I used to have a good vacuum that picked up everything no problem. Then it died. So I picked up this el cheapo Dirt Devil ~$40 at Target. I figured, why would you spend a lot of money, it’s just a vacuum… what? Wrong. It sucks. There’s hair from my two cats all over the carpet (look away, PRR, look away!). At fist I thought it was stains, but today when I ran the carpet cleaner over them, it’s mostly black cat hair. At least the steamer will ball it up into big pieces that I can pick up, but I don’t want to run the steamer every few days or anything. So, I need a decent vacuum that is good with pet hair, for, if not cheap, then at least not boggle-the-mind expensive.
I’ve yet to buy a Dyson or anything pricey. I have 3-4-5 dogs and 4 cats (I take in foster dogs) so pet hair is a big issue here.
What type of floors do you have? I have wood/tile/area rugs, and use a shop vac with the extra-large hose. It sucks up freaking well everything and cost me under $100.00.
I have carpets, regular apartment-style.
We have a Dyson Animal and love it. I wish I’d gotten one sooner. They are more on the expensive side, though.
I know someone with two large shedding dogs – she has a Dyson Animal too, and says it works great.
Actually, the Dyson Digital (the battery one, no AC power) sucks up the pet hair just fine, but you have to keep cleaning the hair out of the rollers. It’s about $200 cheaper than the Animal, I think.
I have two Dirt Devils and I’ll stick up for them. I can’t see what gets sucked up (which I think is a lot of Dyson’s allure) but I have to change the bag almost every time I do the three rooms on the first floor, so I know they’re sucking up something. They’re lightweight and last a long time. Mine are 10 years old and still going.
There’s different levels of Dirt Devils- I got one of the cheapest. Hell, I can’t even vacuum a whole room at a time with it- it gets overheated and turns itself off until it can cool down.
Screw regular vacuums. Get a Shop-Vac. It’s the only vacuum we’ve found that can keep ahead of 4 cats.
I love my Dyson pet somethingornother (can’t remember the actual name, but it has pet in the title). I’ve had it for around 3 years and it’s very good on pet hair, and feathers. 
We got thisBissell a few weeks ago, and it is all kinds of awesome on both hardwoods and carpet. It’s amazing the amount of dirt this thing picks up. We have three long-ish haired dogs and a cat, so I feel your pain.
To give you a different brand option, we have a Miele Cat and Dog, and the secret seems to be the turbobrush with a rotating head. This model came with both a floor and upholstery rotating head, and with 4 cats and mostly wooden floors does a wonderful job.
This is not a “full house” vacuum, but we got the “Dirt Devil M0105 Bagless Hand Vacuum for Pets” and it was awesome on stairs, in corners, on couches/upholstery, etc. We no longer have a dog, but I still use that vacuum fairly regularly for spot cleaning.
I had a Bissel pet hair one which I loved but then I dropped it and it broke. I just bought a Shark and Target and it’s great - except I got grossed out by how much it picked up from a carpet I thought was semi-clean. It was around $150 and worth every penny as it works when you’re on the edges of the carpet and the hardwood - it doesn’t lose suction.
my eureka boss capture bagless vac is starting to age, but it has proven excellent in getting up the superkitties’ cat hair for the last eight years.
as far as today’s superkitties are concerned, maggie is your basic DSH, but turk is the epitome of the long-haired cat from hell. his fur is like cotton candy - long and fine - and he sheds like it’s going to be declared illegal this afternoon. he’s like pigpen: wherever he goes, there’s a trail of gray kitty hair instead of dirt in his wake.
until i got the eureka, vaccuming it off standard carpeting had been a nightmare. and my whole place other than the entryway, kitchen, and downstairs bath has carpet.
Thanks for the replies. There are a lot of choices. Right now I’m thinking of stalking craigslist when I’m ready to buy and researching what comes up until I find the right one. Or a Shop Vac- are those necessarily wet vacs? Because that would be handy for household use, with one clumsy 12 year-old boy.
Another vote for the Dyson Animal. Wife took ours when she moved out and I now have a Hoover and, while passable, is NOTHING compared to the Dyson.
There are places that sell refurbished vacuums for cheaper than new. You might try looking that up. They usually only have the nicest ones, and you can get them at a substantial discount.
Yep - wet/dry. A multitasker.
Shop vacs are really not ideal for vacuuming carpet.
Most vacuums with a powered head. Hoover Hygiene+ is a good one, but a bit awkward in corners. The Miele Cat and Dog is all right but only has a turbo head, so it works on the pet hairs but isn’t as good as a power head at cleaning carpets.
I just used my MIL’s 25+ year old Kirby yesterday to pick up a bunch of mulch and fur from two very shaggy large dogs. I have never used a vacuum so powerful on a floor, and now I want one! Too bad it weighs so much it has to have the self-propelled mode switched on to vacuum with it.