I have a cat and he's pretty clean. I do try to vacuum a few times a week. I wash his bedding frequently. Still when I shake out my dust mop, it's loaded with his hair. And he is coming up from the basement with 'dirty' paws from the litterbox or hacking a hairball once in a while. I know people that won't have pets because they are clean freaks. This one lady makes her son keep his dog on the deck when he visits her. So do you think pets are lots of extra work or are they worth it? You know my answer. ; ) I will say that I have to take special precautions. My guy was scratching my little sofa, so I put packing tape on the edge of it and his scratching post is near it. He also scratches the rugs and my wicker chair. He piddled on some of my record lps when we first let him become part of the family. That almost blew it for me, but he really loves me and I found the old lp that I really loved that he ruined.