[News] Creature Connection (Gifts for Pets)

[StewiesMom]

Creature Connection By: Patricia Guiver


Pet industry insiders tell us that this holiday season one in four pet owners will splurge more on pets than on their relatives and friends. An admittedly unscientific survey from Pet Supplies "Plus" finds that pet owners will spend an average of $15 per gift for their pets, and plan on buying an average of seven gifts per pet, bringing their total spending to more than $100 per pet.
Is this for real? Or a ploy to boost sales? Whatever, it's too much.

"Holidays, schmolidays," say Fluffy and Duke. "Pets don't need or want expensive gifts. All a pet wants for the holidays or any other time, is your time and attention."

But it is our nature to shower gifts on those we love, so as long as we don't mistake lavish gift giving for a substitute for time and attention, let's look at what's new in pet giving this year.

"A bottle of cologne is the perfect holiday gift when you don't know a person's size or taste, and the same principle applies to dogs," said Barbara Denzer, vice president of Cardinal Laboratories. Denzer assures us that dogs love to receive cologne for the holidays.

Hmm. We'll have to take her word for that.

Her Rodeo II collection is available in four scents - three for female pooches and one for the male pooch.

Similar to fragrances for humans, each is made from flowers, musks, fruits, spices and woody scents. One difference is that unlike oil-based human fragrances, these colognes are alcohol based so they won't clog the pores of a dog's sensitive skin. And the doggie versions are a lot less expensive than their human counterparts. Details at www.cardinalpet.com.

Pet duds are popular for any occasion, and never more so than during the holidays. But when it comes to dressing up pets, there's as many opinions as there are dog breeds. Among dogs as well as their owners.

Some owners feel that a fancy collar and leash is sufficient, while others would like to dress up their pets, but some pets just won't tolerate it. Take Zelda, our cockerpoo rescue. Always a docile and agreeable soul until I'd try to put a sweater on her. Then she'd go beserk, hit all four walls, bite and pull at the offensive thing until I removed it.

Whereas my Yorkie, so tiny he really didn't have much choice, always cooperated when it came to dressing up, and I must confess that I spent way more that I should have on outfits for him at high end doggie duds boutiques. His wardrobe was bigger than mine. Let's not forget the small caged pet. What do you give the hamster who has everything? How about the new Habitrail Playground, a stylish home offering a lot of extra space for the little rodents to stretch their legs, play and explore? It comes with a waste compartment accessory for when nature calls, as it frequently does in hamster world. Designed with input from animal behaviorists who must have way too much time on their hands (they get paid for this?), the private privy makes it easier to keep the housing clean, reducing maintenance by approximately 50 percent. Who knew? www.habitrail.com.

There's no doubt about it - buying gifts for pets can be fun if kept within bounds. But for my money, the ultimate gift of love for any pet costs less than $10, and is available at all pet stores. Top of my list every year is to check that collars and ID tags are secure. No amount of money spent on other gifts can give so much in return compared with the anguish both owner and pet will suffer should the pet become lost.

As with gifts for people, you never can tell whether a gift will be a hit or a miss, even for pets. One year I decided that my two fat-as-butter cats needed something to stimulate play. I thought I'd found the perfect gift - a battery-operated ball. Wind it up, set it loose and the cats could have fun batting it back and forth, trimming their waistlines meanwhile.

The disdain with which this gift was greeted was totally deflating. The cats looked at the ball, looked at me, then walked away with noses and tails in air, as if to say, "You have got to be kidding."

Once again the Yorkie came to my rescue. The ball turned out to be the very toy he'd always wanted. Just the right size, too big to accidentally swallow. He'd chase it until the battery wore down, I'd wind it up and off he'd go again, until I was afraid he'd drop from exhaustion. I was replacing batteries every week. But the joy we both got out of that cheap plastic ball remains one of my sweetest memories of him.

Balls are perennially the most popular dog toy. When our Shih tzu, Saki, discovered my son's soccer ball in the back yard he took to it like a four-legged Beckham. And we all got endless pleasure from playing with him.

And isn't that what it's all about? Our pets give us so much more than we can ever give them. They're not the least impressed by the amount of money we spend on them, or the number of gifts. They wouldn't care if we didn't give them anything. What they really want doesn't cost a dime - it's the pleasure of our company. Our time and attention, for walkies and interactive play.

What they give us in return doesn't cost them a penny either, but it's priceless their gift of unconditional love.

For information on any pet topic, other than medical, send an e-mail to pat4paws@yahoo.com. Shelters and humane groups are invited to send announcements of upcoming events. Information should be received at least three weeks in advance. For available backlist titles, e-mail pat4paws@yahoo.com.

Article Last Updated: 12/07/2005 10:37 PM

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