Pet Proofing Your Home

A pet usually gets injured, if the pet escapes out of the house, and is unattended. This is why you must close all the doors and gates of your house properly. If you want to take them out, then a leash must be used. You must also make sure that there are no holes or gaps in the fences or hedges; otherwise your pet can escape from such holes. You must also ensure that items like fertilizers, chemicals are not placed within reach of the pet.

It's also important that you temporarily fence you ponds or pool, when your pets are not old enough to know any better.

The Healthy Pet is a Safe Pet

You cannot take out the health factor from the safety aspect. You must keep a wary eye on your pet, and its contact with other animals. Avoid your pet's contact with any animals that might have some kind of disease.

If and when your pet is sick, it's of paramount importance that you contact a good veterinarian for a curative remedy. Moreover, keep your pets clean, and give them a bath at least twice a month.

A Pet in Your Home

As aforementioned, treat your pet like a respected and loved family member. You must teach your children to be gentle with the pet, and to enjoy their company. Also, teach the children how to take proper care of the pet, but care must be taken, not to leave a young child alone with a new pet. This is when accidents can occur, if the child teases the pet, or does something to the pet that it dislikes.

Checking the Pet Collar

Regular inspection of your pet's collar is necessary for maintaining the pet’s safety. Pets outgrow their collars rapidly. If not replaced or loosened, they will tighten themselves around the neck of the pet, and will grow right into it. A tight color will give excruciating and constant pain to the pet.

Inspect the collar on a weekly basis. You will get some indication as to whether the pet is comfortable with the collar or not. Adjust it accordingly. Also, remember to put an ID on the collar of your pet, which will help you find him/her in case they get lost.

The String and Your Cat

You must have seen innumerable pictures of cats playing with string. They look cute don’t they? Well, if you are a stickler for pet safety, then you won’t allow your cat to play with a ball of string without supervision.

If left unattended, cats are quite likely to eat the balls of string, and as can be imagined, this is not conducive for the good health of the cat. However, if your cat has swallowed the piece of string, here are a few considerations:

* If the string is still protruding from the mouth, don’t pull it out. If you pull the string, it might lead to a sawing of the intestinal wall, leading to a medical condition called peritonitis.

* Take your pet to a veterinary specialist on an immediate basis.

Pet-Inside or Outside

There is a school of thought that proposes that, pets must spend most of their time out of doors and not inside the house. However, this can be true for some pets, especially some breed of dogs, but the "thought" cannot be generalized.

It is a fact, that there are dozens of dangers in the world outsides, especially for pets. Take the case of cats. Cats are better off inside the house then outside. Cats like fighting for territory and will pick a fight at the drop of a hat. This is just one of the reasons, why cats are safer in the precincts of a home.

Dogs are no better and most of them are liable to get into trouble when they are out of the house. Of course, this does not mean that pets must remain cooped up all the time. They need their daily dose of exercise for a healthy life.

A Matter of Individual Perception

In the end, pet safety is all about awareness about the pet you own and its intrinsic behavior. There are pets that are docile, and there are others that are mischievous. After taking care of the standard safety measures, you will need to incorporate a few special safety features, in cases of pets that have a habit of getting out of hand.

Once you get a pet, its best to focus on the pet safety aspect before, something untoward happens.