The Real Pet Care Challenge - Home Edition

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. What is 'The Real Pet Care Challenge'
3. Why is this Challenge Important
4. The Complete Dimensions of this Challenge

Mental Wellbeing

Social Health

Home Care

Accessibility

Physcial Care

5. The Final Conclusion

Introduction

With the ongoing pandemic, almost everyone is affected in their own way. Some have it tough, while for some it’s a smooth sail. But amidst everything, the most neglected are the animals. 

The daily schedule of your companion is badly hit. The pressure of being boxed up inside your home is also felt by your pet. Sure, they can’t speak out loud their frustrations in legible words. But their unusual behaviour and lazy patterns speak volumes.

Innovative thinking is required in these tough times. Especially when it comes to your pets, who are fully dependent on you. Therefore, an activity or some sort of a fun-challenge is required to fill the void. It would help you to take your mind from this terrible situation, and at the same time it would help your pet-companion to ease off a little. 

Your pet is a living being. Thus, their mental well-being is extremely important. With all the house chores and office work going around, somewhere or the other, your pet is being neglected. It might be unintentional, but still negatively affecting them.

Therefore, to make things fun and fulfil the need of your pet-companion, PetPedia.in proudly presents The Real Pet Care Challenge. 

It’s a one way solution and a holistic approach to bond with your pet in these tough times. It will also help you to divert your mind from all the negativity around you. During this Challenge, we will be devoting ourselves to pet parents of cats and dogs trying their best to care for their pets at home during a Global Pandemic. We will help you provide real, complete care for your pooches while staying at home and more importantly staying safe. . While this challenge will run from 21st May 2021 to 6th June, we will be doing our best to empower you with the right knowledge and tools to through the rest of the years as well.

What is ‘The Real Pet Care Challenge’?

Basically, this challenge provides you with an opportunity to give the pet-companion a balanced life that is complete in itself. It is more of a reinitiation of the bond between a pet and their pet parent, with an aim to focus on their five key dimensions of their lives. 

These dimensions have been specifically chosen and articulated in such a way which would help replenish your pet’s life in these tough times. 

Which might make you wonder, as to why it might be tough for your pet to even comprehend this time as a tough one? How exactly does any animal, which is already living in the comfort of a human’s house, can be affected by any means?

These questions are perfectly valid. 

Animals do feel the energy around them. When the said energy is negative, their behaviour is also affected and it is actively shown in their daily habits. Here is an answer for you in the form of a justified and a simplistic list:

They might get aggressive, dull, lazy, itchy, violent, quiet, irritated, etc. due to the lack of any major physical activity and being enclosed for such a long time.

Their eating and sleeping habits might be affected to such an extent, where it might start to irritate them fully. Resulting in the degradation of their health.

Their mental health might get harshly affected. This may damage their will to live to the fullest of their lifespan, even after all the things are back to normal.

With the extra burden on the pet parent to manage the house, their work, and maybe even kids and other family members, your pet companion might be getting ignored for all the wrong reasons.

This ignorance might lead toa serious blow to their health or invite diseases in their bodies that are difficult to treat in these tough times.

Your pet-companion might be compelled to fend on its own if anything is off-balance, as you would be busy with other important things.

The above-mentioned points are some of the various reasons as to how a pet might be affected in these tough times, without you knowing about it.

In these unprecedented times, many pet parents are forced to leave their cherished and loved pets out in the streets, as they are unable to take care of them. Pets have become a burden on such pet parents. 

This is why The Real Pet Care Challenge is more so ever important to introduce and execute. So these adorable pets who have no fault of their own in this man-made catastrophe, should not be punished without any reason whatsoever.

The next section promptly explains as to why this challenge is important.

Why is Complete Care Important ?

Let’s face it. Pet parents are aware that they have a responsibility to take care of their pets, even in these tough times. Love, companionship, bond, etc. are an important part of the caring process of a pet. But these alone do not constitute a holistic approach towards the care of your pet-companion.

Therefore, when pet parents are forced to think of such extreme scenarios to take care of their pets amidst all the negativities around them, they feel aptly overwhelmed. This overwhelming feeling makes them execute such decisions which are not in favour of their lovable pets.

So, we packaged complete care in an innovative way, so pet-parents can actively take up this fun challenge.

It helps them take off their minds from all the other negative things going around them, which is the dire need of this time. Plus, as a bonus, this crucially helps them to re-bond with their adorable pets. Something that was taken for granted up till now.

