Care for Pet | Page 29

This time of year people think that it might be a good time to add a new pet to the family or to give one as a gift.

Although the Home for the Holidays Program has been pretty successful, for most people the hectic season and additional financial demands of maintaining another household member makes it a poor time to add and integrate an animal into a home.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to buy a dog for a friend or family member.

Why is it a mistake?

A new pet is a personal decision that demands research, resources, and that places additional responsibility on the new pet parent.

It is best to let each person make that commitment instead of surprising someone with a live present that may end up abandoned or relinquished when it is not a good fit or the recipient cannot adapt to the demands of pet parenthood.

Instead, create anticipation with a cascade of gifts that will create excitement and anticipation surrounding the possibilities.

If you don’t want to wrap a bunch of gifts (but personally I think more can be fun) you can create a nice basket of supplies by using a dog or cat bed and then filling it with the items that will be needed when a new pet is selected and wrapping it up as one big present.

Take the bed and then fill it with toys, treats, collar,leash, brush or comb, toileting aids (pet clean up aids doggie toilet or cat litter box) and gift certificates for puppy preschool or kitten kindergarten.

Certificates for grooming, pet sitting, and veterinary wellness exams or pet insurance make great additions to this present.

Help in the selection of pets by giving a book about selecting the right dog or an encyclopedia of the different cat or dog breeds. Above Photo: Puppy Care Package – Medium Puppy Starter Kit

Here are a few to consider:

Blog Posted December 9, 2008 at 6:00 am

Cats Protection: Cat Cabins

Cats Protection is the UK’s leading cat welfare charity. Founded in 1927 the group just celebrated its 81st anniversary and it also found some of its funding at risk due to a crisis in Icelandic banks where funds were held.

Cats Protection is a network of over 256 volunteer operated branches throughout the UK and 29 adoption centers.

One of these centers is the National Cat Centre (NCC) near Sussex, England. This facility provides cat adoption, feline education, and veterinary care.

This feline adoption center is one of the largest of its kind in the UK and has separate wings for admissions, re-homing, isolation, and maternity–featuring 202 state of the art “cat cabins” for the felines housed there.

In addition, the feline facility is open to the public seven days a week making it very friendly to potential adopters and other visitors.

All new feline arrivals are examined on site at the Veterinary Care Centre. Each feline is vaccinated, neutered, microchipped and treated for any other issues if needed.

Having the veterinary facility on site helps reduce stress encountered during transportation for veterinary medical care. Also, any issues that arise can be dealt with quickly and easily because of this.

The Training & Education Centre supports a cat friendly exhibition along with a shop and cafe. The shop provides a large selection of gifts for cat lovers and essential feline supplies for new pet parents while the café provides snacks and meals encouraging a longer excursion.

In addition, this section of the facility is available for rent to schools and community groups.

Currently the Cats Protection program rehomes and reunites an estimated 55,500 cats per year. The new “cat cabins” will help to add an additional 3,000 cats to that annual number.

You can take a look at the Cats Protection annual report for the past three years online.

If you live in the United Kingdom or just want to donate to this registered charity and sponsor a cat cabin click here.

Blog Posted December 4, 2008 at 6:00 am