Owners' Responsibilities

It's not all champagne and caviar, however. Owning pets is a big responsibility. Your pets depend on you for their food, water, social needs, exercise and medical care. They love you! They both want and need your attention. They're not like plants; you can't just water them and then leave them alone. Dogs need to be walked regularly and cats need to played with to keep them from getting too bored or too fat. Before I got my kittens I didn't realize that cats and dogs had to have their teeth cleaned! You will also need to keep up with their vaccinations and their yearly vet exams. My parents always laugh at me when I compare my kittens to children, but to me it's very similar. Probably because I am still their child, and also because I have never had children myself.

Before you get an energetic puppy, think about how much time you're going to be able to devote to him. Will you be willing to leave your warm house on cold nights to walk him? Will you be willing to play with him after a long hard day at work? Before you get a kitten, think about how much you're going to be away from the house. Think about how lonesome you get when you're home by yourself. You don't want your kitten to go through the same thing, do you? Consider adopting in pairs.

How to Be Responsible

• Obtain your next pet from a shelter, not from a pet store or a breeder.
• Spay and neuter your pets!
• If you're planning on primarily keeping your dog outside, DO NOT BUY A DOG!
• Do not declaw your cats. Parts of their paws are amputated, leading to warped paws. Also, if you let your cat outside, it has no way to defend itself.
• Make sure your pet is licensed. This increases the length of the grace period shelters will wait before euthanizing your pet, and will increase the possibility that your pet will be returned to you.
• Keep ID tags up-to-date with your name, phone number and the phone number of another contact.
• More pets die because their owners can't identify them after losing them than from all infectious diseases combined. Collars and ID tags get lost, get a microchip.
• Take your pets in to the vet at least once a year.
• Make sure family disaster plans include your pets.
• Do not let your pets roam unsupervised. They could be kidnapped, hurt, or attacked.
• Make sure you take all factors into account, such as allergies (see the Allergies section for some tips on how to deal with allergies), whether or not you will be moving any time soon, and how big the animal is going to get someday. It is very traumatic for pets to be displaced from the families they've has grown to love, and it's very traumatic for the owners too. Many pets have been released to shelters with their owners in tears. Spare yourself the heartache and consider all variables before adopting.

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