If you’re like many modern owners, then your pet isn’t just a pet — it’s part of the family. And, as a part of the family, you know that taking care of your fur baby isn’t always easy. If you’re feeling stressed about caring for your pet, it might be time for you to make a change.
That change may involve what products you buy for your pet, but it also may involve your mindset. Because, just like with family, it’s important to think about the future. By prioritizing healthy pet products and habits in the short term, you’ll make both your and your pet’s life easier in the long term. With that in mind, here are three ways to make caring for your pet just a bit easier.
1. Feed Your Pet Quality Food
You may be content to feed your pet whichever food is placed most conveniently on supermarket shelves. While that convenience may make your life easier now, it may also make it harder later. By feeding your pet overly-processed foods, you can compromise their longevity and your bank account.
Prolonged processed food consumption causes chronic inflammation that often leads to exacerbated disease down the line. And a pet riddled with disease will experience more suffering in its lifetime. Plus, a sick pet can cost you severely, both financially and emotionally. So prioritize feeding your pet well to make things easier on the mind, body, and spirit — both yours and theirs.
In particular, you want to give your pet foods rich in high-quality protein, whole grains, healthy fats, fruits, and veggies. A healthy example meal for your pet might be chicken with brown rice, carrots, and sweet potatoes, all mixed together with fish oil. On the flip side, avoid meat by-products, artificial preservatives and colors, corn and wheat, and excessive carbohydrates.
The trade-off of feeding your pets well is that it can often take more time, energy, and money than the alternative. That’s why companies like Nom Nom provide dog owners with nutritionally balanced, fresh food crafted by board-certified veterinary nutritionists that can be automatically delivered to your door every month. Pre-portioned meals tailored to your dog’s health needs eliminate the portion and nutritional guesswork and make feeding healthy, high-quality meals realistic and convenient. Using a food service like Nom Nom will make caring for your fur baby easier without needing to compromise their health.
2. Prioritize Training Your Pet
Before your pet officially joined your home, you probably used to imagine what it would be like. Perhaps you imagined play time, taking walks, and, of course, lots of cuddles. What you probably didn’t imagine were the chewed socks, 4 a.m. wake-up calls, and not-so-happy little accidents around the house. A pet can be a blessing but also an adorable agent of chaos, if left untrained.
Rather than lose sleep and some pulled-out hair over the literal animal you’ve brought into your house, train them. And one of the best ways to train them is to adjust them to a routine. The most important routine to adjust them to? Yours. Start by feeding them at the same time you feed yourself.
Additionally, you should start house training some pets, like cats and dogs, the day they come home. You can start both on pee pads and upgrade to a litter box and outside trips respectively within a few weeks. And, yes, you can still house-train your pet if they’re no spring chicken — you may just need more patience.
The trick with training your pet to do anything is consistency. So make sure that you feed them and take them out at the same time every day. And you may as well teach them to do some fun tricks while you’re at it. It might ease your burden a little when your little pal can give you a high-five.
3. Make the Most of Services and Subscriptions for Short-Term Relief
A proper diet and a regular routine make caring for your pet easier in the long run. But what if you need relief right now? Well, getting delicious, high-quality pet food delivered to your door isn’t the only service you can utilize. There are tons of different services that help make caring for your pet simple and convenient.
Just as with many other areas of life, you can order various pet subscription boxes. A company like BarkBox, for example, will deliver squeaky new plushies, tasty treats, and other little surprises every month. Meowbox will send you something similar for your feline friend.
Walks are an important and healthy part of a dog’s life. However, dog owners know that walks can take a big chunk of time out of your day. So if you just can’t find the time for a walk, why not outsource it? Look for dog walkers on message boards and classified websites like Reddit or Craigslist. Or use a service like Wag! or Rover to connect with dedicated walkers directly.
Going to the vet and picking up any necessary prescriptions after is another pet activity that can really eat up the hours. Instead of waiting in line at a pharmacy, why not get your pet’s medications delivered? Services like Chewy Pharmacy do just that. Box subscriptions, walkers, and medication delivery are just a few of the pet services that can ease your burden almost immediately.
Take a Proactive Mindset
Raising a pet is no easy feat. It can take a lot of time, energy, and, often, money. And if you don’t invest your resources wisely, caring for your pet will likely get more difficult down the line. So make sure you invest those resources well from the get-go.
That means making sure your furry friend has the right food for a long, healthy life. It means training them so they follow your routine, not the other way around. And it means using pet services to give yourself a break when you need one. When done properly, developing a proactive companionship with your pet can be a deep, rewarding, and enjoyable experience.