The main focus here, of course, is the pets. Their mental and physical well being should always be protected with utmost care and love. This challenge would help the pet parents to channelise their energies in an innovative manner. This would make the whole task fun, and as the title suggests, a challenge. The resultant beneficiary would be your pet, which will always be a win-win situation for both the pet, and their pet parent(s). 

This challenge would help pet parents reconnect with their pets. This would be executed in such a holistic and systematic manner, so that by the end of this task, the whole process would feel surprisingly natural and fun in its wholesomeness. 

The next section will talk about the various dimensions that this challenge will cover, for the very basic needs of your pet companion on a crucial level.

The Complete Pet Care Dimensions

As you can very well observe from the visuals above, this challenge covers the overall well being of your pet through these five dimensions. These have been crafted carefully to include each and every aspect of your pet’s happiness and their care, with a practical approach. 

With the completion of each and every section, your pet would be fully satisfied, both from within and outside. Ranging from their mental health to their physical needs, your bond will be the strongest once you are done with this challenge. 

So, without any further ado, here are these five dimensions of this holistic pet care challenge:

Mental Wellbeing 

When it comes to animals, most people are awed by them.They are treated with love and care in proportion to the level of beauty they personify to the viewer’s eye. 

What most people tend to forget here, rather intentionally or unintentionally, is that the mental wellbeing of such a living being is also a crucial aspect of their overall care. It is as important as their physical care.

Pet parents are empowered or pushed to engage with their animals on a conversational level. With all the right tools and advice, you can keep your adorable pets away from the grasp of loneliness, depression or even anxiety. These terms are not exclusively reserved for humans. Even animals suffer through them, with an added disadvantage of not being able to communicate properly that they are indeed suffering from it. 

Their mental state can be mostly decoded from the way they behave around you. Any unexpected change in their behaviour might be a link to their mental capacities being bugged over by such dark problems. Here is a list of such problems:

All animals have the feelings to mourn for the loss of a loved one. This can be a human which was close to them, or even a different animal. This can be very well observed from their after-dull behaviour. They show their sadness in a gloomy and lazy manner. 

Your pet might feel scared of the changing environment around them. This can be as simple as a change in sound of something, or even the monotonous schedule which they are completely bored of. 

Most pets become the replica of their pet parents in terms of their mental capacities. Therefore, when you show signs of being in anxiety, sadness, depression, etc. in front of your loved companion, they might feel the same.

Aggressive behaviour, growling, jumping, barking, howling, etc. towards a person or any object, timid or fearful behaviour, whining, screeching, excessive drooling, etc. can be signs of anxiety in your pet companion. 

Aggressive behaviour in any animal is mostly connected to the changed environment or a source of something tangible or intangible which is making them lose their mental senses. This can become fatal in the long run, if not treated properly.

Therefore, as you may have observed up till now,there are many signs and situations in which your pet’s mental well being might be affected. As evidenced above, it is your duty as a pet parent to look out for them. Thus, once you feel that your pet is indeed suffering from such a problem, you can initiate the treatment on your own!

Here are the list of things you can very well and easily execute to ease off your pet’s mental health problems:

If you think that your adorable pet is in depression of some sort, try to change their schedule by including an unfamiliar game of some sorts. This can be as simple as snuggling, howling, petting, singing songs, dancing around, etc. with your companion in a playful manner. 

You can even try to put some animal stuff on the big screen and see your companion’s reactions for the same. These small things, would help your pet to divert their minds from the already gloomy situation around them. 

When it comes to anxiety, you can help your pet by carefully petting them slowly, massaging them regularly, including them in your daily chores around yourself, etc. the general idea is to increase your physical time with your pets, so that they would feel protected and secure. But make sure you don’t spend so much time that they get separation anxiety once you revert to your normal schedule.

Aggression can be treated easily by firstly putting an end to the source of such aggression. If the source is out of your physical reach, then it should be toned down in innovative ways. If the aggression is due to the changed environment, then the pet parent should try to indulge their pet in the said changed environment for a longer time. This would help their pets to get familiarise with the alien environment.

Introduce new smells such as a new fruit or vegetable, old books or old socks(maybe not). This helps calm their anxiety, keeps them mentally occupied and prevents depression or loneliness.

Give them interactive or self engaging toys with treat dispensers to keep them mentally engaged and prevent dullness of mind. 

Reward them with hi-5s every now and then! Pets really love it when you physically engage with them and even more so when it comes as an appreciation! Help them secrete happy hormones by doing so. 

