Unfortunately I am allergic to cat dander, and have experienced using carpet cleaning companies and renting steam cleaning machines with horrible allergic results due to the cleaners being used at cat infested houses! This cleaner is by far the best alternative to rentals and companies, as it cleans the carpet nearly as well as the companies, and much better than rentals. THe only downside is the small tank. If you have a large house, the dirty water tank will need to be emptied quite a bit. We used this unit alongside another similar unit costing 3 times as much, and this one far exceeded the other units cleaning ability. Worth the money.