Top 10 Mistakes Pet Owners Make

Owning a pet comes with a great deal of responsibility. Pets are a part of your family and just like anything else in life, it can be challenging to always do the right thing. Therefore, we have compiled a list of common mistakes pet owners make, along with tips on how to fix them!

Decisions, decisions

Deciding what pet is right for you can be a difficult decision, but it should be considered carefully.

It’s important to understand an animal’s needs before committing to taking care of them. You should ensure that they are a good fit for your lifestyle, budget, and long-term plans.

Don’t get a tortoise unless you are prepared for the next 100 years!

Be sure to do lots of research before bringing the animal home and remember, different breeds of all animals- have different needs.

Pet purchasing

The traditional way to get a pet would be to head to the local pet shop.

However, pets found in larger stores are often bred with profit in mind, this means inbreeding and welfare compromisation can occur. Seeing where the animal has been housed originally is important and this can be difficult when purchasing from a pet store. To prevent you from supporting puppy mills and rodent farms, be sure to ask the pet shop about their breeders.

When getting any pet from fish to dog, going to see where the animals are kept is a must. This means that buying over the Internet can be really risky.

Also, there are so many animals out there needing a second chance at love so don’t forget to #adoptdontshop

A balanced diet

The wrong diet is a common mistake and understandably! Negotiating nutritional needs as well as calorie counting, can be a minefield. Exotic pets need supplements, fish need careful measurements and cats need lots of protein.

One of the best ways to control weight is calculating their ‘maintenance level’, this includes health conditions, breed, activity levels and age. Nutrition is also hard to get right, but once you find the food that’s right for them it can be a great way to prevent diseases and health conditions. Feed them high-quality ingredients, as freshly prepared as possible and be sure to talk to your vet about creating a diet plan.

Spoiling them rotten

Treats are good in moderation and with the right consideration. Without proper care, they can become dangerous. When you treat your pooch, for example, it is easy to throw down a hide treat and let them knaw away for an hour or so. However, raw hide can be lethal, the processing of the hide can cause the treat to splinter, becoming a choking hazard. If you plan to leave your dog unsupervised, opt for the safer treats, such as Tuber Root, Nylabones and Splinter Free Antlers.

Treats are also one of the largest contributors to pet obesity. Giving healthy treats, in moderation will ensure a balanced diet- the more natural and unprocessed the better!

Happy Homes

Getting the enclosure right is everything! Your animal is going to be spending a lot of time here, so you want to make sure they’ve got all they need. Many pets are commonly kept in incorrect environments, for example, rabbits aren’t happy spending their lives in hutches, the traditional goldfish bowl is far from an ideal aquatic environment and birds will quickly get bored in a cage.

The amount of space you have to house your pet should be a big influence on what you decide to get.

Get grooming

It can be easy to underestimate how much time is needed for grooming. Even animals without fur need a little bath now and again. Safe to say, if you can’t spare some time every day to give your pet a quick once over, long-haired dogs or cats are not for you.

Not only is grooming a great way to build a solid relationship with your pets but failing to do so regularly can affect their mental and physical wellbeing.

Schedules at the ready!

Keeping up with daily, weekly, monthly and 6 monthly schedules can be difficult in day-to-day life. Some pets need more attention than others but all of them need somewhere clean to live, happily, with lots of good food and love.

When you first get your animal they will need more of your time to settle in and begin training, be prepared! After they are happy in their new home, creating a schedule to keep up with everything should save you some time.

Safety first

Make sure your pet is safe at all times, this includes microchipping, correctly fitting their collars, choosing the right collars and harnesses, providing them with a safe enclosure and keeping them away from poisons.

These all seem like fairly obvious points but they are important to get right. One of the easiest mistakes is household poisons- many common garden plants can be dangerous.

Bad Habits

Training can be one of the most time-consuming elements of being a pet owner… even fish can be trained 🐠

Starting early on in their life can be advantageous but this isn’t always a luxury you have. Adopted animals may be slightly later on in life and have picked up some bad habits along the way.

Some pet owners will use negative enforcement to train their animals but this is not half as effective as positive reinforcement. Using punishment collars or pushing their face into their mess are all damaging techniques.

Praise, tone and eye contact are all that are needed, also the use of routine can help them understand and create consistency.

Aquatics are no joke!

For generations, the Goldfish Bowl has overshadowed fish welfare. The ‘Three Second Memory’ myth has meant that for years, fish have been kept in unsuitable conditions.

Fishkeeping must be seen as a science. One that requires a lot of careful observation, PH levels, temperatures and oxidisation are all part of this intricate system. Fish have recently been found to have a lot more sentience than originally thought so making sure you keep them happy is more important than ever.

Hopefully, this Top 10 has helped bust some myths and keep your pets a little safer. If you are concerned about anything animal then be sure to reach out to us on Instagram, Facebook or our website. Join The Raft 💚