Our furry friends are an extension of our families. They’re always home to greet us and are great companions. Whether you own a small hamster or an oversized hound, if you are an animal fanatic, no pet is too big or too small. Just as they put a smile on our faces, ensuring their health and happiness is equally important.
In this handy guide, we detail seven ways to heighten your pet’s health and happiness. Read on to discover more.
1. Ensure They Have a Safe Place to Sleep
Whether taking a nap during the day or resting their furry heads for the evening, ensuring your pet has a place where it can relax and unwind is crucial. Thankfully, there are numerous bedding and house options on the market. These are suited to a spectrum of animals.
From cat beds that hang from radiators to ensure optimal warmth to dog beds that double up as dens, when considering a guide to a pet’s health, creating a safe space is a good place to begin. When choosing houses and bedding, consider your pet’s existing size. Also, anticipate their size when fully grown. This will help you to choose a bed that promises to last the long run. Instead of having to replace it every time your pet grows in size.
2. Regular Vet Checkups
Yes, we know our pets aren’t usually fans of vet visits, yet ensuring they have all their necessary jabs is crucial in protecting them from unwanted ailments. Similarly, if they are ever to become injured, having pet insurance in place will ensure trips to the vet are covered.
3. Allow Them Plenty of Exercise
Just like us, our pets need to exercise. Whether you purchase your hamster an exercise wheel or invest in the services of a dog walker for a puppy, ensuring our animals get enough exercise and outdoor time is crucial to their health and well-being.
4. Get Them A Friend
Animals get lonely, especially if you spend the day away from them at work. If your animal is looking lonely, why not get them a friend? This will give them someone to play with when you’re out. It’s also a great way to socialize your animals, which means they’re less likely to shy away from other pets in public. If not properly socialized as puppies, dogs have a higher risk of problematic behaviors during adulthood.
5. Give Them Attention
Just like humans, animals enjoy attention too. From belly rubs to entertaining them with toys, interacting with your pet is an easy way to keep them happy and healthy. There are various toys on the market. All promise to keep your pet busy, even when you are away from home, ensuring they get enough stimulation. An important point to note? When purchasing pet toys, ensure they are tailored to your specific animal. Avoid anything too small or too big.
6. Feed Them Quality Food
Unlike in the wild, our pets can’t fend for themselves in your home. They rely on you to ensure they get fed. As well as feeding them on time, it’s crucial to feed them the correct food. Numerous pet food brands are catering to all variants of animals.
From organic dog food crafted from ingredients that promote shiny fur, healthy eyes, and strong bones to treats that clean teeth, there is pet food for all. It’s essential to also keep our pets at a healthy weight. Although it can be tempting to feed them treats constantly, try to limit these to special occasions.
For best results, ensure the food you give your pet is brimming with vitamins, proteins, and minerals. In addition, research any foods you are uncertain about. Some of the foods we enjoy are toxic to animals.
7. Ensure They Stay Hydrated
Ensuring your pet has several water bowls and flasks around their home will ensure they stay hydrated. This is important all year round, particularly in the summer when temperatures increase. To define how much water your animal should intake daily, keep in mind 1-2 millimeters per hour per kilo of body weight. For example, an animal weighing 10 kg should be drinking around 480 millimeters every day. Refresh their water supply with fresh water regularly.
The Bottom Line
Our pets are our best friends! Whether you have one or several, young or old, ensuring they are as happy as can be is a must! When our furry friends are happy, we’re delighted. Animals are proven to promote a healthy mindset and heighten our overall well-being. If that’s not reason enough to ensure your animals are treated like royalty, we don’t know what is.
To put this into perspective, animals lessen stress, heighten heart health, and assist children in improving their social and emotional skills. Considering a pet? Before you do, read these top tips!