We have a cat named Tyrone. Tyrone likes to play with the jagged round “O” from the milk gallon top. He also enjoys used kleenex. His favorite part of Christmas is the tree. He likes to curl up underneath it, batting the branches to watch the ornaments sway, and pouncing at us should we happen to walk by. Last year after Christmas, when it was time to take the tree down, he was sitting underneath in his usual spot. He followed us as we carried the tree out, and whenever we stopped to rest, he curled up beneath it again. It broke our hearts to take away his beloved.
When the spouse and I are having busy weeks, we don’t always play with Tyrone as much as we should. His most fervent hope — at any time of year — is for us to play with him. As a general rule, though, he doesn’t give two figs for the fancy Christmas toys we feel compelled to buy him from time to time. In the spirit of full disclosure, last year’s indignity:
Christmas 2008: never again.
The other day, I read that every year, Americans spend about $3 billion on Christmas for their pets. That’s the same as the entire budget for renewable energy jobs in the Recovery Act.
In the spirit of giving, not what we want, but what the receiver wants, our pets probably don’t need us to buy them Christmas toys, or dress them up, or take them to visit Santa at the mall. Your cat or dog probably just wants you to spend time with them. So this year, we plan to play Tyrone ragged.
same for humans. i could do with more hugging and cuddling than more disposable things!
As the parent of a cat and a ridiculously spoiled dog, I hear you on playing more with your pets instead of buying them material gifts that they really couldn’t give a fig about.
But my one concession each year is the pet santa thing, and that’s because PetSmart in our area has a program where if you bring your pet to get photographed with the mighty bearded one, a local animal shelter receives all the proceeds.
We actually volunteer on those days to staff the photo shoots, and it’s a lot of fun. The shelter gets some dough, we get a cheesy picture with the dog. (The cat would never put up with this.) It’s a win-win.
I will give you special dispensation if and only if I can see the picture of your dog on Santa’s lap. (Sigh, I’m only human.)
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