Is This The Best Time To Adopt A Pet?

Pets add fun, companionship and love to our lives, but they’re also a big responsibility. Adding a pet to your family is a very important decision. If you’re experiencing other big life-changes, adopting a pet may be too much to handle in the same time period. Take this quiz to assess what’s happening in your life to help you decide if this is the best time to adopt a pet.

Think about the following events that have either occurred in your life in the past six months, or that you think may occur in the coming six months:

□    Divorce or end of a relationship

□    Marriage

□    Change in living arrangements (new roommates or moving in with significant other)

□    Move to a new residence

□    Pregnancy or new baby

□    Longer hours or increased responsibility at work

□    Financial concerns

□    Children leaving home or moving back home

□    Care-taking responsibilities for elderly or ill family member

□    Significant changes in family routine

□    Death of a family member

□    Death or disappearance of a family pet

□    Relinquishment of a pet (given away or surrendered to an animal shelter)

□    Significant health problems of a family member

□    Change in working status of a family member (begins work, changes jobs or retires)

□    Frequent travel, either for business or pleasure

□    Limited leisure or free time

□    Graduation from high school or college

□    Disagreement among family members about adopting a pet

Add one point for every pet you currently have (one aquarium counts as one pet).

Scoring

0-3: Things seem fairly stable. Now is probably a reasonable time to acquire a pet.

4-6: You have a lot of responsibilities right now. Although adopting a pet may still work for you, a small mammal, an adult cat, or a well-trained adult dog would probably be more appropriate pets for you than a kitten, puppy or active breed of dog.

7-10: Please think twice. With all the changes and responsibilities in your life right now, you may not have time to care for a new pet. It would probably be better for both you and the pet if you wait until things settle down a bit.

10+: Acquiring a pet now is not a wise decision.

 Adapted from Denver Dumb Friends League. All rights reserved.