Christmas shopping is upon the nation. Oxford Street in central London, the premier shopping street in the United Kingdom, is closed to traffic this weekend. They expect to sell £100m worth of goods over the weekend.
It’s time to ask, “Are you buying your cat a present for Christmas?” Are you that soppy and cat-orientated? Are you a mad cat lady or mad cat gentlemen as only these sorts people buy their cats presents at Christmas – surely?
Well no, because I buy my cat presents for Christmas. It sort of makes sense. And I don’t consider myself mad. I just see it as normal. And so do most other cat caretakers judging by the poll below.
The next question is do you wrap it up and then open it up at Christmas on behalf of your little fella or girl while at the same time talking in baby language. Or do you put a stocking out for your cat over the fireplace with a little note asking Santa for a new cat toy… Yep your mad.
But it is a really nice madness. I tend not to buy presents that need wrapping up. I might buy some extra nice food for example. I know what he likes. Sometimes I do put a stocking out and it will contain little treats and perhaps a cat tease. Of course a cat tease is for me but Charlie will get the pleasure from it. Actually, if I am honest it is my girlfriend partner who does the stockings and wrapping up etc. But I guess that is typical of most households.
I am sure the regular visitors to PoC buy a present for their cat(s) at Christmas. A poll on a another pet site resulted in these responses to the question of whether people bought a present and if so what sort of present it was:
So do you think I am mad and if not what will you buy your cat from Christmas? What was the favorite present?
Turning the Question Around
I would bet that very few people are buying a cat for Christmas. That would be a really good thing in some ways. However, if people buy or rescue a cat from a shelter for Christmas there is always the possibility that it is not going to last; that it will not be a truly committed cat adoption for the lifetime of the cat.
I am not sure cats should ever be presents. What do you think?
I bought a new scratching pad each to wrap up for our boyz when Christmas shopping a train journey away the other day. I was overjoyed to find the ones they like at a very reasonable price, so ended up carrying them sticking out of my bag all over the strange town lol I didn’t get much people shopping but did get lots of their favourite cat food too.
Oh but by I arrived back home I’d missed them so much and got such a good welcome home I gave them their scratchers which are much used already lol
They still have their catnip mice to come, we have those especially made with the best catnip, they will have their own little Christmas tree with their parcels under nearer the time but if they sniff out the catnip before the day and unwrap them, well so what lol as long as they are both happy.
I hope Marc posts pictures of the cat trees. I’d love to know how the cats like them. I want to have steps or shelves, built to go up the side of my back yard fence to help Yellow Cat go over onto the shed roof in the neighbors yard. The tree post I leaned against the fence two years ago to give her a boost was great, but as she ages she isn’t using it as much. Something akin to the items shown on this page at Pinterest http://pinterest.com/moderncat/cat-shelves/
I wouldn’t mind having them all over the house too, but that is another story.
I am always looking for ways to improve their lives without being intrusive.
Love to hear that dw. As you know I think our homes should be adapted more to suit our cat. There should be more of a compromise between our needs and the needs of our cats. That seems fair to me. Currently nearly all homes are built for humans and cats have to accept that (except for the cat condo etc.). I am thinking about built-in furniture, climbs and runs etc.
Hi Michael,
I never think of it as spoiling my cat because parents do it for their own children. To me it’s the same thing since my cats are my children and my best friends (along with my spouse).
Like everyone else I buy cat stuff throughout the year. But I do some special things for them at Christmas as do many other cat parents.
I hang a stocking for each cat along the mantel of the fireplace and stuff them full of cat toys and cat treats. I don’t go as far as putting a note there for Santa or wrapping their presents but there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
I think that if the people get presents on Christmas then the cats should too. It’s always been that way and I wouldn’t think of doing it otherwise. I think cats are at least as special as human family members and good human friends. In some ways they are even more special.
I’ll try to be the first one to wish you a Merry Christmas this year 🙂
=^-^= Hairless Cat Girl =^-^=
Well, I love what you do and completely agree with your attitude. You’re a top quality cat caretaker. You don’t need to be told that. I know we start Christmas earlier and earlier but I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas too. Thanks for dropping by again, Hairless Cat 😉
I’m ordering 2 huge cat trees online for them. Not a chance I will wrap them or wait til xmas day, I am just going to order them soonish and put them up when they arrive. I’m excited, funnily enough I am sort of calling it my present too since I get pretty excited at the thought and I love looking through cat tree catalogues. I finally found a cheaper place to buy them. Its an internet only store with low prices and free shipping in Switzerland – reminds me a bit of the US. I can’t wait to get them and build them and see my cats watch as I build them and climb all over them before I even finish the job. Thats a sort of big familly xmas present for all of us. I’m not planning on anything else really for myself but I am still excited.
