The Best Robotic Vacuums for Pet Hair

This is my go to Robotic Vacuum for cleaning up both cat hair and cat litter. I have it run in my house almost every day to help minimize the number of times I need to pull out my upright.

This thing is super easy to run. It rarely gets stuck or confused, and it finds its way right back to the charging station on its own to be ready for the next day. It is an absolutely awesome option if you're looking for a robotic vacuum and the price makes it one of the best deals on the market.

A couple of key items worth noting:

"It has made cleaning up the 'cat room' a once a week job instead of an every day job. It sucks up both cat hair and cat litter like a champ and is completely hands off" -Craig from StuffCatswant.com

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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If you're looking for an excellent robot vacuum that is going to run whisper quiet then this is the model for you. Digital Trends even voted the eufy Super Quiet IQ RoboVac as the best overall robot vacuum in 2018, that's quite the award to take home!

On top of this it was designed with a super slim profile so it slides in under those difficult to reach places to get a hold of those clumps of cat hair. It even features boost technology to suck up extra matted cat hair out of carpets and rugs!

A few notes worth adding in on this model:

"I have 4 cats and it does an amazing job picking up cat hair."

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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Samsung is well known for cell phones these days, but they've been a powerhouse in electronics for decades. This is the top of the line robotic vacuum from the Samsung arsenal and it is designed for those of us that love to show off our gadgets.

The claim to fame of this model is that it delivers 40x more powerful cleaning on all floor types when compared to a conventional robot vacuum with a circular design (they tested it against several of their own competitive models).

A couple of other really fool features worth noting on this option:

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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This is a slight adjustment from the rest of the options I've shown so far. It is both a vacuum and a mop. If you have wood floors this might be right up your alley. Not only will it clean all the pet hair off the top, it will also give them that nice shiny look once it is finished by mopping them too!

Talk about a hands free way to keep your house looking clean!  You really can't do much better than a robotic vacuum and mop. There are also several colors to choose from so you can match it with your home's decor.

A few other key items worth noting:

"Even with multiple cats and dogs in the house it keeps the fur manageable!"

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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If you only trust the most well known brands then the iRobot is probably the way you'll want to lean. iRobot was the first major pioneer of the robot vacuum with their Roomba series. 

After their initial release Roomba has continued to evolve in both specialty vacuums as well as in improving the technology to make robot cleaners smarter and more easy to use.  This is definitely one of the most technically advanced models out there if you're aiming for a feature rich robot vacuum.

The key features worth noting on this option are:

"With a long haired dog and several cats our house needed this....it has been perfect!!!"

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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Shark has made a name for itself in the vacuum world for how quickly they came into the market with a high quality product at a mid range price. Shark is known for great vacuums with excellent suction and for not having to pay an arm and a leg for the device. Surprising given the name right?!

This model really is an excellent solution for every day upkeep around the house. It'll up all sorts of cat hair, both short and long, and it'll clean up tracked litter for you too.

A few other items worth keeping in mind on this option:

"I have 3 cats in my home and this vacuum has no issue picking up their hair even though 2 are long haired."

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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If you're looking for a tried and true product then the Ecovacs N79S is an excellent option. It has sold over 5 million total units which means they have had lots of great feedback come in and they've improved the product based on it!

The N79s is the second generation of the original N79 which was already a great product, but this one really bumps it up an extra notch. Take a look at these awesome features to help you decide:

"No more fur tumbleweeds like my house is the old west of cat fur!"

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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Pure Clean's promise to you is that they will keep your home clean without you lifting a finger. You'll of course have to lift a finger to setup the robot vacuum, but once you've done that it should be pretty hands off from there!

The low profile design of the Pure Clean model is specifically engineered to help it fit in under low places to get those clumps of cat hair that are clinging to the bottom of the couch or hiding in the corners under your bed.

A few other things worth pointing out to potential buyers

"It is absolutely stunning how much cat hair it will pick up the first time you use it. You won't believe your eyes."

