Anyone who follows my Instagram account will know how much I love my cats. Yes, Cookie and Muffin are practically my children and I adore them from their velvet noses to the tip of their fluffy tails. So today I thought it would be fitting to put together a little Christmas gift guide for your pets so that they are suitably spoilt over the festive period!
If you love your animals like I do, you’ll be no stranger to the pet festive stocking. Yes, I buy two every year and Santa Claws delivers them to my girls on Christmas eve without fail. We all have no end of fun on Christmas morning (ok, I probably enjoy it even more than they do!) playing with the jingle bell balls, rope mice and scrunchy foil balls. These cat stockings from Pets at Home are my top picks for this year because they contain both toys AND packs of Cookie’s preferred catnip treats and chocolate drops, along with Muffin’s favorite ever indulgence; kitty milk. Even though my cats are around the ‘senior’ age (which according to boxes of cat food is 7 years+) they both play like kittens and will spend hours entertaining themselves juggling the balls and dragging the rope mice around by the tail. It really is an unbeatable gift to share with your cats this Christmas, and at only £4 it’s a bit of a bargain too!
Secondly, I’ve been having a serious think about getting pet insurance for my cats as ‘the gift that keeps on giving’. I like the reassurance that they would be taken care of and be nursed back to health if ever anything went wrong, so I’d love to invest in some insurance that is specific to their age and type of cat. I’d be happier knowing that they were protected them if they need any vet treatment throughout the year, plus I can renew the insurance as a Christmas gift next year too – just like a magazine subscription for us humans!
Next up, I’ve been looking at grooming products. My cats are a domestic long-haired breed and they love to be groomed. Long-haired cats need to be groomed weekly (or even more if they like it!) to keep their coats in tip-top condition and to minimise the chance of hair being ingested and coughed back up as furballs. The grooming session is also a nice way to bond with your cat, as well as giving you the chance to check them over for scratches, skin conditions, signs of fleas or bald spots, which can be cause by over-grooming during stressful times. Cookie once went rather bald in the belly department, and ended up with quite a pink tummy! Things have now settled down after our house move and she’s back to her fluffy self, and I’m very proud of her feather-boa-esque tail! I’d like them to stay in good condition so I’ve had a look at the selection of grooming goodies on the Pets at Home website and I’ve snapped up a long-pin brush for long coats and a de-matting comb.
And finally, some Christmas-themed gifts that are available for cats include this festive necktie, reindeer teaser (Cookie loves playing with teasers!) and an advent calendar, or should that be CATlendar?! Let me know what you think about these gifts and leave me a comment if you will be buying festive treats for your cats this Christmas too!