Quick View
- LaserSmart mapping & navigation
- Multiple floor plans
- Ultra performance filter
- Zone cleaning
- Smart home voice commands
- Triple filter system
- Can be set auto timer
- 1300pa suction
- BoostIQ Technology
- Very quiet
- Self-emptying
- Smart mapping
- 3-stage cleaning system
- Multiple floor plans
- Smart home voice commands
Many of us couldn’t live without our furry friends, but besides keeping us happy and entertained they have their downside; constantly shedding their furs and tracking dirt everywhere so you’re forced to always clean up after them. But fear not, help is at hand.
Robotic vacuums are excellent home assistants but not all are created equal. If you have pets that shed a considerable amount of hair daily then you sure need to get one of the best robot vacuum for pets.
While you can’t stop your pets from messing up the house with furs and tracks of dirt, you can do something to make the cleaning process much easier and the house less messy for everyone. Robot vacuum cleaners can pick up pet litter, hair and food that has been spread around by those messy eaters.
And what’s more? You can set these smart home devices to run on a schedule, and they require no input from you except for occasionally emptying the dustbin, this way you can ensure your home doesn’t turn into a lair of debris.
Wondering whether a robot vacuum is something you would want, you should also read our post about whether or not you should buy a robot vacuum.
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But how do you find the best robot vacuum for pets with the sheer number of robot vacuum cleaners available? An ideal robot vacuum for pets should have a powerful suction force, sizable dustbin and excellent navigation.
But that’s not all, pet owners keep reading to find out other features that make these bots excellent for pets and our top three picks as well as a valuable buying guide to help you make the right decision.
*The product links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase after following one, I make a small commission from the sale at no additional cost to you. Please see our disclosure page for more information.
The best robot vacuum for pets
Neato Robotics D7
Best overall robotic vacuum for pets
The Neato botvac D7 is the flagship model of Neato’s Botvac range and an excellent robot vacuum for a home with lots of rambunctious kids and pets. It’s equipped with a powerful suction force and brushes to sweep up and capture furs, long hairs, and pet litter.
Designed to look like the letter D, the D7 can efficiently navigate into corners and under furniture. The Botvac D7 has sensors that detect floor types, meaning it will have no problem whether you have carpets or bare floors. It’s a smart home device that can map and store multiple floor plans for multi-story houses.
With built-in lidar laser navigation mapping, this botvac navigates very efficiently, and it comes with ‘no-go’ lines for marking out areas you want the robot to avoid.
Unlike most other robot vacs, the D7 will calculate exactly how long it needs to recharge in order to finish cleaning, this feature makes it very fast. Neato D7 also has a HEPA filter that can trap very tiny particles (as small as 0.3 microns) and will remove up to 99% of dust mites and allergens from the air.
Eufy Robovac 11S
Best budget robot vacuum for pets
The Eufy boostiq Robovac 11S is a perfect robotic vacuum cleaner for any home with pets if you are looking for an affordable option. This very quiet robot can fit underneath any furniture and reach very tight places because of its slim design.
Despite being very quiet, this robot vacuum comes equipped with a powerful suction force of up to 1300 Pa. This strong suction force coupled with rolling brushes sweeps up dirt, hairs, and furs and traps them into the 0.6 liters dustbin. The 11S has four different cleaning modes; auto mode, edge clean, spot clean, and quick clean. It features 10 infrared sensors to detect obstacles and edges, and a battery that runs for about 100 minutes.
The Eufy Robovac is basically designed to get the job done without disturbing anyone, it’s one of the quietest robot vacuums available. But the low price of this model does mean it is missing some of the extra features that you would find in other, more expensive robotic vacuum cleaners. For example, it doesn’t have a mobile app, neither is it compatible with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, though it has a remote control.
However, if you are looking for a great value option at a low price that will deal with your pet’s hair on a daily basis, the Eufy Robovac is a fantastic choice.
iRobot Roomba i7+
Laziest option
With its 3 stage cleaning system, the Roomba i7+ is one of the best robots you can buy for getting pet hair off of your floors, whether hardwood, tiles, carpets or throw rugs, but it does have a price to match the expectations.
It’s equipped with a suction force that delivers ten times more power than lesser robotic vacuum cleaners, with this force it captures every strand of hair and fur.
It comes with dual rubber brushes designed to pick up hairs without getting all tangled up with them. The i7+ also sports a HEPA filter for picking up 99% of pollen, dust particles, hair and pet allergens. With the combination of these features, pet hairs and allergens stand no chance against the Roomba i7.
In addition to being highly efficient, this robot vacuum is also very easy to operate. It comes with the iRobot home app plus it’s compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. To properly move around the furniture in your home, this robot uses a top-mounted camera and sensors for detecting edges.