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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​Ecovacs is specifically known for their S Shaped systematic cleaning path.  The idea is that it employs a far more logical approach to cleaning floors so it doesn't have to go over the same spots a ton of times because as it crosses the room back and forth it will already cover every spot.

It also features a Max Power cleaning mode which can increase the suction power by 2x to get those hard to clean spots spick and span with no effort from you!

A couple of other things worth noting on this model are:

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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This is the top of the line model from iRobot when it comes to models specifically designed to suck up cat hair and cat litter.  It has extra power built in, better navigational sensors and it even features the ability to stop mid cycle for a recharge and start itself back up again.

If you've got anyone with allergies in the house or coming to visit the house this option also ups its game when it comes to the air filter. All in all it is a more evolved model of the 690 and it will show.

A couple of key items worth noting for anyone interested in purchasing it:

"This vacuum keeps up with mountains of pet hair from several cats and a dog"

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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​If you're looking for a great model at an entry level price then Pure Clean brings an excellent option to the table. This has all the major features a robotic vacuum needs and it has a cost that is one third of some of the Dyson models on the market.

This model is also built specifically for pets. It has all the key changes and modifications your house needs to ensure it can suck up all that cat hair you don't want stuck in your rugs or tumbling around on your wood floor.

A few key items worth noting:

Something worth considering before purchasing:

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Additional Information

Robotic vacuums are relatively unique in their features and functions compared to a traditional vacuum. They are all  basically designed to operate only on the floor and they don't have any attachments, but there are still lots of things worth considering before you make a purchase.

Scheduling Capability

If you're looking for a robot vacuum the scheduling capability is by far one of the most important features. You'll likely want it to run while you're away from the house to help minimize how often you actually need to vacuum with your traditional vacuum.

Every option listed here enables you to schedule it, but some work through a mobile phone app and some have to be manually programmed with a remote control or directly on the robot.  If you're less technically handy you might want to lean toward one with a mobile app.

WiFi / Mobile App Enabled

Options that are WiFi enabled bring many additional features and functions, but most important is that you can kick off a cleaning at pretty much any time from anywhere. This is a huge perk if you don't normally schedule your vacuum or if you know there's a bit of a mess and you walk out of the house.

The mobile apps range from pretty basic to extremely advanced. Even the basic ones though enable you to interact with your vacuum from anywhere with a connection.

They key thing to remember here is that many of the vacuums only work on 2.4 ghz WiFi networks. Be sure to check your Wireless Router before you make a purchase so you don't end up with a vacuum you cannot connect.

Special Cleaning Modes

There are several cleaning modes available depending upon the model you choose to go with. Some even automatically detect the surface they are on and switch modes as necessary (for example turning on the brush head on carpet).

If you have a lot of tough to pick up cat hair or messes you want your vacuum to get to then you might want to look specifically at some of the models with boost modes or extra power. This does drain the battery faster, but it'll certainly ensure that hard to reach pet hair gets pulled out of the rug!

Brush Head

Brush Heads are basically designed to help pull hair up and out of things, in particular carpet.  If you've got a lot of carpet in the house or numerous rugs you'll want to explore a model with a brush head. Simple suction will only pull the loose hair up and leave anything matted or weaved in behind.

If you have all hardwood floors you'll likely want to skip a brush head. Not only do you not really need it, but brush heads have been known to damage wood floors, especially if your cleaner gets stuck and keeps spinning the brush head.

Noise Level

Some companies claim you can run these robot vacuums while you sleep. I'm a light sleeper so I find it a little far fetched, but if you have multiple levels to your house you might be able to get away with it.

The other consideration is that if your cats are afraid of loud noises (as most are) then you may want to specifically choose an option that is on the quieter side. The easiest way to determine this is based on the power of the vacuum. The more powerful the vacuum the noisier it is likely to be.

This basically means that the Samsung and the Dyson options above are on the noisier side.

