Before Fall Gets Busy: Get Your Pet Care in Order

The Pet Care Stuff You’ve Been Meaning to Do: A Fall Reset

Episode Information

Host: Amy Castro
Guest: None, solo episode

Summary

Summer has a way of knocking routines loose and pushing pet-care tasks to “later.” Before fall gets busy, Amy walks through a practical pet parent reset to help you identify what needs attention now, from vet care and grooming to holiday pet plans and changing household routines.

The goal isn’t to create another overwhelming checklist. It’s to take care of a few things now that can save you time, money, and stress later.

Links

The Pet Parent Hotline: petparenthotline.com
Pet Parent Hotline Consultations: petparenthotline.com/consult

Recommended Resources

Related Pet Parent Hotline episodes mentioned in this episode include episodes on:

• Traveling cross-country with pets
• Traveling or staying with family as a pet owner
• Choosing and preparing for pet boarding
• Using pet sitters and planning pet care while you’re away

Affiliate Disclosure

This episode does not include affiliate links.

Veterinary Disclaimer

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your veterinarian or another qualified animal health professional regarding questions about your pet’s health or medical care.

Transcript Note

This is a complete transcript of the episode. It has been lightly edited only for punctuation, capitalization, readability, and correction of obvious transcription errors. No spoken content has been intentionally omitted.

Chapters

00:00 Why now is a good time for a fall pet reset
01:05 How pet care quietly slips during summer
03:24 The health stuff you’ve been meaning to handle
05:39 Grooming, gear, and overdue maintenance
09:18 Make your holiday pet plan before options disappear
12:41 Pet sitters, holiday travel, and bringing your pet along
13:59 Helping pets adjust to changing fall routines
17:15 Plan pet care around your real-life calendar
18:38 A reset should make life easier, not add more stress
19:43 Your 10-minute fall reset challenge

Amy Castro (00:00)

It’s mid-August, which means summer is starting to wind down and hopefully routines are starting to come back. And before fall gets busy, this is a really good time to look at your pet and ask one simple question: What have I been meaning to take care of that I still haven’t done?

Maybe it’s an appointment you’ve been putting off. Maybe your dog desperately needs to go to the groomer. Maybe you’re traveling over Thanksgiving and have no idea what you’re gonna do with your pet.

And none of these feel urgent today, but that’s exactly why now is the time to deal with them. Because today we’re gonna do a fall pet reset so you can get a few things handled now instead of scrambling when November gets here.

Amy Castro (00:41)

You’ve reached the Pet Parent Hotline, your lifeline to practical solutions for your toughest pet parenting challenges. I’m your host, Amy Castro, and I’m here to help you cut through the noise and turn expert advice into step-by-step strategies so you can stop chasing your tail and start enjoying life with pets again.

Amy Castro (01:05)

Fall is my favorite time of year, and especially this year I’m super excited about fall because literally tomorrow I close on my new house in Connecticut.

And one of the reasons I really like the fall beyond the beautiful leaves is that this is a great time of year to reset everything that got a little loosey-goosey over the summer.

Schedules change because you might be back at work or kids might be back at school or both. People are traveling over the summer, and now we’re back to reality. And a lot of things get postponed.

During the summer you have a tendency to think, you know, I’ll make that appointment next week. And then suddenly next week becomes next month, and then the entire summer has gone by. And you realize your dog was supposed to go back to the vet three months ago or your cat was supposed to have that dental treatment two weeks ago.

And I think we do this with pets because so much of our normal pet care routine is pretty repetitive. You buy food when it runs out. You trim nails, hopefully, periodically and on a regular basis, etc. And there usually isn’t some kind of giant flashing sign that says, “Hey, you forgot something important.”

Things just quietly slide by, and when life gets busy, this stuff that isn’t on fire tends to get pushed to the bottom of the list until it creeps its way back up.

And so this isn’t about creating a bunch of new things for you to do. And I don’t want you walking away from this episode thinking, now I have a 47-item pet parent homework assignment.

