, for thirteen hours.

MIlo is also systematically shredding the sisal mats under my orientals.

So be it.

@gailcalled A small price to pay for the honor of Milo’s presence.

@tinyfaery: True

@SirBailey, we probably could have done it a lot sooner—the kids became reasonably civilized some time ago—but we kept on opting for cats. The last old fellow died last September after a long and rather messy decline. Just think—if we’d done it ten years ago, the drapes, carpet and furniture would be ten years old now, and instead they are going to be fresh and new.

Have you tried something like this? (If you read the reviews, one is titled “cat barf begone!”)

dogs eat their own vomit, there is another reason I won’t have a cat. A cat leaves it for me to find. ungrateful little furball. sorry if any of you were eating.

@syz , saw that. Wasn’t bowled over with what I read. All other comments referred to the one commenter and not the product. Not convinced it’s any better then manual scrubbing. But thanks.