Corner & Edge Cleaning

Cleaning in corners and along edges is one of the most difficult things for robot vacuums to do, especially since most of them are shaped like a disc and the actual suction is right in the middle.  There are a couple of different options for dealing with this:

• Side Brushes: These are quiet common and they are small rotating brushes that pull things away from the walls and shove them toward the center of the vacuum. Very simple and quite effective.
• Samsung Edge Tech: This is a new technology only available on Samsung. The vacuum lines itself up with the wall and then drops a small plastic edge shovel and pulls the things away from the wall. It then goes back over that space and vacuums it up.
• Wide Brush Head: A few models feature an extra wide brush head that covers more of the area under the vacuum. The idea is it doesn't have to push everything right to the center to actually suck it up.

I find the side brushes on my iLife model very effective, even for tracked cat litter along the walls. I haven't tried the Samsung Edge Tech yet, but I've seen it in numerous review videos and it looks to work quite well also.

Digital Zones / Barriers / Pylons

If you have a lot of potential drops or hazards in your home and you'd like to keep your vacuum away from them you can use Digital Zones to do so. These are something you can buy and they are small infrared lasers that basically tell the vacuum there is a wall there.

Most of the vacuums have edge / drop safety technology built in so they won't simply drive off of stairs or over a ledge anymore, but this can still come in handy if you have complicated places or places you simply don't want your vacuum to go.

The only real drawback is these things are unnecessarily expensive for what they are. They tend to run well into the double digits and you'd expect them to be more like $5 or $10 dollars.

Cleaning Maps & Status

If you're a big techie or if you just like to know exactly what is going on at any point in the day then you might want to aim for one of the more advanced models. The sensors in these models will actually map out your floor and then keep you up to date on how much progress the vacuum is made.

You simply log into your mobile phone to bring up the current status and check out which parts of the floor are clean or not. Pretty slick!

HEPA Filter or Traditional Filter

If you've got someone with allergies in the house or someone that visits often enough then definitely opt for a model with a HEPA filter. HEPA filters will pull out 99.97% of allergens and dust in the air to ensure that as your vacuum cleans it isn't letting any cat dander (or much of anything for that matter) escape.

Note that HEPA filters do usually require hand washing or they need to be replaced on a relatively frequent basis if you're running your vacuum daily. This means additional work for you or an additional cost, but it can also mean a night and day difference for minimizing allergic reactions.

Battery Life

Battery life is mostly relevant if you have a very large house and you don't have one of the models that will automatically return and resume cleaning. More advanced models can simply recharge and keep going when the battery runs low.

If you decide to opt for a less high tech version keep an eye on the battery life as anything under 60 minutes is probably not sufficient to do a very good job on any large space before it needs to return and recharge.

Mop Capability

Pretty straight forward. Vacuums only clean up dry messes and they certainly won't pull anything off the floor like mud that has since dried. The mop capability will basically wet things down for you and then clean up.

My experience so far is that if you're really in need of a full scale mopping you're probably going to have to do it yourself. Very similar to a traditional vacuum versus the robotic counterpart.

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If you've got a long haired cat then you know their hair can be even tougher to get out anything and everything. The real question you need to ask here though is whether or not you have rugs and carpet.

If you've got all bare floors like hard wood, tile, and laminate then any of the options above will do an excellent job sucking up long hair just as easily as short hair.

When it comes to rugs and carpet long hair seems to grab hold and just stay there no matter how many times you run a suction only vacuum over it. So you're probably wondering if a robotic vacuum can do much about it. 

The short answer is absolutely. They can do a great job at helping pull hair out, but you need to ensure you go for a version that has a brush head if you truly want them to pull long hair out of anything it can grab hold of. Many of the vacuums above are simple suction based vacuums that don't have this capability.

Be sure to look for an option with a brush head above. One of the best is definitely the Samsung Powerbot.

Another option for helping decrease the chances of long haired cats jamming your vacuum or leaving behind tumble weeds is to be sure to brush them daily. There are tons of great brushes and deshedding tools out there for long haired cats that can help with this problem.

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You've probably heard the stories. Someone who has a robot vacuum and they kicked it off when they left the house and found it 3 feet from the charging station flipped over when they got home.