It can be said from the above-mentioned information, that mental wellbeing is indeed an important part of your pet's overall holistic care. Physical health and problems of your pets are also important, no doubt. But these mental problems are slow killers. If they are not treated in their initial phases, they may procure some permanent damage to your pet’s overall happiness. 

Social Health

Animals are very much like humans in various spheres of their lives. Sure, they are not as civilised or systematic when it comes to humans. But one element that they actively share with the human species is being social.

Being social is an inherent part of an animal’s life. 

Most animals require a companion in the form of other living beings. This companion can be a human or an animal. Most animals have unique preferences in this area. Some are comfortable with their own kind. Some are versatile in nature, meaning they are more likely to bond with any living being. Some are very choosy and selective. They might even hate the idea of being near to their own kind, let alone humans. 

But generally, most animals require the warmth of another living being.

In these tough times, pet parents fill such a void. Most pets which are allowed to be domesticated, are very much comfortable with humans. Out of the various reasons, the most important one is compatibility and companionship. 

The true love and bond which a pet parents showers on their pet is evergreen. The pets are social enough to sense such warmth and love through various actions of their pet parents.

The petting, snuggling, hugging, patting, kissing, etc. and various other actions which the human prefers to show their affection to their adorable pets is always recognized by them. This social interaction is extremely important. Be it with humans or between other pets in your house.

The idea is that a pet should not be left alone to lurch around in its own shadow. These times are hard enough for them to be alone even if they are surrounded by your physical presence. Your attention is naturally scattered and divided due to extra responsibilities and negativities around you. Thus, it is important to understand that it is not just being there that counts with your adorable pets. It’s the basic idea of actually being present in the moment with them. They can very well sense whether you are with them for the sake of it or not.

Therefore, Social Health becomes one of the crucial dimensions after Mental Wellbeing. Being social helps your pet companion to ease their loneliness or aggression to a certain level. When they are around other animals and humans which they are comfortable with, they feel protected and are calm. Boredom can do extreme damages if it is prolonged. Thus, here are some pointers to boost their Social Health naturally at home:

If you are sensing that your pet is somewhat behaving in a dull manner, then you may want to include them in your daily chores. This can be done by playing some light music and completing the said chores around them. This would make them feel included.

If you are too busy to complete your chores with or around them, then you rather invent some new and exciting games or tasks for your pet to be involved in. It can be as simple as a catch and throw, hiding the carrot-treats of your rabbit in different places, building a toy for your hamster, etc. The general idea is to initiate something new.

This might be a long shot, but playing a digital video with nature as its main theme or sounds of animals of their own kind, might help a little. This can be mostly helpful in the cases of dog-pets. Familiar sounds and background can sometimes help an animal to feel at home.

With Zoom Video Calls all around, you can include your pet with yourself in the frame. Seeing different faces, even through a screen, might be refreshing for your pet companion. This is somewhat related to the previous point, but with a human element. 

If possible, try to take your pet companion outside. By this, we strictly mean only around the vicinity of your house. This might not be possible for all, especially in these times. But if a pet parent has an option to take a walk outside, then it would definitely be a breath of fresh air for their pets as well.

By now, you might have a definite, general idea about the importance of your pet’s Social Health. Their surroundings should not be kept mundane or monotonous for long. Some sort of changes in their environment should always be evergreen. These tips and ideas can also work for your pet’s Mental Wellbeing as well. So, everything’s connected.

Home Care

This dimension is also an important one. Home Care includes every little tangible thing which would make your pet feel at home. By this, we mean various little innovative things to make your surroundings fun and entertaining for your pet companion.

The general idea is to keep them away from the prospects of everything mainstream. When their schedule was the usual one before these tough times, there was a pattern in their living. To this, they were very well adapted to. But now when everything and everyone is inside, your pet’s schedule might have become boring.

By boring we mean that due to the extra burden you have to comprehend in your house, their basic food requirements and other needs might have become the only thing to fulfil. These are important. But the other aspects are ignored in terms of making things entertaining for them.

Like any other living being, even they feel the stress of everyday life being the same. We as humans can opt for Video Streaming services, music, talking to friends, picking up a hobby, etc. to ease up our monotonous schedule. But our beloved pets do not have that option.

They are entirely dependent on us to make things interesting and entertaining for them. This would help to keep their spirits up, which would ultimately keep their Mental health and Social health also in check.