What I want you to do is to look at the next few months and figure out what will make your life easier if you can take care of it now, or if you space it out over the next couple of weeks.

Think of it like looking at your calendar before the week starts, right? You’re not creating more work. What you’re trying to do is to avoid a lot of unpleasant surprises. And the problem with pet surprises is they usually either cost you time, money, or both.

So the first thing that I like to think about is pet health, because obviously that’s the most important thing we can be doing. And not in kind of a dramatic way, like you’ve got to rush everybody to the vet next week because it’s August, because in fact you’d be surprised that your vet is very, very busy during this back-to-school time of year. So you’re not likely to get in in a hurry. So all the more reason to plan ahead.

Amy Castro (03:24)

Think about the things that you know already need attention.

Maybe your pet is coming due for a wellness visit. That dental cleaning that I mentioned that the vet had said, “You know, this really needs to be taken care of,” and you said, “Well, let me look at my schedule and I’ll get back with you,” and that was in April.

Or maybe you’ve been watching your dog kind of licking that same paw for the last two months, and you say to yourself in the back of your mind, “Hey, I probably need to get him into the vet.”

Those are the things I’m talking about. It’s kind of like the unfinished business of pet care more than anything else.

And I think one of the easiest ways to figure out whether you have any unfinished business is ask yourself: Is there anything I’ve been meaning to deal with?

And if you have multiple pets, fill in your pet’s name. Is there anything I’ve been meaning to deal with when it comes to Gigi?

And that tends to bring things to mind very, very quickly because we all have those little mental notes in the back of our head. We just have a tendency not to A, write them down, or B, take action on them.

So things like, “Hey, I really need to make that appointment. I really need to call about that refill. I really need to find out why he’s licking his paws.”

And sometimes you’re gonna find out the issue turns out to be nothing, and that’s great. But there’s a difference between deciding something is fine and simply never getting around to checking it out.

And sometimes the biggest advantage to handling those things now is it actually buys you time instead of taking time like you think.

Let’s say your pet needs vaccines. It’s a lot easier to figure that out and schedule it in September than to discover the problem when you’re scrambling to get a last-minute boarding reservation and realize your pet can’t go to the facility because they’re behind on vaccines.

And here’s another thing I think pet parents have a tendency to forget. Sometimes getting an appointment is only step one. You may need a follow-up. You may need other testing. You may need to change a medication and see how it goes.

And so if you’ve got something you’ve been meaning to address, give yourself a runway.

Take five minutes and look now. For all your pets, when was the last vet visit? Is anything due before the end of the year? Is there something you’ve been watching that probably needs more attention?

If the answer is no, fantastic. Move on with your life.

The goal is not to invent problems. The goal is to stop ignoring ones you already know about.

Amy Castro (05:39)

So beyond health, the next thing you want to look at is kind of the boring maintenance stuff. And yes, grooming is gonna be part of this.

If you use a professional groomer and your dog is starting to look like a throw pillow with legs, make the appointment. Especially if you know you’re gonna want your dog groomed and looking good before Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Don’t wait until November and act shocked when your groomer says not only can they not get you in, but even if they did, all they’re gonna be able to do is cut your pet all the way down because you’ve let the grooming go too long.

And I know we do this with our human appointments too. We somehow believe everybody else is operating on our timeline. Meanwhile, the groomer has 200 other clients who also suddenly realize their dog looks terrible in the family photos.

And so if you know you have a dog who needs regular grooming, get that back on schedule.

And you don’t have to schedule the entire rest of his life. But if you know you’re gonna want an appointment before Thanksgiving, it makes sense to at least call and ask when you’d need to book that appointment, and maybe even book it now.

And even if your pet doesn’t go to a groomer, this is still a good time to do a basic maintenance check, especially for the things that you might have let go over the summer. You know, nails, coat, ear cleaning, teeth, anything that’s kind of gotten away from you.

And I say this as somebody who has absolutely looked at one of my pets and thought, “How in the heck did your nails get that long?”

I get it. It happens, especially when you’ve got multiple pets. You do one dog, then something interrupts you, and then you kind of think you did everybody, and two weeks later your Chihuahua looks like Freddy Krueger, and somehow you realize she escaped the entire process.

