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Getting Your Home Ready for the New Pet
Getting your home ready for a new pet isn't quite as massive an undertaking as preparing for a new baby, but it's close. Anyone who has ever watched a pet owner dote over their furry "baby" can sense that. The main difference is that most people have already dealt with a pet before getting their own home, as opposed to dealing with a newborn. Bringing a new pet home means making some changes and preparing a checklist of the ways that a new pet may affect your lifestyle can make all the difference.
Checklist For New Pet Item 1: Choose your pet based on your home.
One of the key things about bringing a pet home is that your ideal pet may not be compatible with your reality. Your childhood dream to own big, lovable English Sheepdog can quickly become a nightmare inside a studio apartment. Likewise, if you have valuable antique furniture or decorate with precariously positioned ornaments of a fragile nature, perhaps you should reconsider thinking of yourself as a "cat person". Before bringing home any new pet, take a good long look at your home and be brutally honest about how what sort of new pet will realistically fit in.
Checklist For New Pet Item 2: Establish (written) rules and responsibilities.
If you are living alone with your new pet, the only other inhabitant who you need to worry about is the pet itself. If you have a significant other, a roommate or children, then it is very wise to establish the rules before bringing the pet home. Assign written responsibilities for key things like feeding, washing, walking and toilet duties. Be sure everyone knows where the pet is allowed; if you don't want that little puppy taking up a corner of your bed each night growing up to become an enormous Great Dane taking up half your bed, this is the time to enforce that rule, not later. If the parakeet or snake can only be let out in the basement when a parent is present, then make sure your children understand the specific terms. There is no better time to establish rules for handling a new pet than before bringing it home. Remember, it is easier to fall into a good habit than to change a bad one, whether you are talking about pets or humans.
Checklist For New Pet Item 3: Giving your pet its own space.
Whether your new pet is reptile, bird or mammal, one key thing is finding the perfect spot in the house the animal can call its own. For dogs and cats, this should be a comfortable area for eating, drinking and sleeping. Be sure to choose a place that your new pet can't easily ruin with scratching or chewing or staining. A soundproofed area away from your bedroom is recommended for rodents with treadmills. If this area isn't easily supervised, make sure they can be securely, but happily, confined with room for food and water bowls, toys and newspapers if necessary. If your new pet is a kitten, get a litter box. It may be necessary to invest in a gate to ensure the new pet stays confined when you're away. After you've brought your new pet home, introduce them to their space and let them get acclimated. Then allow them to explore other areas of your home, making sure to return them to their spot when their done.
Checklist For New Pet Item 4: Make sure your house is safe.
Once you've decided what part of your home will "belong" to your new pet, make sure the entire home is safe. That means everything from finding out if any of your plants might be poisonous to covering up dangerous electrical wires that your new pet may decide to chew on. It is especially important to look around for any hidden health hazards if your new pet is a cat. Cats are both curious and capable of getting to just about any part of your house, even those areas you may sincerely believe are safe. Check the tops of cabinets and inside cupboards for any kind of toxic material that a cat could get to, such as forgotten mouse traps or roach motels. If your new pet will be living inside a cage, make doubly sure that the latch is secure. You'd be surprised how many owners of hamsters, gerbils and even snakes wake up two or three days after bringing their new pets home to find an empty cage with a supposedly secure door hanging wide open. Do not trust any advertising that promises an escape-proof cage; instead, invest in an inexpensive piece of wire and make sure every night that it is fastened as securely as possible.