While this of course can happen, it isn't the norm.  Especially if you think intelligently about where you deploy your robot vacuum and what your home looks like.

There are a few things that can of course be difficult for robot vacuums to navigate. You should do your best to be careful of these things before you start your vacuum. Key things worth looking for:

• Electrical Cords
• Strings/Wires of any kind
• High lipped rugs
• Room transitions / dividers

I would highly recommend you stay home and watch it the first few times you run it. This ensures you can look out for problem areas and either adjust the layout of a room or pick up a problematic cord that your vacuum is getting stuck on.

There are also a few other ways you can help your vacuum along:

• Leverage digital barriers to stop your vacuum going places you don't want it to go
• Build or create your own small physical barrier to keep the vacuum where you want it. A chair on its side does a great job in barring the robot vacuum from specific areas.
• Close doors to rooms you don't want it to go in or that don't need cleaning.
• Use the remote when necessary to have it spot clean a specific area with more diligence.

The vacuums have a lot of capabilities and a lot of sensors. Be sure to put them to use!

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While this probably isn't the key question you're considering in making your purchase it is probably something that has crossed your mind. I'm sure you've seen plenty of YouTube videos of cats riding around on robot vacuums, and if you haven't here is one of my favorites.

The short answer to this question though is that most cats will be too scared of the robot vacuum to go anywhere near it. While this certainly won't apply to all cats, it will to most cats.

For those that are not scared I would encourage you to deter your cat from riding your robot vacuum. While most of them probably won't suffer terrible, especially from a small cat, they will eventually cause damage to the motor which can break the vacuum.

Given these vacuums are no small investment you'll want to do your best to ensure that the life of your vacuum is as long as possible. Keep your cat off your vacuum if you can. There are plenty of videos you can watch of cats on robo vacuums on YouTube already.

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Robot vacuums will not replace a traditional vacuum. Although the technology is getting better and getting smarter on a monthly basis, there's simply some places that a robot vacuum cannot handle.

There are a few key things you'll probably still need a traditional vacuum for:

• Stairs of any kind - Robot vacuums are good at avoiding them, but not good at cleaning them
• Low profile furniture - Robot vacuums often get stuck or simply bump into low furniture
• Long carpet - Most of these vacuums simply can't handle long carpet
• Upholstery - If you want to be able to vacuum off your couches or chairs look elsewhere
• Drapes - Vacuuming drapes with a robotic vacuum is simply out of the question

You might be saying to yourself "Well what the heck are they good for then?!?!"  They are great for many things, in particular keeping things manageable on the floors of your house between deeper cleanings.

I use mine on a consistent basis to:

• Quickly run over my hardwood floors near the litter box
• Run through the living room while I'm gone at work to suck up hair and tracked litter
• Do single room cleanings when I am too lazy to vacuum myself

Kicking this thing off once a day is an excellent way to help control the amount of fur you'll find scattered throughout your house.  On the bright side it might also wake your cats up while you are gone if you run it on a schedule. 

I purposely run mine in the middle of the day just because it keeps my cats from sleeping the entire time I'm gone. They aren't afraid of it like a traditional vacuum, but they keep their eyes on it none the less. Added bonus to help them sleep at night!

If you're looking for great traditional upright or canister style vacuums for cat hair and litter then check out my guide here.

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If you haven't decided whether or not to add a robo vacuum to your arsenal of tools at home that's quite alright. There are so many features and functions it can be tough to make a decision.

I would however highly recommend you do consider one. Adding one to my home has decreased the amount of fur I find floating all over and also heavily decreased the number of times I find litter stuck to the bottom of a foot.

Robotic Vacuums are a huge benefit when you set the right expectations for them. They'll make your life a heck of a lot easier if you're willing to kick them off each day and then just empty out the dust bin.

If you have any questions or a robotic vacuum that has worked well in your house please leave a comment below and tell us all about your experience!

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References: iLife, Shark, Roomba, Samsung