Where do I start a new pet for the family? What is the ideal pet for our family? Well you are starting well by collecting information. This is key as a pet is for life, so if in doubt do not have one.
A bit negative there, but there is such a wide range of pets to pick from, all of them can be fun, but have diverse pluses and negatives. You can pick from a dog, cat, gerbil, guinea pig, reptile, spider, snake and the list is never ending.
You must to involve everybody in the assessment, it needs to be a complete household decision. Due to its importance I suggest you discuss and commit to paper your objective for desiring a pet. Add to it on a large sheet of paper, with a column for the pet, some columns to rank each pet. The considerations for a pet include, time (yours), cost (pets are costly), pet care, space needed, aptitude to fuss, interest, collective activity, any phobias, other points.
Pets take time, some necessitate more than others. High maintenance animals are those that have need of regular exercise such as dogs and horses. Dogs evolved from wolves and still have many of those characters. They are used to regularly covering large areas every day to search for food, so most breeds require a minimum an hour or two a day walking. This should be part of a routine and done everyday. Other pets may have need of a lot of grooming, changing water etc. A cat sitter often spends a lot of their visiting time to brushing long haired cats, though the cat sitter and cat enjoy it. You may wish a specific animal, but do you have the time for him? Be honest with yourself and the potential pet.
Cost, think of expenditure. There is the purchase cost, which for a pedigree animal can be expensive. I would like everyone to think of adopting a rescue pet, there are increasing numbers of these at the moment as households are unfortunately abandoning them to the pet charities – why not do good and help out? The other set up costs include cages, leads, grooming aids, blankets / beds. Then there are the weekly pet costs, food, which for a large per can be substantial. I strongly recommend you to have your pet sterilized, many pet experts and studies have indicated that you will have less behavioural problems with a neutered pet. There are routine veterinary costs such as vaccinations, however some are difficult to plan for. For this reason I strongly recommend you to take out pet insurance, so you can handle with any problems that may occur. There are also regular costs for flea treatment etc. This expenditure rapidly mount up.
Do you have the space for the animal? Some animals can be interesting, but you may not be able to fuss them, what is the crucial for you? No animal has it all. Can you pick up the animal? Rats are outstandingly interesting, but some people do not like the scaly tail, or the idea of one.
You may want to revisit the summary paper, do you have the time for dog walking during the week due to work pressures, but this may pay for a regular dog walker. Not enough space for the horse, use stables, but watch the cost.
So once you have identified a type of animal, there is often a huge variety of different types and individual species to choose from, taking hamsters there are five basic types, with very different features. There is also the choice of numbers, some animals are better off alone, others as a pair because they require the company. Then there is what sex, some pets have very different behaviour between the male and female. Male rats are less active than females and urinate more.
Final steps, I would suggest you to take the pet for a test drive. Find someone with a similar pet, that you can look after for a few days, or even be a pet sitter for them for a couple of weeks during the holidays. Discuss with the owner about the costs, the effort that is required, and do not forget the pleasure that the pet gives. An alternative is to do some pet charity work.
Pet breeders are exceptionally knowledgeable, so visit and discuss with them.
Tags: Aptitude, Cat Sitter, cat sitting, Collective Activity, dog walker, Dog Walking, Dogs And Horses, Guinea Pig, High Maintenance, Household, Households, Long Haired Cats, New Pet, Objective, Pedigree, pet, Pet Care, Pet Charities, Pet Sitting, Phobias, Pluses, Rescue Pet, Snake, Visiting Time, Wolves
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