National Pet Month is a time to celebrate and remind pet owners and zoophilist the importance of pets to people. It helps people to learn more about different pets and how to take care of them. There are loads of events during these period, and the things we can do to show our pet how much we love them. Although animal care is something we need to consider all year round. National Pet Month is celebrated from April – May. More than half of the adults in the UK own a pet. 51% of UK adults own a pet. 26% of UK adults have a cat with an estimated population of 10.9 million pet cats. 24% of the UK adult population has a dog with an estimated population of 10.1 million pet dogs.
Volunteer at a Pet Rescue Home
Volunteer to assist at a Pet Rescue Home within your locality, this will help you learn about other pets. Most importantly, you will learn a thing or two about responsible pet ownership. It’s advisable to call to find out what the protocol are during this period of COVID-19. Due to social distancing guidelines which might prevent you from physically visiting a facility, you can donate anything you consider to be useful to the Pet Rescue Home or write a cheque to assist them with the daily running of the facility.
Visit Care Homes
Dogs and cats can visit care homes as long as they are well trained. Studies have shown that pet are therapeutic to humans. National Pet Month is all about love and awareness, people who feel lonely will appreciate your time and effort. First and foremost, you have to identify the Care Home of your preference to visit, and then find out what kind of pets are allowed. During this pandemic, Care Homes have been advised to ensure that appropriate infection prevention control measures are in place to allow the right visiting arrangements.
Celebrate Your Pet
Create a theme for the party. The theme depends on the kind of pet, whether the birthday is around Halloween. Create Halloween costume or is the birthday pet owned by a celebrity? Showcase the pet on a red carpet. Find a friendly venue for pets which have rooms for pets to blend in. It’s important to find out how many people are coming to make appropriate arrangements. This is the time you find out from your guest what kind of pets they are bringing to the party, this will enable you make special provision if need be.Before the party, ensure you have been able to figure out a birthday gift for your pet. It can range from Toys, Favorite Treat, Clothes if the pet likes to be dressed or take your pet for a spa treatment.
Make sure you have enough accessories, toys, drinks, birthday cake, treats and food for your guest and their pets. Tailor the birthday to revolve around your pets needs; is your pet young or senior pet? Ensure the makeup of the cake is what your pet loves. You will need to be knowledgeable about pets because some of the guest pets or your pet might be overwhelmed by the event of the day depending on their age. It will be advisable you have a room or place where your pet can relax if the excitement is too much. Organise affable pet activities that will bond both pets and humans. Make available poop bags for all guests to pickup after their pets. Just like human when we have so much food and drink we will need the toilet. Setup breaks to allow the pets the use the toilet. Poop bag will eliminate anyone stepping on a pets waste.
Go for a Photoshoot
We live in an era of social media where we share our daily activities on social media. Taking pictures of our pet can be challenging because they tend to be in motion. Its best you follow the pet around and keep taking photos until you get a desired photo you intend to frame or you could go for a specialised photographer who you can state the exact kind of pictures you want. This photos will remind you of your pet even when they are long gone as a family member. You can also create a social media account for your pet to talk about them or share their daily activities. Some people who have dogs or cats get a paw print of their four-legged friend, it’s a good way to remember those who left their prints in your heart over the years.
Present a New Pet Activity
Dogs and cats enjoy a walk with their owner from time to time. Most Nigerian’s do not know cats can be put on a leash for a walk. During these period if you have a cat get a comfy collar and leash for your cat. Take a walk to the beach with your pet to a store or restaurants that are pet friendly. You can take your pet to the park to play hide and seek games or fetch. You can decide to take your pet on a drive so they can see the beautiful sight of nature; the pet can hear different sounds around them. You can take your dog for a dog show where you can find more activities to engage and challenge your pet intellectually. These activities create a bond between you and your pet.
Netflix and Chill
You can cozy up by watching Netflix with your pet, in 2018 Netflix stated when it comes to watching TV, 58% of people find pets to be best binge partner. Most people who own dogs will tend to watch action movies, cat owners will tend to go for drama and discovery movies and bird owners will tend to go for comedy. Dogs tend to fall asleep faster than cats when it comes to watching of movies.
Get Pet Insurance Cover
Death is inevitable and accident does happen. Pet insurance will prepare you for such emergency. Owning a pet can be pricey and tasking.
Pet insurance will bring you peace of mind, we recommend you insure your pet for any unexpected cost.Here are some of the benefits of pet insurance.
It covers veterinary fee if your pet is ill or injured.
24/7 free online access to a vet
It covers death as a result of injury or illness before certain ages, including dental accident.
It covers complementary treatments Including physiotherapy and hydrotherapy
Helps when you need it such as practical legal advice and bereavement helpline
Third party liability cover if you pet is involved in an accident.
International travels cover such as taking your pet abroad under Pet Travel Scheme.
Paying the cost of advert of your lost pet or stolen pet or reward fee.
Get a New Pet
Visit your local rescue pet home to adopt a new pet, before picking up a new pet. Ensure some of the below questions would have been addressed. What kind of pet do you intend to add to your current pets? Would it fit your lifestyle? How much space do you have? Will it be kids friendly if you already have kids or if you intend to have kids in future? We encourage Pet Owners to be informed about pets. Bringing home a perfect match of pet is good for both parties. It means you have to create time to train the pet. Training in itself is a form of learning for both the pet and the owner, it also important you gradually introduce a new pet to the pack of pets you have. The current pet might be hostile initially, but with time the new pet will be receptible.
Get Information on Your Pet and Other Pets
If you are a Pet Owner or you intend to become a Pet Owner, use this month as an opportunity for you to get information about your pet or learn about other pets. Most people have this false representation of snakes, Corn and Ball python snakes can make good pets. Owing to the fact they are docile, you can feed them with mice or mealworm. In the eastern part of Nigeria, some tribes consider snakes and cats as an evil omen and are used for voodoo. You can learn more about cats and different breeds of dog. Most people have this misconception about Mastiffs and Pit Bull dog breeds as aggressive and dangerous dogs. Being a responsible Pet Owner is the ability for you to be informed as well as educating others about your pet.
Create Bird Feeders
You can seize this opportunity to attract your favorite birds. Build a wooden bird feeder and hang it somewhere in your garden for birds to come around to feed. You can slice an orange in half and add birdseed and use Macrame to hang it in your garden or window, your cat can have a good view of activities of the birds. You can get creative if you have kids by using birdseed to make ornament decoration and gifts with different shapes and sizes. This will allow you to have birds but without owning them. This is a way of you and your family to spend time together doing DIY projects. By so doing you are showing appreciation and love to other animals. Make this National Pet Day your own.
