Adopting a New Pet and Keeping Them Calm

Adopting a new pet is an exciting experience. Many prospective pet owners spend weeks, months, and sometimes years waiting until the perfect time to welcome a new pet into their new home. It’s exciting to finally find the right dog or cat to bring home and help them enjoy a healthy, happy life with you. It can also be overwhelming, both for you and your new addition to your family.

Keep in mind that your pet is going to be taking in a whole range of new sounds, sights, people, and places. Especially if you are rescuing your dog, cat or other animal from a traumatic situation, the adjustment to an healthy home life can take some time.

Being well prepared is essential when adopting a new pet, and many stressful situations can be easily prevented by getting ready ahead of time. There are a number of things that you can do to ease any challenges during the adjustment period.

1. Prepare your home for your pet. Put away anything that would be large enough for your dog or cat to swallow and choke on, decide on a place where your pet’s food will be kept. If you are getting a cat, finding a location for the litter box and investing in a scratching post will help ease the time of transition. Ask your adoption organization what items would be best for your animal to be sure that you have everything on hand ahead of time. That way, you can focus your energy on enjoying your pet’s company and helping them get settled into your home.
2. Prior to having your pet arrive, ensure that every member of the household is in agreement with the way that training will be approached. Discussing possible issues that may arise ahead of time (whether it’s a cat scratching furniture or a puppy needing to be litter trained) will prevent unnecessary stress by ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Having a plan in place to address potential challenges will also instill more confidence in you, as the pet owner, to be able to handle anything that might come up. Ask friends and family for vet recommendations and have their emergency number easily accessible.
3. Plug in Pet Remedy up to a day before your new pet is expected to arrive home. The best place would be the room or area that you think your pet will spend the most time. You can also spray Pet Remedy in your vehicle and on any beds or blankets that will be used for your new pet. Our customers tell us how using Pet Remedy has been an incredibly useful tool to use right from the first day that their pet arrived at home, and we couldn’t agree more!
4. Depending on type of pet and the transportation method, you may need to use a carrier to bring them home. Check with the adoption agency on what they recommend for preparing your pet’s carrier. Make sure there are no unsafe objects, check that the size will be appropriate for your dog or cat, and consider spraying Pet Remedy on any item that will be placed in the carrier.
5. Introduce your pet slowly to your home. If your new pet is a dog, you may wish to take them for a walk before entering the home to help wear out some excitement and help them be in a calmer state of mind, especially if the journey home was a long one. Allow them to slowly discover your home, providing gentle but immediate correction if they attempt to jump up onto kitchen countertops or enter spaces that might not be safe for them.
6. Schedule a visit to the vet within the first few weeks of your pet being at home to make sure that there aren’t any signs of stress that you might not be aware of, as well as to ensure that your pet is healthy. If there are any signs that something may be medically wrong, contact a vet immediately.
7. Keep your Pet Remedy diffuser plugged in for at least the first 30 days of your new family member’s stay. Even for the most positive of changes, times of transition still create a certain degree of stress for both humans and animals, and having your home immediately recognizable as a safe, calm environment will ease your pet’s anxieties immensely.