Bringing a pet home is an important, exciting day, but if you want it to go well, and to be the first of many happy days with your pet, you need to prepare.
Today we’re taking a look at how you can get ready for this new addition to your life, to make sure you’re feeling confident and prepared and your pet will get the best care.
Find a Vet
You should register your pet at the vet as soon you bring it home. For many kinds of pet, this is a legal requirement, but even if it’s not, it’s well worth learning where your vet is, and establishing a good relationship with them so they can get to know your pet before they have to see it when things are wrong.
It also means that if something goes wrong in the middle of the night, you won’t be frantically searching “24 hour emergency vet near me”. You’ll know who to call, where to go and how to get help when you really need it.
It might take some research to find the right vet depending on the pet you have – if you have particularly exotic animals, then make sure your local vet has the expertise to help! If not, you may have to go further afield.
Ready Your Home
You’ve probably already thought about providing the right bed, food or habitat for your new pet, but there might be more you have to do to get your home ready for it’s new guest. For fish, lizards and other animals that are expected to stay within a fixed habitat, that can be relatively easy – but you need to think about how you’re going to protect them from bumps and breakages.
For more independent, roaming animals, you need to look for dangers – wires that can be chewed, foods that would be toxic if eaten and possible avenues of escape. Making your home pet safe will take effort, but it’s well worth it.
Having a Plan
Your early days and weeks with a pet will require lots of adjustment on your part, and lots of different actions from you – visits to the vet for registrations, check-ups and vaccinations; checking the dates for their first trips outside; stocking and restocking essentials like food and cat litter.
The best thing you can do is come up with a plan. List everything you need to do, from contacting the breeder or charity, buying food and finding a vet to researching pet insurance and taking your pet for a first walk outside, coming up with a schedule for all these events helps to make sure you have everything under control, and will be the best owner and carer possible for your new pet.