Do a spring checklist for your pet

It’s the beginning of a beautiful spring season when flowers are bursting out in lovely shades of pastels. We have lots of daylight and bright blue skies. It’s a gorgeous time of year.

The beginning of a new season is also a perfect time to do a pet checklist. Just like you do spring cleaning and spruce up around the house and yard it’s also a great time to make sure your fur babies are ready for the season as well.

Start with a trip to the vet for their annual check up. Get all the required vaccines and tests and while you’re there get them microchipped. And put them on heartworm preventive for sure and administer it religiously according to your doctor’s instructions.

If they’re not already spayed and neutered make an appointment to get them snipped. The last things in the world we need are more puppies and kittens so please make sure you don’t contribute to the pet overpopulation crisis.

Now is a good time to check their collars and leashes. Even if you’ve purchased quality collars and leashes in the past they eventually wear out so it might be a good idea to replace collars with martingale non-slip collars for dogs and good quality breakaway collars for cats.

While you’re at it, check leashes for any tears or chewed spots and make sure the clasp is still in good shape. It’s best to have a traditional sturdy leash but if you elect to have a retractable one, realize there are hazards in using them. Due to the design of the retractable leash it’s definitely wise to get a new one each season especially spring when you’re likely to take your dog for lots of walks.

Next, make sure your pet has on a legible identification tag with your contact information easy to read. The metal on ID tags wears out and can fall off the collar and the engraved information on the tag can wear down making it difficult or impossible to read. So take a look at your current ID tag to confirm it’s legible.

Make a pledge to keep your pet’s collar and ID tags on him at all times, even during a bath. I’ve lost count how many missing pets couldn’t be reunited with their families because their collars were taken off during a bath and their parents forgot to put them back on.

I hope your pets never go missing, but unfortunately I spend a great deal of time trying to help frantic people who never thought their beloved pet would disappear. In order to help find pets quickly I need a current photograph of them and some folks don’t have them readily available. So just as a precaution, take clear individual close up photos from different angles of each one of your pets. Use an uncluttered background that doesn’t distract from the focus on the pet. Keep them in your phone ready to immediately share and convert to flyers in case your pet is missing.

These are just a few things to do to so your pets can enjoy a safe and fun spring season. I’ll have more tips in future articles so stay tuned.

This story was originally published April 5, 2018 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Do a spring checklist for your pet."