And you don’t have to turn it into an all-day dog spa. Just notice when things need attention and maybe set a goal for that day. Today I’m gonna do Tinky. Tomorrow I’m gonna do Gigi. Put it on your calendar so that you don’t forget.

This is also a good time to wash the pet beds, clean crates, toss toys nobody’s touched in six months, and look at everybody’s collars and harnesses.

I know this was something I did the other day. A long lead that I use very often, somehow somebody had chewed on a little bit. And though it wasn’t broken, it was really close to breaking. And all it would take would be a good tug and somebody would be gone.

And so sometimes we stop seeing those little things that are right in front of us. Kind of like you can walk past that same pile of junk on your stairs for three weeks and somehow it becomes invisible because nobody wants to take it up.

Amy Castro (07:57)

And pet stuff definitely does that too. Like I said, the leash that’s hanging on by a couple of threads, the collar that’s way more worn out or stinky than you realize.

And here’s the embarrassing one: the cat carrier that has something disgusting in the bottom.

I had that happen to me one time. I had been storing my cat carriers out in the garage and had to grab it at the last minute to take to the vet, and the technician sheepishly asked me after taking my cat to the back whether I had an issue with mice in my house, because apparently my cat carrier was full of mouse poop.

And it was super embarrassing and super gross.

And so those are the kind of things where we ignore them and then we’re either embarrassed or we end up with a crisis.

And for me, doing a fall reset gives me a reason to notice these kinds of things again.

And this reset is especially useful when you think about pet stuff around your house. Think about the fact that in the next few months you might have a lot more people coming into your house than you did over the summer.

So maybe it’s family coming in for the holidays, maybe it’s friends, maybe it’s a pet sitter. And suddenly when you look at your home and all of the pet stuff in it through that lens, you realize some action needs to be taken.

I’m not saying you have to deep clean your entire life for your pet, but if something is gross or broken or overdue, this is a great time to start dealing with it.

Now let’s talk about the things I think people wait too long to deal with, and I’ve kind of been alluding to it all along, and that is the holidays.

I know nobody wants to think about the holidays in August because it’s still hot, for goodness’ sake. But what specifically are you gonna be doing with your pets over the holidays?

If you’re staying home, great. But if you’re planning to travel for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s, now is the time to figure out a plan.

And maybe you don’t have to book everything today, but at least figure out the plan.

Are you gonna board? Are you gonna have somebody come into your house? Are you taking your pet with you?

Because those are three very different plans.

And by the way, we have episodes on all of those options and how to make those things work. But each one of those things has its own little complications.

Like boarding. I mentioned you’ve got to have those vaccines lined up. Do you actually have a boarding facility that you know and trust and have checked out?

Because if you haven’t, getting that set up is really more than about making a reservation. You probably want to go tour.

Amy Castro (10:18)

Your dog may need a behavioral evaluation, the vaccines that I mentioned before. You want to find out how they handle medications or special diets.

You might find out, and you don’t want to find this out at the last minute, that that place that your friend really loves to bring their pet, you wouldn’t want to leave your shoes there, let alone your pet.

And I think that’s a much better thing to figure out in August than three days before Thanksgiving.

And if you’ve got a boarding place already that you trust, that’s awesome. Then your question is a little bit easier.

When do they start taking holiday reservations? Do they generally fill up? Do they require a deposit?

One thing I always like to ask is whether there have been any changes since the last time you used them, like policy changes, vaccines that they now require that they didn’t in the past, items that you used to be able to bring that you can’t now.

Because if you wait until the holidays are right on top of you, and let’s say you do go get vaccines done, you might find out right before you get there that they now require the XYZ vaccine that you didn’t get, and now you’re back to the vet.

And not only does that make a last-minute uncomfortable scramble, but it’s also going to cost you more money.

And so when you wait until the last minute, your options tend to get smaller. And people have a tendency to make decisions that they wouldn’t normally make, like using a boarding facility you don’t like, asking some random stranger you don’t even know to come stay at your house, or deciding to bring your dog on a trip that is completely inappropriate for your dog.