Therefore, here is a list of things you can easily execute to make their surroundings interesting, by simply altering some small bits through their home needs:

If you have a pet which lives in a cage, like a Rabbit or a Hamster, then you might make an artificial space for them with a fixed boundary. This would make them inspect the same environment, but through a new vision. This can be easily achieved through some cardboard boxes and innovative crafts.

You can access the internet to try out some new recipes for your pet companion. A change in their daily routine food habit would go a long way to uplift their moods. Needless to say, it would be a great new experience for you as a pet parent, as well.

If you have a dog as a pet, then you can try to dress them up in new outfits. This would be a great time pass, for both the pet parent and the pet. 

You can try to change their designated place of sleeping or hanging to a new space. This random change might be a small adjustment for you, but it would be a new territory altogether for them. 

You may try to put some new and innovative things around their territory. This can be as simple as a new Food Bowl, Water Bowl, a new Litter Box for you Cat, some new toys for your Fish Tank, a homemade toy for your four-legged companion, etc.

Some games which include physical exercise would go a long way for your pet companion. This can be done by hiding their treats in different places, making a trail with their treats to train them in an innovative way, etc.

Cleaning your pet companion’s stuff, like their cage, Food or Water Bowl, their clothes, etc. would keep up the hygiene and would give them the opportunity to experience new stuff with new smells.

Like always, Home Needs includes a wide variety of things. The things which are mentioned above are just some of the few things. The basic idea is to change their environment with new and innovative things, making it safe, entertaining, etc. all the while keeping them in the loop. 

Accessibility

Getting the essential stuff in these times is the only goal which one has in their minds. When the pandemic struck, everyone was taken in by a big surprise.

The usual going out and buying even the smallest stuff became a luxury. The nature of the COVID-19 disease is such that it disallows us to even step outside of our houses. With such drastic times, where the essential commodities for humans are mostly unavailable, or are available with utmost difficulty, it was natural that the usual food and other necessities for your pet would be struck too.

Naturally, the essential necessities for your pet was not a priority. Be it their packaged food, treats or other important medicinal creams or sprays. These things, which were bought by various pet parents without any hassles, were now unavailable due to lack of reach. Or even if they were available by any chance, the sheer high demand were their prices soar through the roof. 

Thus, through hook and crook, pet parents around the world started to procure various little things for their pets. They were grabbing whatever little animal stuff they could get their hands on. The usual bet on various flavours, shapes of toys, ingredients, etc. were compromised. There were no choices left for window shopping first. Whatever was available for that specific animal, was being bought right away.

Now, with a little easing off of the situation all around, things have started to settle. Pet parents, although still not going outside to actively purchase these accessible necessities, are buying them actively online. These are now actively available on our platform, for various animals, right here.

Same is with the accessibility with their designated vet. With such a prolonged and immediate lockdown, it was really difficult for pet parents to consult with their Vet in case of any health emergency. Sure, online consulting was executed. But the prognosis was never accurate. But tough times call for tough measures. 

The point being, that animals as pets were also affected, just as humans were. Maybe even worse. It became such a huge problem, that pet parents were forced to leave their pets on the streets or shelter for animals. It was a sad sight to witness. With all the rumours going around about certain pets and the virus, these forced desertions were increased.

As it might not be possible to truly your swap your pet’s various food and other necessities with home made remedies, but due to their lack of accessibility to some extent even now, here are some points which you may execute at your own home for your beloved pets:

If possible, and whenever you may get a chance, try to order any basic needs of your pet in bulk. These orders should only be needed and not want(s).  Food, medicines, body spray, fungal cream, etc. can be easily categorized as essentials. But Toys, treats, etc. are simply wants which can be easily fulfilled at your own home.

You can search for innovative ways to feed your pets at your own home. Indian food is filled with nutrients and vitamins. These can be very well used in place of your regular packaged pet food. Sure, some extensive search for your specific pet and breed is important for this point, with the utmost suggestion of your Vet. But if there’s a green light, then you can easily cope up with lack of accessibility. This would make a new experience for your pet as well.

Toys for your four-legged companion can be easily made at homes with some basic stuff. This information is easily available in the first few clicks on the internet. Just make sure that nothing hazardous is being used, which might be swallowed by your pet.

There are basic fruits and vegetables which can be given to many animals in certain quantities as treats. Therefore, with the help of your vet’s suggestion, you can use these basic ingredients as treats for your pet companion.