I like to buy my cats presents quite often. Their basket of toys grows each month – some months more than others. Its fun to arrive home and whip something out my bag and throw it to them.
The other gift I want for myself is a painted or drawn portrait of Red, who died on the last day of June. At some point I will get this done for me. I suppose I want portraits of all my cats eventually so those will be future gifts to myself.
Going to the pet store is very exciting – I feel like a kid in a toy shop. I am not sure why since technically the toys aren’t for me. I think it makes me feel young again and it brings out some kind of simple warm child like feelings to get nice things for my cats and see them play and act curious around the various new things that arrive in the house. Once you have alot of toys there’s often a lot of clearing them up and there’s enough that they go through them each forgetting the previous ones which means when they come bac around to the old ones they have a renewed interest. Its good to rotate toys and games in that sense. Maybe I am crazy, because all this makes me feel good and happy and without care or stress in some of the more tedious or annoying things of everyday life. Maybe I am escaping or something but it really works well for all of us in my house, plus since they are indoor cats at the moment I think its sort of my job to not let them get bored. So far so good, but that is a monumental task with full time indoor cats, especially when you have a job.
Wow…It is permanent Christmas for your cats. I’d like you to photograph your cat trees and show me what they look like being used. Regarding Red, do you want a person to draw or paint by hand from a photo or do you want one of those photo/paintings? If you can find a local supplier of a photo/painting PoC will pay for it if you have a PayPal account. Not that you need funding as I don’t think you’re in need of funds but as a gift from PoC for all the excellent and informative comments you have made.
Not gifting a member of the family would be ludicrous! My mother did it with her cats and we all still do it today with ours. The dogs get a little something too. I like the idea of wrapping for dogs, but for cats I like to hang it on the tree. I heard someone else do that and it seemed appropriate. No real logic behind it. Just fun.
LOL. Hanging a present on a tree sounds a neat idea. If it was near the bottom and smelled a bit tasty, your cat might even take it off and start enjoying it all on his/her own. It would allow him/her to participate fully in the festivities all on his own. Of course he might pull the tree over at the same time….. 😉
When Monty was still less than a year old I bought his first Christmas present while grocery shopping. The store had these stuffed toy dogs out on the end of a shelf. The toy dogs were four dollars. I picked one up and put him in my cart– an impulse buy. I laughed thinking that the stuffed dog woukd be expecting to be given to brighten a child’s Christmas– but I was going to rip the wrapping paper off and throw him to the cat! I have a goofy sense of humor, so I just couldn’t pass that up.
Monty liked the dog and played with it a little. But a few days after Christmas my husband’s friend Rayna sent a Christmas stocking full of small catnip toys home with us for Monty. Monty was so excited with Rayna’s gift. He just tore into it, playing with all the toys, having a great time. I watched him play and play and felt stupid for my stuffed dog purchase. Monty could carry these little toys in his mouth, whereas the dog was about the same size he was at the time. And it wasn’t catnip scented.
But today Monty will only occasionally play with the small catnip toys from that stocking, but he plays with his stuffed dog every day. Especially if we’re gone. He drags it all over the house. I’ve seen him biting its neck and prancing over it, asserting dominance as if it were another male cat. Quite often Monty’s dog will be on our bed when I get home from work. One night Jeff and I unknowingly slept all night with Monty’s stuffed dog. He does seem to treat it as a companion when we are not here. So the gift I regretted actually has turned out very well. Sometimes I almost feel like Monty’s doggie is another cat, especially the way I find it in different parts of the house all the time. That doggie is as a doll would be for a human child. So because it has a life, of sorts, to Monty, it seems real to me somehow. Certainly, to me, his treatment of it shows how much other animals are very much like us, even having the ability to pretend and use imagination.
That is so sweet. You have made me want to do the same for my cats and get them something bigger. Maybe since they are 3 they wont be so interested in it but I haven’t got much to lose from trying.