Have you finally decided to be a full-time pet parent?
After hours of contemplating, you feel secure in your intention to adopt a furry companion. But while your heart may be ready to shower an animal with love, it’s crucial to consider whether you have the full capability to add a new member to your family.
Adopting and caring for a pet is a huge commitment. Before you welcome a rescued animal into your life, ask yourself these six vital questions from shared by a trusted Dubai pet food company.
1. Can you afford to own a pet?
Even if the cost of adopting the animal itself is trivial, you still need to factor in the food, new pet supplies, and vet visits. If you intend to split the costs with another family member, make sure that you are both in agreement regarding the amount to spend on the new pet.
Talking about the costs of owning a pet ahead of time can help prevent surprises down the line. For instance, are you both onboard regarding buying premium pet food? Will you get pet insurance? If the animal’s health is on the line, it’s also important that you are fully committed to pay whatever cost.
2. How much time can you allocate for your pet every day?
Pets are not house decorations. They need your time and attention to develop good behavior and avoid anxiety. If you usually come home late at night only to sit down in front of the TV, that’s definitely not a good sign. Your pet deserves real interaction with you such as cuddling, playing, or walking.
To have a well-mannered pet, you need to make a serious commitment to interact with your animal companion. This should happen at home, several times a day through attention and engagement.
3. Will you be able to tolerate a certain level of household destruction?
House accidents are normal when you bring an animal into your life. There will be miscommunications, misunderstandings, and missed potty breaks. It’s crucial to ensure that you have the patience to handle these mistakes until your pet learns the correct behavior.
Destructive behaviors like garbage raiding and furniture chewing can be quite infuriating. To offset these bad behaviors, it’s important that you commit yourself to consistently training your pet.
4. Are you living with small children?
Not all animals are ready to live with children. If you have young kids, you must first teach them all the rules of safe pet care conduct. There should be no climbing on animals, pulling, pushing, or teasing.
Spend an ample amount of time on meeting different animals with your children to observe their tolerance levels. Also, observe the animal’s responsiveness to training and ability to recover from jarring incidents before introducing the pet to your children.
5. What kind of lifestyle do you have?
Some pet owners decide to get a big dog only to complain that the animal is difficult to travel with. Before adopting an animal, list down the activities you picture yourself doing with a pet such as going for car rides, hiking, or playing ball.
The best pet is often the one you can enjoy doing fun things with. Adopting an animal companion that fits your lifestyle helps ensure that you’ll get along well for the years to come. However, you shouldn’t only consider “what you expect” from the animal, but also “what you have to offer” the pet.
You’ll land a great match when you identify your expectations beforehand and remain realistic about the relationship.6. Can you get support from others if you’re not around to take care of the pet?
Many behavioral problems in pets are the result of not having a reliable system to relieve them when confined indoors. Imagine being stuck inside the house for most of the day; the same thing may happen if you leave your pet alone.
Before you adopt, look into pet daycare centers, boarding facilities, and sitters. Secure a network of people you can trust to take care of your animal on your behalf when you find yourself in a pinch. Be responsible
The moment you take an animal home, his life becomes your responsibility. An animal from a shelter has already been through a lot; your goal should be to become a responsible pet parent and give him all the love, care, and affection he deserves.
If you have a positive answer to all the questions above, then, you may be the next pet parent a lucky animal has long been waiting for.
AUTHOR BIO
Farah Al-Khoja is the Managing Partner of Pet’s Delight. A passionate entrepreneur, Farah holds a Bsc in Government from the London School of Economics. She is always on the lookout for new opportunities to develop and grow the pet and equestrian retail and wholesale market in the UAE and beyond, and is proud to be at the helm of the first and the largest pet care provider in the market representing world-class brands including Orijen, Applaws, Hunter, Savic, Flamingo, Ruffwear and Rogz.
