Keeping Your Pets Fit and Healthy During Quarantine

Last Updated August 11, 2020

In this time of quarantine, it is important to remember that we are not alone in staying away from everyone else - so are our fur babies! While it might seem the best thing ever for our pets to have their owners hanging around and never leaving, they probably also stopped doing some of the normal things that they used to do since they are in lock down with us. This could be in the form of activities or habits that your pets might be used to do before the pandemic, and this change in lifestyle could also potentially affect their mental state.

As loving fur-parents, we should always strive for what is best for our pets and we should always be on the lookout on what we can do for the betterment of our babies. In fact, keeping your pets fit is very important to the point that a "Get Pets Fit campaign" was started in the UK! Below are our suggestions that you can do for your pets during quarantine:

Indoor play time

Since we are all in lock down, we should do what works for us. Having your pets have indoor play time will not only affect their physical form, but also their mental form since they are engaged in physical activities. As an example for dogs, playing fetch indoors can still work! Try to be creative as well like throwing her ball and then hiding so that she also needs to find you to return the ball (hide-and-seek and fetch combined)! For cats, you can make a lot of new toys for them to play with! Even as simple as a string and a random “bait” would work for cats as they often look for curious things to try and catch.

Mental activities

Have you seen those pet challenges online? Studies show that mental activities like these are beneficial for pets as they get to exercise their brain when they figure out what to do. It’s also a fun activity for the fur-parent from setting up these activities to the results that they may get. You can also capture a video of them trying to figure out a challenge for funny and cute memories!

Feed them healthy pet food

Healthy amount of socialization

While in lock down, socialization with your pets should be very easy. However, the amount of socialization should still be monitored. Always make sure that your pets have a place for their own time if things at home get too loud or rowdy. This gives your pet assurance that they always have a safe-space indoors. Additionally, allow them to seek out this freedom, so if they do not feel like playing, let them be.

Grooming

While grooming is always nice for pets, doing it yourself for your pets will develop another layer of love and trust between you two. Just make sure that you’re doing it right! The easiest you could do indoors is regularly brushing their fur with a gentle brush. Not only will this clean their fur, it should also create a soothing bond between you and your pet.

Separation anxiety

The lock down won’t last forever. When it is time for us to go back to our “normal”, we may accidentally create separation anxiety for our pets since they get accustomed to you having indoors due to the quarantine. In order for this NOT to happen, make sure you have some time off with your pets. If you are able to, try going around for quick drives or walks outside to create the illusion for your pets that you won’t always be there to play with them. Just make sure you are safe outside though!

It’s important to remember that we are all in this together - including our fur babies! They are also affected by the pandemic and we should stay alert to prevent negative side-effects of the quarantine to our pets. This temporary sudden change in our lifestyle should not hinder the growth of our fur-babies.

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