1. Vet Visits

The first step to being a responsible pet owner comes down to taking your pet for routine vet visits. You want to ensure that you are taking your pet in for a veterinarian a minimum of one to two times per year. While you may have to alter this based on your pet’s vaccination schedule, you want to establish a good routine of taking them to the vet frequent enough. When they are younger, you should be planning to take your dog or cat even more often for vaccinations and checkups.

While trips to the vet can surely be challenging for any type of pet, they are a must. It is in yours and their best interest to do so to avoid having to use services such as extensive operations or even pet cremation if the worst happens. It can be particularly difficult to take cats due to them preferring to be in the comfort of their own own. However, there are good ways to make things easier. By getting your cat used to being in a carrier when they are young, you should have a much easier time when they get older.

2. Vaccinations

You will need to get the appropriate vaccinations if you want your pet to live a long and healthy life. In fact, it should be one of the very first things you do. You should be scheduling an appointment to get the appropriate vaccinations during your first visit to the vet’s office. They should be able to tell you what vaccinations your dog or cat requires and at what point they will need it.

For puppies, you should be getting them the proper vaccinations just a few weeks after they are brought home. Your vet should be able to inform you of the vaccines he or she requires and when they should be getting subsequent vaccines. By getting the right vaccines, you should be able to protect your pet from getting transmittable diseases including rabies and Lyme disease. If you adopted a pet that is already an adult, you want to ensure they are up-to-date on all of their requisite vaccines as vaccines aren’t limited to young pups or cats.

3. Getting The Right Identification

Unfortunately, it can be easier than we like to lose a pet. This is especially true when they are younger and less disciplined. Dogs can be very difficult to keep from running out the door. Having the right identification in place can help to ensure that you are able to increase your chances of getting your pet back if they happen to run off and get lost. First, you should be getting them a collar that contains all of your pertinent contact information. That way, someone will be able to identify who the dog or cat belongs to from a quick look. Along with this, you may even want to invest in a microchip for your pet in order to add an additional layer to the collar.

Having a microchip is a good investment because it will be implanted near the very surface of your pet’s skin and it can be scanned to pull up all of your information. While having a physical ID tag on your pet at all times is always recommended, getting a microchip can make things even more secure in the event the collar falls off. However, if you do go the route of getting a microchip, you want to ensure that your contact information is regularly kept up-to-date.

4. Getting High-Quality Food

If you are going to be a pet owner, you must look out for what you are feeding them. You need to be willing and able to invest in high-quality and healthy food to keep them as healthy as possible. The food you give them should be nutrient-dense and you should be giving them the right amount of food and water on a daily basis. It can be very difficult to find the right food for your pet if you don’t necessarily know what to be looking for. Whenever you are choosing food, you can discuss it with your vet. Some of the most important things that you should be looking for would be high-quality protein and fats. You want to try to limit the intake of poor quality carbohydrates as a lot of low-quality pet food have excess amounts of low-quality grains that can be inflammatory to pets.

5. At Home Care

You will need to establish good hygiene at home. This involves brushing your pet’s teeth, regularly brushing their coats, and giving them the right food to keep them as healthy as possible. You also want to ensure that you are trimming their nails as needed to keep them as comfortable as possible. Do all of this until it becomes routine and you should be able to keep them healthy and happy.