Bringing a pet home is an exciting day for anyone, but there’s a lot of anxiety attendant on the event. You want to provide a safe, secure environment for your new pet so they can settle in quickly and start to feel part of your home. Pets that don’t feel safe in their surroundings can suffer, lose weight, and exhibit difficult and destructive behaviour so there’s a lot of pressure on you to get this right!
Today we’re taking a look at what you can do in those early days to help your pet settle in!
Register With a Vet
One of the first things you need to do when you get a new pet is register them at a vet. If you’re looking for free online vet advice, UK surgeries are rising to meet this demand, but while online vets are useful, they’re as yet not a replacement for a traditional brick and mortar veterinary surgery. It’s actually your responsibility under the law to ensure your pet is registered: the Animal Welfare Act of 2006 obliges you to protect your pet from harm and suffering, and the best way to do that is to register with a vet!
In the run up to the day when you actually bring your pet home, research your local vets to find the best one for you – the one with the personal recommendation from a friend, the one within walking distance, the one with the great reviews.
Get a Pet Room Ready
If you’re taking in a medium sized pet – a cat or a dog – then they’ll need time to adjust to their new home. One thing you can do to help is to devote one room to them as a place to not only keep feeding stations, litter trays, toys and so on, but also as a safe place for them to retreat to when necessary.
Dogs and cats have very different needs: a room for a dog will need outdoor access to facilitate house training. Dogs are more social than cats so may worry if they can’t see or hear you (especially puppies: a key part of the early training of a puppy is building its confidence and resilience enough to be left alone overnight). Cats, especially older, adopted cats may well need some privacy, so a place where they can get away from your attention will help them feel safer, and they’ll find the confidence to come out and explore the rest of the house more quickly!