And not because you think it’s the best choice, but because that’s the only choice you’ve got left.

And this is one of those pet parent things that becomes incredibly stressful because we treat it like a last-minute detail, and it’s really not.

We book the trip. We figure out where we’re staying. We decide who’s cooking Thanksgiving dinner. And then somebody says, “Wait, what about the dog?” Or, “Wait, what about the cat?”

And that should not be your last question. That should almost be your first question.

And if somebody’s gonna come to your house instead, this is definitely time to think about it.

Do you have someone that you trust? Have they cared for your pets before? Do they need time to get to know them and vice versa?

Especially if your pet has medication or weird habits or is an escape artist or anything else that somebody needs to know. You need to make sure that you find a pet sitter who can handle those kinds of things.

If your cat disappears under the bed for three days every time a stranger walks into the house, that’s something that the pet sitter is gonna want and need to know.

Amy Castro (12:40)

Keep in mind that even the person who says, “I love animals and I’ll take care of your pet,” they may be a wonderful person, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re the right person to care for your pets.

So if I asked you right now, do you know what you’re doing for the holidays and what’s going to happen with your pets? And you don’t have the answer, you have time to figure it out. That’s the whole point.

And by the way, if your pet is coming with you, make sure you think through that too.

Sometimes we assume bringing a pet is automatically the kinder option, but not always.

If you want to learn anything about that, I’ve got episodes on how to be a good houseguest with your pet. Or if you don’t know how your pet travels, definitely listen to the episode I just did on traveling cross-country with pets because my cat Pickles was proof that she does not enjoy travel, so I probably wouldn’t put her through that again.

Is your pet going to be comfortable with where you’re staying? Will there be other animals there or kids or a house full of people?

You don’t want to spend an entire trip managing your pet instead of enjoying family or activities.

So sometimes the best holiday gift you can give your pet and yourself is letting them stay home in their normal environment.

And the point is, it’s about making a decision now when you actually have a choice, not on December 21st.

So the last part of this is looking at routine itself.

For a lot of households, fall changes the rhythm of the day. The house may suddenly be quieter. People might be gone for longer stretches. Meal times might shift. Walk times move.

Your pet doesn’t know that school started or that everybody suddenly has someplace to be at 7:30 in the morning. They just know that the routine has changed.

And I think this is one of those places where humans tend to expect animals to just adjust instantly because the change makes sense to us and we know why it’s happening.

Of course the kids aren’t home. Of course school started. Of course breakfast is earlier, etc., etc.

But your dog doesn’t have access to your calendar and your cat can’t read the clock.

So from your pet’s point of view, yesterday everybody was home, and today everybody disappeared on them.

And yes, most animals adjust, but some don’t adjust as quickly as we expect them to. And even pets who are perfectly fine with a schedule change may start pestering you at the old meal time or waiting by the door at the old walk time.

Amy Castro (14:57)

So pay attention to what your pet’s normal day is gonna look like for the next few months.

When are they gonna get their exercise or attention? How long are they gonna be alone?

Because sometimes we create a problem and then we blame it on the pet for reacting to it.

Think about it. A dog who had the family home for the summer had people around 24/7, and now they’re suddenly expected to be okay with being alone for eight straight hours.

And that’s why they’re bouncing off the wall at 5:30 p.m. when you finally walk through the door.

Or your cat who had random snacks all summer is suddenly expected to understand that breakfast is at 6:30 and dinner is at 6. She did not get the memo.

So this doesn’t mean you have to build your entire household schedule around your pets. Obviously, we always stress that your life has to work too.

But there usually is a middle ground between letting the pet run the house and expecting them to magically adapt to whatever we decide.

So if you know that your pet struggles with change, don’t wait until the problems show up. Start shifting the routine now.

Now, for those who are in back-to-school mode right now, hopefully you started doing some of this already. But if not, you can still make the changes happen and do it gradually.

