Besides companionship, pets have therapeutic benefits and can uplift one’s spirit when moody. For many people, it’s hard to imagine a home without a pet. Their furry friends receive the love, spoiling and attention their kids get as well. And everyone should consider their pet as part of the family. But owning a pet is a long-term commitment that also comes with great responsibility.
Therefore if you have a cat or dog, or you are thinking about getting a dog, make sure you pet-proof your house first before bringing your four-legged friend into your home. Take all the necessary precautions to prepare you for unexpected and unfortunate hazards. Know that you have to provide a healthy environment and meet the requirements specific to any animal, be it a dog, a rodent, a bird or a fish.
Buy pet-friendly furniture
Pets can damage furniture and leave unintentional marks. There are a series of practices you need to implement to avoid replacing units and objects.
The most significant disadvantage to owning a cat or dog can be the excessive shedding, as some hairs can end up in your food, drinks and dishes—fur hair flies in the air too, which is unhealthy for your respiratory and digestive systems. Not to say you must always have a lint roller on hand to remove the hair from your clothes before you leave your house.
To prevent eventual diseases and hair stuck on your clothes from happening, feed them proper and high-quality food that a veterinarian recommends. By doing this, they will also have cleaner breath, shinier hair and overall increased well-being.
Another issue is that when puppies are bored or anxious, they chew to strengthen their jaw and mouth and they are more likely to bite on your wooden furniture.
To keep this from happening, invest in pet-friendly furniture and products. Hair is easy to remove from a leather sofa or ottoman. Yet, such pieces of furniture can be very tempting for a kitten to scratch. Cover your leather units with throw-overs and wash them regularly to keep your room sanitary and hair-free.
If your cat likes to crawl in dark and small places, ensure you never leave the dryer, oven and washer open. If letting them open should happen, check if the cat is inside before you close them.
Hide dangerous foods and drinks, jewelry and choking hazards
Chewing on wires and electrical cords can tempt unsupervised pets, especially rodents and teething ones. Animals like cats are curious. Therefore, they might “play” too much with small objects found and choke on them.
Make sure you hide the wires and have closing storage boxes in every room, so you never leave small objects around.
Digestive illnesses can result from letting them eat rotten food as well. For example, if milk sits in the warm for too long and your kitty drinks it, it’s most likely that the kitten will get sick and vomit.
It’s evident that the same goes for dangerous foods, drinks and cleaning products. Store and hide threatening objects so that your pets never reach them.
No matter how many precautions we take, the truth is that the unexpected can happen and put us in the position to take a callous decision. Health issues might make your pet react unexpectedly, make a mess in the house and dirty your rooms. The cleaning and replacing of stuff costs add to the veterinary bill.
If unforeseen accidents happen, you will most likely get your pet to an urgent care veterinary hospital and try to provide the best care and treatment to prolong your four-legged pal’s lifespan. But to do this, you might also have to break the bank, as rehabilitating your pet is quite expensive, and pet doctors, consults and medications can cost a fortune.
Luckily, some solutions help save a little on some expenses. First, you need to take pet-safety measures. Afterward, if misfortunes still happen, you must keep calm to bring the best and quickest decisions. If you worry about the unexpected expenditure, companies like Bivvy recommend having pet insurance, as the rest of the family does. It is a health care policy that reimburses for some covered medical costs.
Pet insurance agencies cover various charges resulting from hospitalization or health conditions. These are some examples that clear your mind a little on what accidents and illnesses pet policies can help you:
- Illnesses
- Surgery
- Emergency care
- Diagnostic treatment
- Prescription medications
- blood tests
- orthodontic treatment
If you have pet insurance that covers wellness visits, many agencies also cover routine care, vaccines, and more. Just search on the internet and make up your mind on which company best suits your needs.
Take care of their hygienic and sanitary needs
Pets can develop diseases like we do, so we must ensure kitties have clean toilets available all the time and that doggies are walked when they need to go to the bathroom and don’t wait too long to get outside. Otherwise, cats will likely get angry and try to get revenge by scratching, hopping up on furniture and knocking things down, and dogs will constantly whine and agitate.
Install window screens
If your kitty likes to cling to the window screens and scratch or clean their nails, then two bad outcomes can result from this:
- the kitten can fall out
- the window screens rip off
To avoid something terrible from happening, replace the old ones with cat-proof window screens to secure them and keep your cat safe even when windows are open.
Choose tile flooring instead of rugs and carpets because they are easier to clean and make stains more visible. Create spaces and leave some thrown-out blankets for your pets to sit on, get cozy and sleep well to have them chill and relax.
Conclusion
Pet-proofing your house doesn’t take that much effort, money or time. Plus, it will save you the burden of watching and stressing over what your pet does when unsupervised and have you backed and prepared if unforeseen mishaps happen.
Take a good look at your house and analyze the potential risks that may appear so that you can take the necessary measures.
