I have the Best Cat Ever.

[thistlechaser]

While I was out at work, my cat vacuumed my kitchen and living room.

No, seriously, she did.

I have a Roomba, a robot vacuum thing (iRobot's site). While I was at work, my cat turned it on by mistake. When I arrived home, I found two rooms sparkling clean!

Unfortunately I found the robot in "distress mode" -- it was attempting to eat my hair dryer and failed. And my cat wasn't much happier.

(You're supposed to pick things like papers and stuff up, so I'm not sure what else it tried to eat. I did find a twisted sock, so I know it tried and failed to eat at least one of those.)

But in the end, I'm just relieved my cat runs faster than the robot.

Comments

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

*dies laughing*

I knew I didn't trust those robot vacuums for a reason! (Although that's probably about the only thing that would make me enjoy vacuuming. Least favorite house chore of all.)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :P It'd be really, really easy for a cat, dog, kid, or falling book to turn it on. (There are four large round buttons on top, and anything hitting them will set it to work.) I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened before now.

[pinkfinity.livejournal.com]

So, you recommend the roomba? Do you run yours on carpet or wood?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I think it strongly depends on you/your family. My problem is that I have very long hair, and it tangles things up badly. (Though to be fair, normal vacuums have this issue too. The problem is, the Roomba has a ton of little parts and turny things hair gets tangled in.) Personally I find it to be more of a toy than a really useful, handy thing. It keeps me from having to vacuum, but then I spend at least as much time as I woud have spent doing it to clean the darned thing out. (There are two different bins you need to empty, plus I have to untangle hair from a lot of brushes and stuff. Your hands get all dusty while doing this, and if you're not careful it'll get back on your floor as well. You have to take a couple of parts off, and sometimes it's a pain to get them on/off.)

So I recommend it as a toy, but not as a replacement for a vacuum.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oops, and for your second question: Most of my apartment has carpet, but I also use it on the fake tile flooring (kitchen, bathroom) as well. It seems to work fine on both.

And a last note: You need to "prep" the room/area before you let it work. You basically need to pick up anything smaller than a shoe. This is sort of a pain but I guess it could fall under "cleaning" as well.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

That is hilarious and such a cat thing to do. I can see mine doing it. Skadi's hung the phone up on me before.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The power button is a big button right on top, so I'm sort of surprised that she hasn't turned it on before now. :P I'm going to have to move it to a better place...

[lunarennui.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

*gives your cat a gold star*

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hee, yay! :)

[kalin-nestar.livejournal.com]

*looks at the robot thingie* ooh neat! Does it work well? Looks lightweight, like it might not do a good job...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It works very well (much better than if I vacuum with the normal vacuum), but the only problem is cleaning up the robot after. You have to take various bits apart and empty bins and clean the roller things and such. A lot of (sometimes messy) work. It's fun, it does a good job, but it doesn't really save any time.

[eurydice9.livejournal.com]

That is hysterical. I may need to get one for my cat simply to see her reaction. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

My cat doesn't freak out over much, but boy does she hate that thing! It's mean to be amused over it, but I am. :D