How often do you buy your pet gifts?

[Maisie]

I never buy anything for Blossom our Labrador because she never plays with anything. She prefers to sleep or run. Nothing else!

As soon as we got Gracie our cat I started buying her lots of little treats. I can't help myself. She has loads of toys. Its like having another child!

Here is my latest gift to her.. she is going to love it.. she is a great climber! It was very inexpensive in the sale!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Very cool!

My cats only get presents from santa - canned cat food. We have a TON of catnip that they munch on and that pretty much keeps them satisfied as fun summer treat.

 

[tigian]

Our dogs get a shared gift (usually a knotted rope of some sort) for their birthdays and Christmas. No other toy lasts between the two of them. They get a new bed every once in a while.

 

[FrekeChild]

Too often. They are SPOILED.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Birthdays, holidays, and anytime I see something cute that isn''t too expensive. Even pet toys are getting expensive these days.

 

[Gypsy]

All the time. Seriously.

I like that cat tree1 We need a new one but I want one custom made. Which sounds crazy. But in NJ there was a local kid who did carpentry and I went and got him some REALLY SUPER DUPER high quality carpet remenant from the local carpet store, and drew out the design I wanted for him and had him make it (with pet safe products) and that thing held up for 3 years of very aggressive abuse and barely showed any wear. But since we moved to CA we''ve been through two ''commercial'' cat trees and they last maybe 6 months before they look really wonky and torn to bits. The carpet quality is just not there and my cats USE their tree and scratching posts aggressively (which is a great thing).

I''ve been thinking about posting on Craigslist for a carpenter to do this for us again. It actually ends up cheaper or the same price as buying them from pet stores.

 

[tessa]

Date: 7/7/2009 8:08:53 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Too often. They are SPOILED.

My pets too.
They don''t work hard, they don''t make money, but STILL I treat them like kings and queens!
Love the little brats, I mean, the little darlings!

 

[loriken214]

Bonnie and Clyde used to get all kinds of treats, but they are now on a special presciption diet. Coco is a special needs kitty so she doesn''t get anything to eat other than her prescription food. BUT, we spoil them rotten with toys, blankets and beds. I''m about to upgrade Coco''s kitty tower with a HUGE one....she''s going to love it!

Lori

 

[lulu]

All the time. Especially fuzzy mice. Winston loves them and Louie the dog eats them.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Whenever I am at the pet store and I usually go about once a month. The cats are indoor only, and get very excited when I bring something new home.

 

[Linda W]

All the time. Mazie our Lhasa Apso, just got a new toy tonight. She is sleeping next to it right now. LOL.

Taco, my little parrot, gets a new toy every few months. Our pets are very spoiled.

 

[Kaleigh]

All the time. They love their new toys... They get such joy from them. I love to see them as I come in and say..I went to the doggie store... They jump all over me as I open the bag... The bird gets toys too. She''s a trip as I open up a new toy and put it in her cage. Then she sings and sings. Same song, she''s a one hit wonder, LOL??

I say can''t you sing something different???

To me it''s a must, they give us so much, so what a few bucks can buy now and then?? Priceless.

 

[Linda W]

Date: 7/7/2009 11:43:15 PM
Author: Kaleigh
All the time. They love their new toys... They get such joy from them. I love to see them as I come in and say..I went to the doggie store... They jump all over me as I open the bag... The bird gets toys too. She''s a trip as I open up a new toy and put it in her cage. Then she sings and sings. Same song, she''s a one hit wonder, LOL??


I say can''t you sing something different???

To me it''s a must, they give us so much, so what a few bucks can buy now and then?? Priceless.

A one hit wonder, ha ha ha ha. I put a new toy in Taco''s cage.... he stares at it... then starts bonking it with his beak. bonk bonk bonk. Then he will start talking to it..... then he will play with it. He is a trip.

 

[gemgirl]

Toys? On a continuing basis. If I see something different that I think they''d like, I buy it. The same for my husband. They tend to saw their way through a lot of their toys. They''re both heavy duty chewers.

Once a year, usually before Christmas, I replace their beds, and custom embroidered collars and leashes if needed. I like that stuff to be in good shape.

 

[elrohwen]

I usually get toys for Otto when I'm at the pet store buying his food or litter. Sometimes he doesn't play with the new toys at all, but other times he loves them. And they're usually less than $3, so I don't mind. Other than that, we haven't bought him anything since we got him. He does have this big cardboard house he loooves to play in and rip up, so we'll probably have to get him a new one soon. We'll see if it holds out until Christmas.

ETA: The best bunny treats are fresh fruit, so I should work on buying more and getting him to try them. He's a super picky eater though so I'll be surprised if he likes anything I get for him.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Not often, but I do rotate toys. I also reserve certain toys for different training sessions. For instance, the dogs'' bumpers are their super-special toys that are only reserved for water rescue training, so there is a lot of excitement around those, which is extra motivation for them to train. Also, when Bo was younger I reserved a special squeaky toy for the show ring in order to keep his energy up.

