Holiday Gift Guide for Pets

Did you know….

Sixty to 80 percent of pet owners will buy special treats or gifts for their animal companions for the holidays. The only surprise (from my perspective) is that it isn't closer to 100 percent. After all, could you imagine not having a gift ready for your two-legged child?

Of course, our animals give their hearts without expecting anything in return other than our affection, so they aren't disappointed if they haven't a gift under the Christmas tree. Nonetheless, most of our fur kids will have something special to celebrate the season, and there are many interesting gift ideas to chose from.

For the cats, the automated laser light is a high tech toy that will delight many cats (and some dogs, too). Two are made by FroliCat, The Bolt and The Dart. 

For the dogs, there seem to be some gorgeous dog beds out there these days. A couple of upscale options include those at petplay.com and the eco-friendly dog beds from westpawdesign.com. 

If you are interested in a unique leather collar for your dog, there are beautiful collections at karmacollars.com and pacocollars.com and spiffy non-leather collar options at spiffydog.com/home. 

For the bunnies, busybunny.com and petwerks.com have a wide variety of treats, toys and hide baskets to make every rabbit (and guinea pig) happy.

A bit more practical shopping for dogs with noise sensitivity or thunderphobia include garments to reduce anxiety such as The Thundershirt and the new Thunderhut, for hiding during storms and fireworks, at thunder-hut.com.  

From a health perspective, drinking fountains can be wonderful, especially for cats. Increased water intake can reduce the risk of lower urinary tract disease, which is terrifically common (and painful) in our feline friends. And dogs love the fountains, too, as they keep the water fresh and oxygenated. Two choices are The Original Drinkwell Fountain and the The Drinkwell Platinum model.  

If you have the room, there's nothing like a fabulous cat tree to increase a cat's activity level and provide some environmental stimulation. A few stunning examples include the Armakat Tree 7701 and my favorite, one with a hammock, the Armakat Tree 6501. If a cat tree doesn't fit your home or your budget, an inexpensive option to provide an outlet for scratching is the Fat Cat Scratch-O-Rama.

Pet Projekt has some very creative toys at otomik.com, and Kurgo has travel-related pet items at kurgo.com. 

As for treats, remember moderation is key. Cloud Star makes a nice variety of natural and organic biscuits and treats, and they even have a kit to bake your own healthy treats at home, Cloud Star Buddy Biscuits Bake-At-Home Treats. For the kitties, healthy treats include Innova Cat Treats and Three Dog Bakery Alaskan Salmon We Pity the Kitties Treats. 

Another gift to consider is one that can save your pet's life: a microchip to help make sure they find their way home if you ever get separated. If you want to go even more high tech, Tagg, the Pet Tracker actually has GPS so you can truly track your pet should they get loose (pettracker.com).

Hopefully this will give you some helpful ideas for holiday gifts for your pets and their friends. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the holiday spirit, and please keep safe and healthy!