Are you ready to own a pet? Getting a pet for the family can seem like such a wonderful idea – before you actually do it. But if you haven’t really thought through all the aspects of pet ownership, you can end up feeling that your pet is as much work as your children!
So before you rush out and bring home a whole bundle of trouble consider the following:
Before diving in, do your research: speak to a vet, an animal breeder, and friends who own pets before you settle on a particular animal. If you are thinking about getting a pet contact your local SPCA or vet and ask their advice.
Who will look after the pet?
If you have children under the age of 10 years, it is unrealistic to think that they can be independently responsible for a pet. You will be doing the bulk of the feeding, watering, cleaning, walking – unless you are prepared to remind every day.
Can you afford to look after the pet?
Pets are expensive – depending on the type of animal you get, there are food costs, vaccinations, beds and cages, grooming, flea and tick control, obedience classes, fences or gates around the house and vet care over the lifetime of the pet.
Do you have to register your pet?
Most local councils have regulations regarding the registration of dogs.
How long will your pet live?
Do you want to care for a pet when your children are older? And on the flipside, will your children be able to cope if there is an unexpected death in the family?
Do you know what type of pet you want?
And is it a practical choice? Some pets will be completely inappropriate for your family so make sure you’ve done your homework to discover the best pet for you.
How much exercise will your pet need?
And more importantly, does your family have the time and inclination to exercise a pet?
Will you have to leave your pet alone a lot?
If so, do you have to take any measures to ensure that it will be safe and secure?
If you go away, who will care for your pet?
Friendly neighbours are often happy to feed and walk pets but if you’re short on friendly neighbours (or your pet is a large dog who will bark for the whole seven days you’re away) then you need to consider either having someone move into your house to be a companion for your pet, or have your pet board away from home, which can be expensive.
So many important tips here. For example, we got our cat from the SPCA. We had never had a cat before and the outlay of cost just to get her, a cage, food and bowls and that first check up – it was over $300 dollars. And it really wouldn’t have been much cheaper if we had picked her up “free” either.
I think it is important to think about what you are going to do with you pet when you go on holiday in advance. our guinea pig would come on trips with us which was good. and definitely be prepared for doing the majority of the looking after the pet, if you have children – maybe they could look after someone else’s pet for a few weeks first to see what pet suits the family best.
These are some great questions for anyone to think about before purchasing an animal as they are a big responsibility and do need to be looked after. Too many people get a kitten then it turns to a cat then they dump it somewhere it’s so wrong. Also if you go away who will feed your pets or do you put them in a cattery/ dog kennels which cost a lot of money. There is a lot to think about with any animal.
We are very ready to get a wee dog! My hubby is stay at home Dad, our daughter has just started school and hubby will be around to look after the dog so it won’t be home alone 🙂 The only issue is we live in a small apartment in the middle of town so not allowed a dog 🙁 But we are thinking about moving in the next year so will definitely be looking seriously to get a dog!!
We are in the process of deciding on a new family puppy as our little girl is older now and our son is ready for the responsibility. I think it’s great to get kids involved with the care as it teaches them valuable life skills.