So if everybody’s gonna be out of the house during the day, make sure your dog remembers what being alone feels like or being in their crate. So get them used to that now, even though you might still be home.

If meal times need to change, start moving them up gradually. I always have to do that with my pets. Fifteen minutes earlier, 15 minutes earlier the next day, 15 minutes earlier the next day.

You want to make that transition as boring and almost as unnoticeable as you possibly can.

From your pet’s perspective, boring is good.

And make sure to pay extra attention to your pets if you know that they’ve already told you that they struggle with change.

If you’ve got a dog with a history of separation anxiety, or if your cat gets stressed every time household routine changes and starts peeing on things, use that information.

Don’t act like it’s a shock that it’s suddenly happening when it’s been happening like that for the last three years.

And this is one of the biggest themes that I keep coming back to on this show. Your pet is constantly giving you information.

And the question is whether you’re paying attention and whether you’re using it.

Amy Castro (17:14)

And there’s one more piece of this reset that I think makes everything else easier.

Look at your calendar. Not the pet calendar. Your calendar.

What does your fall actually look like?

Are you traveling? Do you have family coming? Do you have big projects at work? Are there weeks that you already know are gonna be nuts?

Because sometimes we plan pet care as if every week is gonna be a perfectly normal week, and then life actually happens.

If you already know October is gonna be crazy because of your kids’ sports schedules and you and your significant other are gonna be running in 20 different directions, maybe that’s not the month to schedule something that requires several follow-up appointments for your pet.

If you know you’re gonna be traveling the first week of November, maybe you don’t want to wait until October 30th to refill your pet’s medications.

The goal here is not to try to control every variable. I realize you may not know everything that’s going to happen. But you’re trying to avoid obvious problems that you’re already aware of or that you know are gonna be coming.

And you don’t have to remember everything, but you do want to try to build a system that helps you remember the things that matter.

Maybe that means putting reminders in your phone.

Maybe it means booking that next grooming appointment immediately when you pick your dog up instead of waiting until you suddenly realize he’s running into walls and can’t see because his hair’s too long.

Maybe it means putting the pet sitter on your holiday planning list at the same time you book your flight.

Small systems beat good intentions every single time.

So before I go, I want to say this because I know how easy it is to hear an episode like this and think, great, now I feel worse about myself than before I started listening to this.

And that’s not what this is meant to be.

I don’t want you to spend a lot of time on this, but pick two or three things that you know now will cause you the biggest headaches if you ignore them until later in the year.

Do those few things and then stop. And then look at it again in a week or two.

I think pet parenting tends to get overwhelming when you create a long laundry list and it’s facing you every single day.

But if you set a goal for two or three things that are gonna make your life better and easier down the road, and you do those over time, you’re gonna be much happier at the end of the year because a reset shouldn’t make you stressed.

It should do the opposite. It should reduce the amount of stuff bouncing around in your head.

Amy Castro (19:32)

It should help you look ahead and say, okay, I know what needs to happen. And once you know, you deal with it and you move on.

Because there’s a huge difference between being proactive and crossing that line into being obsessive. I’m big on being proactive.

So we’re gonna go for proactive together.

So here’s my challenge for you. A simple one.

Sometime today, take 10 minutes and look ahead to the end of the year and ask yourself: What does my pet actually need? What have I been putting off? What needs to be planned before the holidays? And what will I be really glad I handled now instead of two months from now?

And then pick one thing and do it today.

Make the call. Book the appointment. Send that message. And put that plan on a calendar.

And if you need a little help figuring out what your pet needs, what to prioritize or how to make a plan that actually works for your life, that’s exactly what my Pet Parent Hotline consultations are for. You can learn more at petparenthotline.com/consult.

And if you know another pet parent who is gonna realize on November 20th that they forgot to make that boarding reservation, send them this episode now and save them from themselves.

And we’ll see you next week.

Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, don’t keep it to yourself. Text a friend right now with a link and tell them, “I’ve got a show that you need to hear,” and ask them to let you know what they think.

And remember, your pet’s best life starts with you living yours. So be sure to take good care of yourself this week and your pet.