12 Best Ways to Keep Pets Healthy in Physical & Mental

Wondering how to keep your pet healthy and happy? What measures should you take to ensure that your pet does not fall sick?

You have come to the right place if you are stuck on your pet’s well-being.

This article will give you some important insights about your pet’s happiness and health.

How to Keep Your Pet in Good Physical Health?

You can easily tell if your pet is happy and healthy by simply looking at its general behavior and appearance. The good news is that there are measures you can take to enhance your Pet’s Physical Health.

Here are 7 simple routine measures that can help maintain the physical health of your pet.

• Healthy Diet

A nutritious, and well-balanced diet is vital to keep your pet healthy. Always check on the food quality. You wouldn’t want to expose your pet to food poisoning and nutritional deficiencies. Try to understand the dietary needs for your pet.

Dietary needs vary with the age of your pet. You cannot offer your cat the same diet you’d give your dog. Nutritional requirements also differ across species.

Always discuss with your vet the best diet suitable for your pet at every stage, from birth to adulthood.

• Dental Health

Healthy teeth and gums play a crucial role in maintaining the overall wellbeing of your pet. Pets are susceptible to oral diseases at any age.

Always make it a habit to check your pet’s teeth to determine whether they are healthy and strong.

To promote the dental care of your pet and extend their lives in the long run, you will have to adhere to the following set of measures:

• Brush their teeth daily. It’s better if you introduce this routine when your pet is y and toothbrush. Just stick to pet toothpaste and toothbrush.
• Feed your pet a special dental diet, such as greens, and kibble. Chewing rubs off plaque from the gums and spreads protective saliva. Offer an appropriate size to prevent choking.
• Treat your pet to an oral health rinse to get rid of the bacteria in the mouth.
• Take your pet for a check-up if it has a consistent bad breath, or if it has already developed a plaque.

• Drink Clean Water

A well-balanced diet is not enough to keep your pet healthy. Drinking clean water also plays a significant role in a pet's nutrition. After feeding, pets will need to transport the essential nutrients in and out of the cells. This is where clean water comes in.

Pets require clean water to ensure that the body functions properly, and to also prevent dehydration.

What happens if You Offer Pets Contaminated Water?

Dirty water endangers your pet’s life as it leads to the following:

• Muscle pains
• Liver and kidney infection
• General body weakness
• Diarrhea
• Leptospirosis
• Vomiting
• High fever

Don’t allow your pet to drink stagnant water during your nature walks. Prevention is better than cure!

• Regular Brushing

Brushing your pet’s coat enhances its happiness since it allows both of you to bond well. Besides, there are also some healthy benefits of regular combing you need to know.

Benefits of Regular Brushing

• Regular brushing helps you to spot any flea infestation before it spreads further.
• You may also notice some sores on your pet that were earlier on unknown to you. This will help you treat them to prevent further damage to your pet’s skin.
• It enables airflow; hence, keeping your pet cooler than before.
• Prevents dense tangles and knots that could have otherwise led to skin infections and irritations.
• Keeps the fur shiny and healthy. As you’re combing, you’re distributing the essential skin oils that keep the coat and skin healthy.

• Trim toenails

Toenails trimming is an essential part of grooming your pet. It’s a very simple procedure that further improves your pet’s health and hygiene.

It’s important to introduce your pets to nail trimming at a younger age so that they can become used to the process. Introducing an older pet could be a bit difficult. You may even need to restrain them while you carry out the trimming.

You can distract them with some food while you clip the nails. It might not be necessary to use force. Praise them endlessly to reduce anxiety.

• Chew Well

Chewing strengthens the jaws and keeps your pet’s teeth clean. Chewing is a necessary behavior for all pets, especially dogs. Dogs love to chew and bite is a natural instinct that canines may have.

Offer your pets some dog toys, dog chew balls, or Nylabones  for their entertainment and playful nature. You may have to teach them to chew well if they don’t know how. Discover the likes and dislikes of your pet. Every pet is unique in their own way. Try to understand yours, so you can offer the best dog toy for your pets.

• Veterinary Inspection

Routine veterinary check-up is very important for your pets. It gives your vet an opportunity to identify any signs and symptoms of a disease before it progresses further.

Regular check-ups help your pet stay active and healthy since you will be able to focus your energy on early disease detection, prevention, and cure.

Visit your vet once or twice a year, even if your pet looks physically healthy.

5 Ways to Enhance Your Pet’s Mental Health

Pets get stressed from time to time. I have come across pets who become sad when their owners are depressed. It’s clear that pets feel our stress, especially if they were used to your happiness before.

This may easily affect their overall health if you don’t notice on time. Always remember that you could be playing a major role in their anxiety.

Here’s what to do to enhance your pet’s mental health.

• Play Every Day

Playing with your pet every day enables its brain to stay active. Pets get bored easily, you can cheer them up with some play time.

Imagine if you stay alone at home all day doing nothing, not only for a day but several. You might end up getting depressed. The same applies to your pets.

Find some interesting games to play with your pet to keep them alert. This will also help them overcome the mental aspect of boredom.

• Provide Interactive Toys for Pets

Providing your pets with interactive toys enhances their mental health. The toys boost the pet’s confidence and encourage them to think for themselves.

Stay close to your pets when they are playing with toys, and you will notice them hesitating every time to solve a puzzle in between.

Your pets won’t always depend on you to make them happy if you offer them toys to kill boredom.

• Create "Private Space"

For some good reason, humans require private space to think and observe. We tend to feel more comfortable when other people respect our personal space.

The same applies to pets. They also need private space to express a sense of self, and feel at ease in their own surroundings. 

Intruding their space or keeping them in crowded places will increase their anxiety, leading to depression.

• Training from Time to Time

Training increases your pet’s mental health as it stimulates their minds through the following ways:

• Ease loneliness
• Improves their confidence
• Increase their sense of belonging
• Encourages playfulness

Mental stimulation is a key factor when it comes to a pet’s overall happiness and health. Training is important to any pet and there is no age limit for that.

• Understand their Emotions

Pets do experience emotions like anticipation, joy, frustration, and fear. While other emotions are good, others may affect the mental health of our pets.

Sometimes pets may pretend to be happy, but in the real sense they have a lot going on in their minds. How we wish we could understand what our pets are thinking.

The only way you can help is by first recognizing the existence of an emotion. You need to be patient and compassionate. Help your pets become more mindful one step at a time.

Note: This article is written after years of experience in veterinary guidance, all content can only serve as a guide. For more detailed consultation, please contact your local veterinarian.