Pets can calming, soothing presences, providing company, affection and helping to ground you and still racing thoughts. Unfortunately, there are some times when pets can provide more stress – when you’re worried about them! The responsibility of being a pet owner can weigh heavily at times.
Today we’re taking a look at some of the worries pet owners can face to help you develop a plan!
Sickness
One of the worst times to be a pet owner is when you have a sick pet. Knowing how to care for them, and how to spot the symptoms that something is seriously wrong is a vital part of being a pet owner.
The first and best thing you can do is be ready: do your search for “local vets near me” when you first bring your pet home and register them early on. This means that if you’re seriously worried about their health you know where you need to go, and how to get there too!
It’s also worth researching the pet you’ve chosen. While you’re never going to substitute for a trained vet, it’s worth knowing the common health problems of the species or breed, when you can expect symptoms to pass quickly, and when you need to get help as soon as possible.
Finances
Pets do cost money, and unless you think about how you’re going to budget for a pet in advance then you could find it’s doing your finances serious harm!
Try to cost out how much your pet is going to cost – both initially, as buy or adopt it and get all of the equipment it needs, from beds and toys to specialist habitats, and ongoing costs. These could include food, but also the impact on your utility bills – if you’re keeping a lizard or a fish, keeping their habitat regulated uses lots of energy, and you have to pay for it.
Try to work out the monthly ‘running cost’ of your pet, and make sure it fits into your budget – this will help to make sure you don’t get any worrying surprises when your new arrival joins you in your home and your costs rise!
There’s also additional costs of visits to the vet when your pet is ill or injured. You can’t plan for or schedule events like this, so you need to know how you’ll handle them. If you have savings, you need to be prepared for the idea you might have to spend them on your pet. It might also be worth looking into the idea of pet insurance. This can help to cover the cost of vet’s treatment. Do research around to try and find the best deal – if your insurance doesn’t cover the most common health problems your pets can suffer, then it could leave you high and dry when you need it most!