Pet Friendly Environment
PET FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT- URBAN?
Knowing what type of pet friendly environment you live in will make it much easier to decide what type of pet is best for you. City or urban living usually entails homes that are much smaller than found in a suburb or rural setting. Homes many times are apartments, condominiums or townhouses that have common grounds to share; not a huge fenced in area that a suburban home usually possesses.
Let’s take advantage of an urban setting. Small dogs or cats are a perfect choice for an urban pet friendly environment! Small breeds of dogs do not need as much exercise so if the weather is rainy or it is snowing outside you don’t have to walk the dog but just let it outside to do its business on a leash. Cats are even simpler. They only require clean litter, food and water. I have seen cats that walk on a leash but that is not usually the case. Remember the rule for cats: one and a half litter boxes per cat. You have 2 cats? You need 3 litter boxes.
If you do live in an apartment or condominium there are often maximum size requirements of a pet. The usual weight maximum that I have seen is 30 pounds; so that is Beagle size and down. Some condominium boards do not care about size so check your individual situation. Some breeds of dogs are banned such as Pit Bulls or Rottweilers. What I do know is that all boards require all pets to be vaccinated against rabies. Keep the rabies certificate in a safe place. A rabies tag does not confer legal protection!!! A rabies certificate signed by a licensed veterinarian does! So if you lose the rabies tag, don’t sweat it.
PET FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT- SUBURBAN?
When you live in a suburban or a rural environment a pet owner has much to choose; be it a cat or dog. A pet friendly envioronment is easier because of the real estate owned. Limitations such as pet size are not relevant if you own your property outside of the 4 walls. Do remember though that there are city ordinances plus homeowners insurance companies that do not allow risky breeds of dogs. So call your municipal or city government and insurance company to check out the requirements.
A suburban or rural environment is great for those breeds of dogs that require a lot of exercise such as all the retrievers and hunting dogs. A fenced in yard or Invisible Fence is perfect for such occasions. If you live in a rural area, letting a pet run the property without supervision is asking for trouble. Owning acreage means sharing it with wild animals or packs of dogs that populate the area. If cornered, a pet can become injured or even killed if attacked by said animals.
All pet friendly environment settings have one thing in common. They must curb their pet and clean up after it with appropriate handbags that are often provided by condo boards and city governments. No one wants to step in it but you are also preventing the spread of intestinal parasitesIntestinal parasites often seen in pets are: hookworms, roundworms, coccidia and Giardia sp. Pets get these while nursing on the mother that is parasitized but most commonly via the oral-fecal route. They swallow the egg in the feces than the parasite starts its development in the animal than passes eggs in its feces hence contaminating the environment more. Prompt veterinary care takes care of all of this. That is why at each visit to a veterinarian they take a stool sample. at the same time.
