Having a pet teaches children respect, compassion, and most importantly responsibility. Use this printable chart to help teach pet care for kids.
I’ve had a cat for the majority of my life. If I hadn’t married my husband, yes, they would have probably referred to me as the Crazy Cat Lady. But I did get married and I still have a cat, two actually, and hopefully I’m raising two crazy cat ladies as daughters!
All joking aside, having a cat in the house always makes it feel a bit more like a home to me. There’s something special about an unconditional love that pets share with their owners.
When we went to adopt a cat almost 2 years ago, we were told that there was an extra kitten that had been passed up. So that day we came home with two cats and with two comes double the responsibilities. Up until now, those pet responsibilities have pretty much been mine, but now that Sophia and Moreaya are 5 and 7, we’ve started to let them take on a bit more of the pet care.
They have both taken on feeding responsibilities as well as helping to brush them and play with them daily. I haven’t quite talked them into litter box duty, but we’ll get there eventually.
Feeding time is their favorite because Frosty and Bella get so excited! They run circles around them, especially now that we’ve began incorporating Meow Mix Simple Servings.
They love wet cat food, but honestly it’s usually such a mess. The cans are always too much for one feeding and I have to refrigerate the leftovers and no one likes cat food in the refrigerator smells. But I recently found Simple Servings in the pet food aisle at Target and decided to try them out.
I knew Bella and Frosty would love them, with pieces of real seafood or poultry in a savory sauce or gravy, and I loved the fact that they were single serve cups. That means no more mess, no more portioning out of a big can, and no more leftovers in the refrigerator!
They are also easy to open and serve, which makes them perfect for the girls to feed as a part of their pet care chores. And to help them keep track of cat chores, I made this fun little printable that we hang on the refrigerator. I decided to use adorable little happy and sad cat faces as memory joggers of what chores need to be done for the day.
When the sad cat face is showing, that means the chore hasn’t been done yet. Once the girls complete the chore, they put a happy cat face over the sad. It’s a fun little system that they’re really enjoying, which means cat chores are being completed and that makes everyone happy.
If you’re looking for ways to incorporate pet care for kids in your house, you’re in luck! I’ve got this printable ready for you. Just click the image below to get a printer-friendly version of the Cat Chore List and cute little happy cat faces to cut out.
Click this image for a printer-friendly version.
After you cut out the happy cat faces, you’ll just need to cut strips of magnetic and place them on the back of the happy cat faces.
Encouraging your children to take part in pet care isn’t just good for the pets, it’s good for the kids too. It teaches them respect, responsibility, and compassion. It also takes some of the work off Mom’s plate and that’s always a good thing!
