Personal Pet System: Preparing Your Home For Your Adopt-A-Pet
By Amanda M
When you adopt a pet, whether a cat or a dog, it’s more than just taking one home. They have needs to be taken care of. They need time to get used to their new environment. They have bad behaviors in the past that you will need to train away.
When adopting your new member of the family, other aspects of your life can get disturbed as you, your pet and your family adjust to the changes.
Preparing with Your Own Pet System
When preparing your nest to acclimate your new dog or cat, you can do some quick organizing that’s going to save you a lot of time and grief in the future.
Labelling Their Items
It’s good advice to take home your adoptee on the weekend and take a day off so that they can get used to you and their new environment while you supervise them in your home.
However, you won’t always be there to take care of them and will need to delegate a few responsibilities to others while you’re away.
You can get the cat sticker label printables here. (1, 2)
You can get the dog sticker label printables here. (1, 2)
Food
Whether you’re a firm believer of natural pet food or you buy from trusted brands, it’s important to put label stickers on your dog and cat food so that others will know when to feed in assorted flavors. This is to avoid your pet getting tired of the same old food. Nothing is more of an eyesore than a barely touched foodbowl.
Treats also needs to be labelled so that your family knows where to get them when they want to bond and play with your new cat or dog.
The downloadable food label printables are color-coded for different flavors. Two stickers are of bigger sizes for dry pet food while the rest of the pet food label stickers are for wet food.
Toys
Boredom is the enemy of both pet owner and pet that can lead to pets chewing and playing with things. Things that are dangerous for their health (like a plugged cord) or furniture that will not withstand their gnawing, digging and scratching.
Another tip so that they won’t bore quickly with their toys is to stash some of it away while they enjoy the remaining toys for a week. Then swap them the next week.
Their toys must also have their own place so that it’s easy to throw them in their containers when
guests will arrive. Print label stickers on their containers so that others will know where the toys are.
Meds
Vet and meds are part of the expenses when taking in cats or dogs for adoption, especially if they’ve been through a lot. A dog can also get a virus in the stress of transitioning to a new home.
Be quick and efficient in administering droplets and pills by having them at the ready at just a glance. Label their bottles with the downloadable stickers.
The downloadable printable pet meds stickers are color-coded for their different medicinal needs.
Cleaning Supplies
Love is cleaning up the messes they make. This can include mistaking kitchen tiles as their bathroom. You won’t always be there to clean up their accidents, so having labelled spray bottles on a number of rooms will come more than handy for others.
The downloadable sticker is also useful in reminding you the simple recipe in cleaning up urine. Just soak away the fluids with paper towels then spray.
Grooming Supplies
A lot of dogs and cats enjoy being brushed. It also gives them a healthy and shiny coat by the bristles stimulating blood circulation. Let family members know where the brushes are with a quick label on one of the drawers.
Bathing Supplies
Some dogs and cats will resist getting a bath in every step of the way. Especially if they are no
t used to being bathed growing up. Make it quick and less painful (for the both of you) by knowing where to get their shampoo and towels immediately.
Printed Reminders
Not a lot of people have a vast amount of knowledge on what’s good and what’s bad for cats and dogs. Well-meaning people in your family may give them a part of their snacks that contain chocolate!
So having reminders where they can be seen can be useful such as:
- Printing a list of foods that are Bad for Dogs and Cats
- Printing an image showing different Dog and Cat Body Languages
- The Pet’s short summary of their history and behavior
Routine makes cats and dogs for adoption feel more comfortable in their new environment. Downloadable Pet Calendars and stickers can be printed where you can schedule the following.
You can get the pet printable calendar here and pet calendar printable stickers here.
Feeding Schedule
Pets transitioning into their homes can experience gastric distress from the anxiety of a changed environment. You can lessen their chances of gastric distress by replicating the shelter’s food and feeding schedule and slowly change it to your preferred pet food and feeding schedule.
The Feeding stickers are also quite handy in reminding housemates that you have already fed your pet. Some pets will overfeed by begging to unsuspecting family members with a licked-clean food bowl.
Meds Schedule
You can tick off the sticker on the calendar after giving them their meds so that you have a reminder that your pet already have their dosage.
Exercise Schedule
Make time for you and your pet to relax and bond. Dogs will love to explore with their pack (that’s you). Cats will be happy with something to chase and pounce on with swishy, wiggly cat toys.
Vet Schedule
Upon adopting a pet, your animal shelter will give you your pet’s health record. Check if your pet has their rabies shot, has completed their vaccinations and have been spayed or neutered.
It’s important to build a relationship with your vet. Even if your animal shelter have completed the necessities above, it is still a good advice to get a basic assessment with a trip to the animal clinic.
Training Schedule
Behavioral problems can arise. Either from the stress of being in a new environment or from bad habits from their previous homes. Set aside time to let your pet know what your rules are. Dog obedience schools are a good way to bond and understand each other under a professional. It will also help your dog socialize with other dogs.
Rescue Pets: Paw Progress Scrapbook
Rescue dogs for adoption have milestones in becoming the best dog that they can be. Milestones can include how to play with their toys, basic commands, how to go up and down the stairs, how to socialize with other dogs and housebreaking.
It takes 3 days for a dog to get used to his new surroundings, 3 weeks to get used to you and 3 months for them to feel completely at home in your home.
You can record their journey by collecting photos of them and putting them in a scrapbook. Achieving their milestones can be a call for a celebration with a dog treat!
Rescue cats have a less defined time period. Their milestones to accepting their new place as their new home depends on the cat themselves.
Print and labels their supplies with printable stickers. It will help you and your family know where they are, minimizing the chaos that change can bring. Nonetheless, why not record their journey from being a shy cat unsure about their own home to the royalty who belongs to the throne?
Print and label their supplies with printable stickers. It would help you and your family know where they are, minimizing the chaos that change can bring.
And why not scrapbook their journey to show that the very change was worth it along the way?