Accessibility problems are always realised when they are out of reach. There is no chance of being proactive in this area. No pet parent can always stock up the required necessities beforehand. Most pet parents, especially in India, are on a tight budget. Therefore, they have to consider every option before opting the best need for their pet, within their budget. Needless to say, accessibility to any sort of animal need can now be easily fulfilled right here.

Physical Care

Traditionally, physical health has been the most recognized naturally. Mental health and other similar aspects were imbibed much later in the mainstream. Thus, this dimension is placed at the last position. But it’s still one of the most important aspects of any pet’s life.

Physical health directly comprehends your pet’s life-span and their overall quality of life. Most physical problems in any pet’s body are silent or slow killers. Meaning, that the output might not be an immediate one, but once it initiates to accumulate overtime, there might come a point of no return altogether. 

Thus, for such physical problems, there are several things which a pet parent can do to ensure that their lovable pet companion is protected from almost all the horrible diseases out there. Sure, no one can be a hundred percent guaranteed when it comes to any living body and their health problems. But cautions and being proactive can be the best bet against any ill future for your pet. 

This will also give the concerned pet parent a chance to revisit the safety of their pet’s environment in their homes. From the edibles, to the various toys and small changes in their surroundings like cleaning and adjusting, etc. A pet parent can ensure that their pet has the best life possible. 

Some diseases and health problems are genetic or are inevitable in nature. Meaning that they are bound to happen no matter the precautions which were executed. In such rare and hard cases, a vet is the best hope for any pet parent. But these cases are exceptional and rare in nature. For all the other problems, a pet parent can safely ensure the best quality of surroundings for their pet companion, with appropriate tips from their designated Vet. 

Thus, here are some extremely important tips on how a pet parent can ensure the best physical care for their pet, by ensuring the best environment, diet, etc.:

First and foremost, ensure to the best of your abilities that your home is still a Non-Hazardous place for your pet. Sure, in the beginning, you would have ensured the same. But with passing times, humans have a nature to take things for granted. Thus, now is the chance to revisit the safety concerns for your pet. These might be small changes, but would definitely go a long way.

Never ever overfeed your pet. As a pet parent, you do love the glow in your pet’s eyes when they are offered food. Especially, when it is something unique or some treats. But overfeeding leads to obesity. This can be a silent killer for your pet. This may heavily reduce your pet’s life span, or may even invite some unwanted diseases at a later time in their lives.

Vets are the lifeline for your pet. It is important to have a successful professional relationship with your designated Vet. A pet parent should always avoid changing their vets more often, unless it’s extremely necessary to do so. Regular check ups and vaccination shots should be kept up to date. Always follow your vet’s recommendations and advice to the letter. In case of any doubt, the internet should be the last thing to search for a treatment for your pet. General ideas may be searched, but the final conclusion should always be discussed with your vet.

If you have a pet, which requires physical exercise, then it should be heavily enforced. Especially in these harsh times of lockdown(s). Pets like dogs, rabbits, etc. are naturally required to be at their physical best at least 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. This can  overlap your own workout regime, so that it's fun and both you and your adorable pets get the desired exercise. 

Grooming and skin care is important. Pets with excessive body hair and some unique features have some specific grooming needs. These needs are tailored according to their physical care. For example, in a Beagle’s long and droopy ears, there is a high chance that ear-wax is heavily collected inside their ears. Thus, it is important to clean the same at least once every 3-4 days. Likewise, every animal might have a special grooming or skin care need. This can be easily consulted with your veterinarian over a call. These needs should never be skipped.

As harsh these times can be, try not to ignore your loved pets. This ignorance might not be intentional, but an extra effort should be made by all the pet parents to spend time with their pets. If they are left to fend off on their own for a long time, then they might develop symptoms of loneliness, depression and anxiety. All this can happen, despite you being there. Thus, even if it’s for 30 minutes a day, do play or interact with your pet companion in any way possible. They should feel that there is someone around them to take care of them.

The Final Conclusion

The Real Pet Care Challenge has been thoroughly explained above. Sure, after going through it, one might think that all these are generic points. That all of this is the usual stuff, packaged in a new avatar. But that is the whole point.

This challenge is made to make sure that your pet is not neglected either emotionally or physically. As a pet parent, it is your utmost responsibility to look out for them, even in these tough times. This challenge is thus, an opportunity to reinitiate the same level of care and bond which might have been lost along the way.

Do execute this challenge, and share your experience with us on our Instagram handle, at @PetPedia_in. This way, you can get the desired motivation from other pet parents and compete to be the best pet parent out there!

Hope to see you again!