Pet Owners, Essay Example

When you start thinking about getting a pet and becoming a pet owner, there are couple things to consider in the first place: cost, maintenance, space, and attention required for the pet. It is very important to decide whether you have spare time to devote it to the pet, so the pet is well-groomed and happy to stay with you. Consequently, pet owner classify maintenance to three different levels: low maintenance, medium maintenance, and high maintenance.

People live different lives, have different jobs and hobbies, thus some of them are busy most of the time making their living. Therefore, they do not have that much time to take care of a pet. However, some pets require little maintenance, when simply do not have to sacrifice and of your previous activities. Pets that fall into this category are fish, worm farms, and ant farms, for they can be fed and watered only once a day and do not require any extra attention. Moreover, pet owners do not have to worry about any veterinarian care with them.

Furthermore, there are pets that require a medium maintenance, for pet owner who wish to spend more time with their little friends. This category includes birds, snakes, iguanas, mice, hamsters, rats, guinea pigs, turtles and others. These types of pets can be fed or watered only twice a day and sometimes you may want to show them to veterinarian for examination. Occasionally, you also have to clean up their cages and see whether anything should be changed. If compare them to fish and aquarium, it is obvious that they are more active and you can pat them.

Finally, if a pet owner has lots of time to take care of his new animal, he might pick one that needs more maintenance and attention. This category involves cats, dogs, and ferrets, which definitely require extra attention. For cats and dogs, one must feed them at least three times a day and change their litter when needed. Both of them must be taken outside for a walk to get a breath of fresh air and have some fun running around. However, if cats can go to the bathroom in a litter box, dogs do this only outside. Moreover, “studies suggest that pets confer health benefits such as lower blood pressure”.(World Watch, 2007) Ferrets must be given time to run around outside the cage for at least three hours a day, for they are pretty energetic pets and sometimes need more space. It is very hard to take care of the dog if a pet owner is always on the go, thus it is not the best option for such people. Some pet owners prefer setting doggie doors, which allow dogs to get in and out of the house without bothering anybody.

In conclusion, it is vitally important do decide whether you need a low, medium, or high maintenance pet. It all depends on your schedule, job, hobby, and of course desire and interest. Eventually, some animals are low maintenance while others need constant care and attention every day, but every species requires life-long commitment. If you work out how much time you are able to offer short and long-term to a new member of your family will take you one step closer to make a right choice of the pet for your household.

Works Cited

Greystoke, Paul. “Pet Watch”. Evening Chronicle [Newcastle, England] 8 Sep. 2004.

World Watch. “Pets”. Vol. 20 (Sep. 2007).

USA Today. “Pets May Serve as Disease Watchdogs.” Society for the Advancement of Education Vol. 134 (June 2006).