Whether or not you are ready to take the leap, go through these seven pointers before deciding to commit yourself to a furry baby. Sharing your life with a puppy, or a cuddly kitty seems like a wonderful experience. While there are many who jump into instant adoptions as and when they meet a stray animal, there are others who think, overthink and never adopt one. Well, whether or not you are ready to take the leap, go through these seven pointers before deciding to commit yourself to a furry baby.
1. Are you ready for a long-term commitment?
Committing to a fur-person is harder than you imagine. Do you really have time to spend playing with and cuddling your pet or taking him/her for walks? It is more like adopting a baby, who'll stay a baby all its life. Getting angry at untimely poops or pees or getting pissed off at fallen fur, damaged shoes, and tattered carpets, are not pardoned.
2. Do you have a pet-friendly house and lifestyle?
Adopting a pet is not like owning a soft-toy, which you can store in a cardboard box when you are not playing with it. Animals need some open space to run around and explore. They sniff around and find good places to defecate and urinate. They may pull off your favorite table mat or pick random DVDs from that tray kept too close to the ground. They need proper ventilation, sunlight and a temperature that suits their body warmth. If you are planning to shut it in your washroom while you are going out for work or hang-outs, you better don't adopt a pet.
3. Either a long adjustment period or a hideous training
If you are a cleanliness freak, the first few weeks after your pet's arrival will make you abnormal. Animals take time to adapt to new surroundings. Their digestion and bladder cycle would be improper in the first few days. You will have to patiently wait until your pets adopt you back.
Until that blissful moment, you'd find yourself toggling between mops, wipes, and dustbins, clearing animal wastes from the floor. You have to introduce the tiny person to litter-box and food-plates on the very first day. Adjustment period may vary from animal to animal, breed to breed and nature to nature. You don't have an option but to cope up with your little friend.
4. Keep him engaged, keep him clean
A young puppy or a kitty would want to chew everything that gets stuck on their little paws, be it stones or your new stocking. This is because they have irritations in their gums as a symptom of growing teeth or strengthening of jaw bones. The animal seriously needs a chew-toy during this time, to keep its teeth engaged. Buy toys to amuse your pet and keep it engaged with a lot of non-hazardous pet-friendly accessories.
You have to keep this tiny person in your mind every time you buy something. Animals are prone to get fleas and mites on their body. You will have to buy pet-shampoos, wet-wipes, and sprays to shoo away parasites. You will have to wash and clean him so frequently that how much ever you do, one missed wash will make him smell like he's never had a proper bath in life.
5. Contemplate, speak, communicate
There is no other mantra to tame your pet than proper communication. The more you talk to your pet, the more it will get attached to you. You will have to find time to discuss things with your pet, regarding chew-toy preferences, food or any trifle that amuses your kid.
Your pet may not respond in the beginning and you'll find your dialogues more like soliloquies. But later, the kid will start staring at your mouth when you say something and later on, it would start recognizing commands, moods and sweet-talks.
6. Not everything you eat shall go to your pet's belly
Pets have a really sensitive intestine, which may be allergic to most of the things humans eat. Pet food varies from animal to animal and breed to breed. You'd have to wait patiently at a pet-store and pick the food of your pet's type. They are not human beings to demand food when hungry.
You will have to put in some effort to understand what sound they make when hungry and how they growl when they get angry. You have to keep your pet hydrated all the time and block them from eating insects and dust stranded on the floor. And do not ever feed your tiny friend with your own left-overs. No, a pet is never a synonym for the dustbin.
7. Keep good rapport with a vet
You have to consult a veterinary physician before and after adopting a pet animal. Knowing the nature, type, and allergies of your pet in advance may help you while optimizing your household. Regular health check-ups and vaccinations should be made a habit as pet animals easily carry bacteria and viruses that spread diseases.
There are many other circumstances you have to anticipate before bringing in a pet. Those include informing your neighbors about the fur-baby's arrival and checking the dangers and possible hazards in the surrounding like an open well or an aggressive animal.
After bringing in your pet, you also have to walk him/her around your house and surroundings to get it familiarized with the locality. Also never hesitate to let your pet wander around and explore the new home on its own. If you are not ready for any of these adjustment plans, it's better to rethink on your adoption plan.