 

[Aloros]

A lot. Every time I come back from the pet store, my cat has to go stick his head in the bag and find out what''s in there. LOVE buying stuff for the puppy. She gets sooooo excited when I bring her something new. She destroys all her toys pretty quickly, so it''s a necessity!

 

[monarch64]

I don''t buy Daisy toys anymore. I used to wait until end of holiday seasons when PetSmart had all their stuffed toys on sale for $1 or less and buy a bunch, but she just shreds them immediately and I got tired of cleaning up all that fluff.

I used to also take old blue jeans and sew her up stuffed "toys" (usually rectangles or squares were all I managed as far as shapes). I tried to make the seams super chew-resistant but all it did was delay the inevitable. She gets rawhide bones for chew toys now and that''s it. The occasional empty plastic water bottle will also entertain her for about 2 minutes.

 

[jet2ks]

Rarely. I only buy Ace (my Brittany) a new toy when he wears one out, and my parents usually get their granddog enough toys for Christmas to last all year.

For stuffed toys, he only gets balls. The first Christmas I had him, he got a cute plush bear toy from my parents and he took it into their living room, while we played cards in the dining room. When we finished the game and went to get Ace, we found a dismembered bear and a nice little snowstorm of stuffing! If you give him any sort of shape with projections, like an animal with arms, legs and ears, then he proceeds to tear them off immediately so he can play with the body.

He also gets occasional treats and cow hooves to chew on (he will destroy and inhale a rawhide in minutes).

 

[trillionaire]

Birthdays, holidays, and any day in between, lol!

For X-mas, she gets beds or a big tasty bone, like a stuffed one or something fun like that. Birthdays are usually big bones as well, maybe a new toy to play with.

On a regular basis, I always have my eyes out for new toys and treats... anything that is affordable is likely to come home with me! I noticed that after I got my dog, I stopped shopping for me, and only shop for her! It probably costs less, so I guess it works...

 

[Miscka]

All the time! We were out of town last week and made sure to get a present to bring home for the pups!

 

[Sabine]

Our pup gets one treat a night, and even then she''s not that into them, so I hardly ever buy her food treats. She does play with her toys, and they do rip, but when they rip they aren''t ruined as she doesn''t pull the stuffing out or anything, so we continue playing with them. I buy her new ones at christmas and other times if I''m in a pet store without her (she gets freaked out in the stores so they are quick in-and-out trips) and I see something on sale or especially cute.

I try to buy her a new collar/leash once a year, but that''s more for me than her since I like changing what color she wears!

 

[elrohwen]

This thread reminded me of one of our dogs growing up. When she was a puppy, my dad played with her using leather work gloves so she could nip and it wouldn''t hurt him. As she got older, she started going for the gloves and just playing with them, even without my dad''s hand inside. By the time she was an adult, she wouldn''t play with any toys at all except for leather gloves. Every time she''d totally destroy a pair my dad would go to the hardware store and buy her another set. Lol She was so funny. Those things were good for tug-o-war, fetch (inside the house), shaking around, and just chewing on and we saved a lot of money buying dog toys.

 

[Amandine]

Date: 7/8/2009 12:11:48 PM
Author: jet2ks
Rarely. I only buy Ace (my Brittany) a new toy when he wears one out, and my parents usually get their granddog enough toys for Christmas to last all year.

For stuffed toys, he only gets balls. The first Christmas I had him, he got a cute plush bear toy from my parents and he took it into their living room, while we played cards in the dining room. When we finished the game and went to get Ace, we found a dismembered bear and a nice little snowstorm of stuffing! If you give him any sort of shape with projections, like an animal with arms, legs and ears, then he proceeds to tear them off immediately so he can play with the body.

He also gets occasional treats and cow hooves to chew on (he will destroy and inhale a rawhide in minutes).

We can only buy stuffed toys without appendages, too! My Edgar goes immediately for the arms, ears, etc. But we have a few stuffed bones that have lasted much longer--no appendages! But once we got the puppy, Boomer, we have had to put away stuffed toys for now because its the only thing they seem to get into tiffs over.

Overall, we just buy rawhides. Boomer is still in that puppy teething/mouthy/chewy stage, so we have to keep him preoccupied with approriate chews so he won''t go find something else to chew, like shoes. I have a few nylabone-style chews and some rope toys, and we replace them when they get too worn out to be safe anymore. And lately with the heat, they love the cheapest toy ever--ice cubes!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 7/7/2009 7:30:14 PM
Author:Maisie
I never buy anything for Blossom our Labrador because she never plays with anything. She prefers to sleep or run. Nothing else!


As soon as we got Gracie our cat I started buying her lots of little treats. I can''t help myself. She has loads of toys. Its like having another child!


Here is my latest gift to her.. she is going to love it.. she is a great climber! It was very inexpensive in the sale!

Ooh I''m planning on buying a cat tree too. I have so much in my Petco cart...I''m purposely trying to limit how many toys i initially buy, otherwise the cats aren''t going to have room to move.

 

[rainwood]

Our Lab is totally spoiled. Many of her toys have names, and she''ll go get the one you tell her to. But she has a couple of favorites she''s been carrying around for years. They''ve been mended many, many times.