Once she is gone, Jerry wants to sabotage Tom, so he begins making a mess around the house by, among other things, emptying the ashtray onto the floor, squirting ink from a fountain pen into a pail, juggling food, bringing an old horse and pushing an ink stamp pad onto Tom's paws while he takes a nap, causing the cat to leave a long trail of paw prints in the living room.

Boxoffice reviewed the short on December 12, 1948, saying, "This is a repeat performance of a common film cartoon gag but amusing nevertheless.

"[3] Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin praised the short saying it "... typifies the development of this series taking the same story idea as Puss Gets the Boot and playing it in modern Tom-and-Jerry fashion, with hilarious gags, razor-sharp timing, and riveting "takes", or reactions.

"[4] In 2007, this short and Casanova Cat were pulled from the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection - Volume 3 DVD compilation by Warner Home Video due to racial stereotypes.

[5] It had been announced that Mouse Cleaning would be available on the Tom and Jerry Golden Collection - Volume 2 on DVD and Blu-ray, with the short being presented uncut, uncensored, and restored from its original nitrate elements that had been recently discovered.