Providing your new pet a forever home means more than filling a couple of food and water bowls. The animal’s physical, mental, and even emotional health is in your hands. The responsibility is huge, however, the happiness these dogs and cats radiate is more than worth it.

Something that you should definitely put at the forefront of your mind is your pet’s health. If you’re bringing a baby cat or dog home with you from a shelter, you should definitely book an appointment with a trusted local veterinarian.

PDSA Vet Anna Ewers Clark had this to say to Bored Panda: “You should book your puppy or kitten in for a health check with your vet soon after bringing them home. This will allow you to check they’re healthy, they’re growing at the correct rate, and when they need their next parasite treatments or vaccinations.”

The vet explained that this also gives you the chance to speak to your vet about any other procedures. “You’ll also be able to discuss when is the best time to have them neutered.”

According to Anna from the PDSA, there are some financial things to consider for pet owners, too. Some owners might forget about the importance of insurance. “Make sure you insure them from the day they’re brought home so their vet bills will be covered if they ever become unwell or are injured,” she pointed out. In other words, you should hope for the best while planning for a realistic scenario.

The age of your new pet is more important than you think. The PDSA Vet stressed this fact to Bored Panda. “Your puppy or kitten will need a slightly different routine from an adult cat or dog,” Anna said.

What this means is structuring your day differently than you would with an adult animal. The owner has to be prepared to be more disciplined and put in more effort until their new best buddies grow up a bit.

“It’s important that they have regular mealtimes when they’re young. Usually around 3 meals a day. They’ll also need plenty of rest. Often young pets are very active in short bursts and then will become sleepy,” the animal health specialist explained to Bored Panda

She mentioned to us that we should be willing to play with our new pets as much as possible to keep them active and help them develop. However, at the same time, we have to be aware of the fact they’re tiny cuddly creatures: they get tired easily.

“It’s important to play with your puppy or kitten as this is an important part of their development and encourages them to be active, but if they start to get tired it’s best to let them sleep for a while,” Anna advised us.

Meanwhile, the more varied the experiences we can introduce into our new pets’ lives, the better they’ll be off in the long run. Think of it as training them to be better prepared for the future.

“Puppies and kittens have a socialization period when they are young, which is a time when their brains are hard-wired to learn about the world around them,” the expert said.

“For puppies, this [the period of socialization] is from 4-12 weeks, and for kittens from 3-8 weeks old. During this socialization period, it’s important to allow your pet to have lots of positive experiences with different sounds, smells, and situations as well as helping them meet a variety of different people.”

And there you have it, some spot-on advice if you choose to bring home a tiny doggo or catto instead of a big woof or majestic floof. Which of the photos made the biggest impact on you, dear Pandas? Which of these pets would you love to bring home with you? (Personally, I’d invite them all into my home if only they’d fit!)

Lastly, why do you think so many pets end up being abandoned? A whopping 6.5 animals enter shelters each year in the US, according to the ASPCA. There is a bit of good news: this number has fallen from roughly 7.2 million way back in 2011. There is some progress there, though the numbers of unwanted pets are still pretty high.

The ASPCA notes that around 4.1 million shelter animals end up getting adopted each year. Moreover, 810k are strays that end up being reunited with their worried owners.

Obviously, we wish that more pets would get adopted, however, we have to give it to those who do end up rescuing pets: you’re doing great work and we’re proud of you. If only there were more people like you, the world would be a far, far better place.