And the best part, the i7+ has the ability to empty its own dustbin. It will automatically recharge and resume cleaning and when the dust bin is full, it drives back to the docking station which doubles as a clean base and empties the trash.
Be sure to read our full review of the Roomba i7.
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Buyer’s Guide & FAQs
What makes a robot vacuum suitable for pets?
Buying a robot vacuum cleaner is much like buying most other gadgets. There are certain things to consider before you make a purchase, and the most important factors here are what floor types you have and how you intend the use the robot.
In this case, we’re talking about robot vacuums ideal for pets, so you should be looking at those with powerful suction force to trap every trace of pet hair and work well on multiple floor types. You also need a vacuum with brushes designed to pick up without getting tangled up in it.
And lastly, the robot should have a great filtration system. With a HEPA filter, the robot is able to capture dust, pollen, and allergens in the air into its dustbin leaving the floor and air much cleaner than before.
Key points for consideration before buying
Suction Power
A robot vacuum cleaner with powerful brushes and suction force of about 500-700 Pa is enough to clean up any hard floor because the brushes do all the job. But when pets enter the picture, you certainly need a more powerful suction force (at least 1000 Pa) to trap all that fur and dirt.
HEPA filter
Many robot vacuums come equipped with HEPA filters to remove very tiny dust, dirt particles and allergens from the air. This is a very important feature in a robot for a home with pets and people with allergies. You should also note that some robot vacuums come with HEPA filters that can trap much tinier particles.
Dustbin Size
Since you have to manually empty the dustbin of your robot vacuum, you need one with more than the average dustbin size which is 0.5 liters. A robot like Roomba i7+ which can empty its own dustbin is an exception. But if you’re buying a robot that will require you to manually empty the dustbin, then the dustbin capacity should be at least 0.7 liters. The Neato Botvac D6 meets this standard with a dustbin of 0.7 liters, while the Eufy RoboVac 11S comes with a 0.6 liters dust collector.
With pets in the house, you’ll definitely have feeding areas for them and some containers in these areas. So you want a robot vacuum that’s really smart and will intelligently navigate through your home without bumping into these areas or smashing the feeding containers. Robots with both infrared sensors and optical cameras have the best navigation.
Battery Life
In addition to the above features, you also want a vacuum with decent battery life and ‘recharge and resume’ feature. Some robots have a battery life of about 60 minutes, while some others can work for over two hours. But the average charging time for these smart home devices is about 3 hours.
Smart Features
The whole essence of having a robot vacuum is to make your life a lot easier by having it take care of the back-breaking chore of vacuuming the floors. With smart features like a mobile app, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant, you can have your robot clean your floors with lifting a finger, literally. Other smart features like dirt detect, scheduling, recharge and resume, also come in handy.
FAQs
How well do these robots handle long hairs?
Robots specially built for pets and carpets can handle long hairs very well, they come equipped with brushes that don’t get tangled up in long hairs. But you’ll also have to clean the brushes frequently as a maintenance practice, properly after each cleaning cycle.
How do you maintain a robot vacuum?
To keep your robot vacuum in excellent condition, you need to always empty the dustbin. You also need to clean out the brushes and filters, this is best done after each cleaning cycle if possible or at least once a week. If you have lots of pet hair, then you may need to do this more often. You’ll also need to clean the robots’ lasers & sensors at least once every 2 weeks.
Can you schedule it to clean at night?
Yes, you can schedule your robot to clean at night. But this may not be very ideal because if your robot has only optical sensors it may not see well enough to work in the dark. And if the robot is significantly loud, scheduling it to clean at night may not be very convenient.
How well does it clean under furniture?
The best robot vacuum cleaners are obviously those that can effortlessly navigate through and under furniture and can get to hard-to-reach areas without getting stuck. This robot will have to be small but efficient, and most robot vacuums fit this description.
Final thoughts on finding the best robot vacuum for pets
If you have pets that shed considerable amounts of furs daily, and most times you come home to find layers of fur when you vacuum the floors in the morning before leaving. This can be tough and if it sounds like your home, then you certainly do need a reliable robot vacuum to clean up after your pets.
With the Neato Botvac D7, you can set it to run on schedule to sweep up all pet hairs and you’ll only have to occasionally empty the dustbin. If the prospect of emptying dustbin isn’t convenient enough for you, you can go a step further and get the Roomba i7+ and never worry about that anymore!
Matt is the founder of the Little Robot Shop, who has spent much of the last decade hacking home cleaning with various robots and devices to make keeping his home clean as easy as possible. Not an easy task with two young children.
When not working on the Little Robot Shop website or YouTube channel, he works as technical support and product specialist for a fast-growing digital company. He does his best to get his younglings to code, which will be an essential skill in the future.
