How To Declutter Your Pet’s Life
Our lives can be messy. From Marie Kondo to self-help guides to professional services, many people are looking for ways to declutter, especially during the New Year season. If getting organized is on your family’s list of resolutions this year, it is important to remember one family member who often gets forgotten about in this process—your pet! It might not seem obvious, but our furry friends have plenty of clutter in their lives too. Here are five ways that you can help them get decluttered.
#1: Get Grooming
We all need a haircut every once in a while, and our pets are no different! This can be especially important if you have a pet that tends to shed because lack of grooming risks messy fur that clutters your space and their space. Even pets that don’t shed need grooming to look, feel, and smell their best, so it may be helpful to start setting a grooming routine, as well as scheduling regular appointments with your pet’s groomer.
If your pet is a serial-shedder, you might need to do some damage control on any existing problem areas in your space. This could include finding time to create a vacuuming schedule, making bath time time a regular part of your routine, or following one of the many helpful guides on keeping pet shedding under control. These steps may seem overwhelming at first, but making a point to follow a grooming routine will ensure that your life and your pet’s life are filled with more love and less mess.
#2: Get Moving
Having a rowdy pet can be challenging, especially when you are trying to keep a clutter-free space. When a pet has excess energy throughout the day, they are likely to get bored, which makes them more likely to cause messes and destroy things in your home.This can be a frustrating obstacle in your efforts to reduce stress and clutter in other areas of your life, and can even cause strain in your relationship with your furry friend. The good news is that, in most cases, it is completely possible to turn this behavior around by devoting more time to exercising with your pet!
The exact amount of exercise that a pet needs to be healthy, happy, and calm depends largely on the breed, personality, and age of your pet. As a rule of thumb, cats tend to be much more sedentary than their canine counterparts. They may be happy with only a few minutes of play a day.However, many dogs need at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, and a large portion need more than twice that amount to be their happiest. If you are concerned about restless, destructive, or bored behavior in your furry friend, it would probably be helpful to increase their daily energy expenditure through more or longer walks, playtime, or even a doggy daycare. If you are interested in increasing your own exercise time, this could be a great time to create a walk and play schedule that works for you and your pet.
#3: Get Organized
If this step sounds self-explanatory, that’s because it is. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to feel less cluttered, you have to actually get organized–and that includes taking care of the clutter your pet has, too. Especially right after the holiday season, the sheer amount of pet toys, treat bags, unused beds and forgotten bones can feel overwhelming. Like kid toys, pet toys can easily take over your living space. If you find yourself feeling stressed, frazzled, or frustrated by the level of mess that your pet’s belongings seem to be causing, you aren’t alone–but you can fix it.
The first step in organizing your pet’s collection of toys and random objects is to throw out old and destroyed toys. This step can be hard; a lot of pet owners hold onto old toys because they hold special memories, or because their pet has a strong attachment to the toy. The truth, however, is that old toys are doing more than just cluttering your space–they could cause serious harm to your pet. Because these toys are often tattered and torn to pieces, they are more at risk of being ingested, which can cause some serious gastrointestinal problems. Instead, throwing them out will help your pet to stay safe and healthy, as well as clearing up space for their newer toys!
Once the old toys are gone, you can focus on organizing the rest of your pet’s belongings and supplies. There are a lot of different strategies for organizing your pet’s supplies. One way to handle excess toys in your space is to rotate them in and out. By putting some toys out for your dog, and storing the rest for later, you clear your space and also create a fun surprise for your dog later when you rotate again.
#4: Make (And Keep) Your Appointments
Even healthy pets require regular medical checkups to stay healthy and receive preventative care. Just like with our own yearly checkups, it can be easy to get distracted or make excuses instead of following through. This year, try to avoid this by making appointments early, and keeping reminders on your phone so you don’t miss anything important.
If the financial pressure of caring for your pet’s health is creating clutter in your life, this is a good time to create a better budget so that you are more confident managing these expenses. If you are concerned that a larger vet bill, like in the case of an emergency illness or injury, might put you in a position of being unable to meet your pet’s needs, then it’s time to consider pet insurance. For a monthly fee, pet insurance can help cover your expenses, so you are never stuck with the horrible thought of “ my pet is sick and I can’t afford it?” in an emergency situation. It also helps with the cost of routine visits, and the monthly fee can be easier to build into your budget than an incidental veterinary bill.
#5: Be Realistic
This can be a tough one, but decluttering your pet’s life should also mean being realistic about the results. While maintaining a good grooming schedule will certainly help reduce the amount of fur in your home, there will still undoubtedly be times of the year where your pet sheds faster than you can clean up after them. Similarly, organizing and decluttering your pet’s toy box won’t necessarily stop you from stepping on a squeaky toy in the middle of the night or from having to pick the toys up frequently. Even with the best appointment reminders and most thorough planning, there might still be times when a conflict arises and you end up having to reschedule a routine visit.
These realities may be frustrating, but don’t let them discourage you! These steps are still great ways to create a better system and life for both you and your pet;. You are certain to notice a change in your pet-related stress if you find a process for handling these concerns that works for both of you. Just remember to be realistic, take measured steps, and never give up!
After reading this blog have you decided to tackle your pet’s clutter? If yes, I would love for you to share how you are going to make it happen. Please leave a comment below. Also listen to a previous podcast titled: Strategies To Be An Organized Pet Owner. https://player.fm/series/got-clutter-get-organized-with-janet/strategies-to-be-an-organized-pet-owner
