Do You Have Time For A Pet?

Becoming a pet owner is a big responsibility. Whether you bring home a little puppy or an elderly cat, you’ll need to make adjustments to your daily routine to ensure you can be there for your four-legged friend. And for a lot of would-be pet owners, that’s a harder change to make than they realize. After all, you have a busy job and a social life to keep up with – getting a pet to fit into that is going to take some wrangling! So with that in mind, here are the things to think about when considering if you really have time for a pet.  

How Long Will Your Pet Be Alone For?

This is the first thing to consider. If you’re often away from home, how long are you away? Every kind of pet you could bring home is going to need interaction from you at least once a day, and if you’re regularly staying overnight in other places, it’s going to be hard to provide this. 

Anywhere between 4 and 8 hours tend to be the maximum time a pet can be left alone. Dogs particularly will suffer from separation anxiety if you’re gone for too long. This can lead to destruction of your home, and both mental and physical anguish for your puppy. 

Setting a Routine Takes Practice

Your pet isn’t going to be trained overnight or in the space of a week. It’s going to take repetitive training commands over the course of a good 6 months at the least. If you don’t have the time or energy to set up a routine and see it through every single day, bringing a pet home might be a bad idea. 

Outdoor Time Needs to Occur Regularly

Do you have time to walk your dog? Or take the cat out to explore the garden? Or even to allow your guinea pigs or rats time in their run? If not, it’s not a great idea to bring a pet into your life right now. Outdoor time is crucial for ensuring pet well-being, and it’ll help to burn off energy that can turn into bad behaviors when left to their own devices. But if you’re always on call, or you can’t tear yourself away from the laptop during work hours, this is going to be a difficult thing to manage. 

Fit in Feeding Times with Your Own

Just a little tip to finish off. When you’re cooking, crack open your pet’s food and put a bowl down for them as well. This way you won’t have to make any special time to serve up a nutritious meal for your cat or dog! And even if you need to pop a pet supplement into the dish as well, you’ll never miss a meal and keep your pet well-fed and happy. Remember, making it easy for you creates stability for them too! 

So, do you have time for a pet? Think about the question at length.