It is that time again, glasses chinking, a New Year’s kiss and the inevitable morning after…. Around this time we start deciding what will change for us in the New Year, yep, the New Year’s resolutions come out thick and fast!

Everything from, I will never drink again to I’ll travel the world this year but how many of us involve our fur babies in our resolutions? For those now considering it, here are some sound ideas for a great start to the New Year for you and your pets.

Quality Time

During the holiday break we don’t always spend as much time with our pets as we should, it’s understandably a busy time and in a lot of cases the only time during the year when people go on holiday. This generally results in our pets being cared for by others while we are away. Of course when we get back the holiday hang over kicks in, then back to work and school and normal life and rushing around and…. In the meantime we have managed to inadvertently forget about the fur baby’s needs. Resolve to consistently spend quality time with your animals, especially after the holiday break when they have missed you the most.

Proper Exercise

Another common resolution is to exercise more. Incorporating your pet into that regime can be a great way to motivate you to make your exercise a regular part of your daily routine. Apart from the exercise, you couldn’t ask for better company on your walk or jog. The interaction is magical and a great way to reconnect with your little mate. Maybe even add a little boot camp into the mix and make your local walk track or leash free park into an obstacle course for the both of you to run, you can even time it and use the time as a bench mark to beat.

Dietary Review

Most of us over indulge during the holidays and spend most of January resolved to detoxing and getting back to healthy eating and lifestyle, this should be the WHOLE family, including pets! The amount of rich food and treats our pets consume tends to run in line with what we consume so it’s only natural that they may need to detox and get back into a routine as well. Look at your pet’s requirements, age and level of exercise and determine their diet based on those factors. And review again after a few months to make sure they are getting what they need for optimum health.

Grooming

Maintaining your personal hygiene is uppermost on the list for most people. Good grooming helps to promote a healthy lifestyle and it should be the same for our pets! Maintaining claws, bathing rituals, trims and brushing teeth and coats should be as much a part of pet’s routine as bathing, brushing hair and teeth or getting a haircut is for us. Resolve to bath your pet, even in winter, mobile grooming services are very easy to find and for a healthy lifestyle, your pet deserves, at least, a good regular bath and flea treatment.

Vet Checks

For most people a regular health check up with our GP is standard procedure every year or so. Maintenance is important, preventative checks and vaccines are part of our normal lives so why wouldn’t it be for pets…  A surprising number of people don’t realise that vaccines and worming should be a part of an animal’s standard up keep, no different from we humans getting a flu shot or a work health check.  Resolve to ensure your pets vaccinations and worming is all up to date!

Registration, Micro Chipping and Contact Details.

http://www.petregister.com.au

The process of moving can be the most tedious experience, there is so much to consider and to do and the move follows you for months afterwards. Redirecting mail, disconnecting and reconnecting services, changing your contact details on bank accounts and subscriptions… It’s all very tiresome and not a pleasant part of the process. Moving can be a very frightening time for your pets too, the upheaval of a new environment that doesn’t smell or look like their own can cause our animals to become disoriented and go on the hunt for somewhere that smells and looks like home. If your contact details are not up to date when your animal’s microchip is scanned, you run the risk of not being able to find your pet which for most of us would be devastating. Resolve to start the New Year with a review of the contact information and registration of your pets; this gives you a better chance of finding your fur babies if anything were to happen and takes some of the stress out of process.

So there you have it, some simple ideas for making your pets part of your New Year’s resolutions; they are after all part of the family!

Feel free to check out range of pet enclosures for dogs, cats, chickens and other animals.

Pets come in all shapes and sizes. Yours may be a cute little kitten, a big floppy bunny rabbit or a slithery python but they all need a place to call their own, where they have some peace and tranquillity just like we do. This generally means an enclosure of some sort. Pet enclosures, like your pets are all different and should be chosen based on your pet’s individual needs.

So what to choose?

With so many enclosures out there, the decision can be difficult, especially when you are buying for a growing pet. What would suit a kitten or puppy may not suit an adult dog or cat and vice versa. Then there are materials and environment to consider. So many questions!

It doesn’t have to be difficult if you follow some simple guide lines.

Small puppies can still make large dogs!

Generally small puppies make for small dogs but this isn’t always the case. Mixed breed dogs don’t always give an accurate view especially when you have large and small breeds mixing.  The idea is to overestimate when it comes to play room, dogs regardless of any age should have plenty of roaming room to stretch their legs and more so if they aren’t able to be walked daily. Exercise is a key component to any beings health and wellbeing and dogs love a good run!

Close quarters

Sleeping enclosures can be a very different thing, most baby animals especially enjoy close confines and warmth when sleeping, no different to swaddling a baby really. When they are with their mother and siblings, animals huddle together for feeding and warmth so sleeping enclosures such as breeding boxes for chickens or birds or dog or cat kennels/beds should be more enclosed and allow  room for easy movement but not too much.

Make it yours

Good pet runs can become open form structures that adapt to yours and your pets growing needs. It may be that you put in a veggie garden or increase your family to include another pet; runs can expand or change to meet your needs. Pet runs are also handy for keeping contained a pet that likes to wander the neighbourhood or jump fences, giving your pet lots of room and still keeping them secure.  A good pet run will have accessories such as single panels, entry gates and rooves so you can create areas especially suited to your environment.

In the long run, your pet’s environment must be safe from hazards, secure and comfortable for them. Appropriate shelter from the elements, lots of clean fresh water and good food, plenty of space of their own and of course an abundance of love will keep your pets feeling happy and healthy. Future proofing their environment now means many years of happy pet ownership for you.

We have a range of pet enclosures for small, large and multiple animals.