Christmas Gifts for Pets

[Lamb]

What do you buy your pets for Christmas? I am going to try to find another chew house for my daughter's guinea pig. The one she likes is hard to find.

 

[tango]

My cat doesn't know it's Christmas so he doesn't get a gift as such. Since we'll be cooking a turkey he'll get a few turkey scraps, which will keep him happy. When we cook a bird he usually gets some scraps - he can obviously smell what we're cooking and if we call him it doesn't matter where he is in the house, we hear the sound of paws on floor as he sprints full-tilt to the kitchen.

 

[Lamb]

My cat doesn't know it's Christmas so he doesn't get a gift as such. Since we'll be cooking a turkey he'll get a few turkey scraps, which will keep him happy. When we cook a bird he usually gets some scraps - he can obviously smell what we're cooking and if we call him it doesn't matter where he is in the house, we hear the sound of paws on floor as he sprints full-tilt to the kitchen.

Your cat doesn't see you open gifts? When we had cats they were definitely into that sort of thing...so were our dogs. They would get so excited and wanted MORE AND MORE gifts to open. Then they'd play with what we got them or ate or chewed.

 

[tango]

Your cat doesn't see you open gifts? When we had cats they were definitely into that sort of thing...so were our dogs. They would get so excited and wanted MORE AND MORE gifts to open. Then they'd play with what we got them or ate or chewed.

I'm sure the cat sees us opening gifts but he doesn't know what the occasion is. He's content to play in the discarded paper. Usually we scrunch up some paper to make a little "mouse" and throw it. He loves to chase a paper mouse, and often brings it back so we can throw it for him again.

 

[Lamb]

I'm sure the cat sees us opening gifts but he doesn't know what the occasion is. He's content to play in the discarded paper. Usually we scrunch up some paper to make a little "mouse" and throw it. He loves to chase a paper mouse, and often brings it back so we can throw it for him again.

Then it's the wrapping paper that is the gift for the cats!

 

[tango]

Then it's the wrapping paper that is the gift for the cats!

I guess, although it wasn't bought as a gift for the cat. He just likes to play with anything that looks even remotely like a mouse. I'd love to know what in his brain triggers that "hunt" response.

Sometimes we'll leave a scrunched up ball of paper on the floor somewhere and he'll ignore it for several days before deciding that it not only needs to be killed but it needs to be killed with enough urgency that he sprints full tilt before pouncing on it and biting it.

 

[Lamb]

I guess, although it wasn't bought as a gift for the cat. He just likes to play with anything that looks even remotely like a mouse. I'd love to know what in his brain triggers that "hunt" response.

Sometimes we'll leave a scrunched up ball of paper on the floor somewhere and he'll ignore it for several days before deciding that it not only needs to be killed but it needs to be killed with enough urgency that he sprints full tilt before pouncing on it and biting it.

Try bottle caps?

 

[tango]

Try bottle caps?

Interesting thought, although he probably has more than enough paper mice to kill in the meantime

 

[NewCreation435]

If it is for a cat just get him or her an empty box. Cats love boxes for some reason

 

[tango]

If it is for a cat just get him or her an empty box. Cats love boxes for some reason

Apparently it calms cats to be in a box. I read a study that looked at cats being moved to a new home and how the stress it caused them diminished over the course of a few days. Apparently if they could get inside a box the stress diminished much faster. Why a box should be so soothing to them wasn't clear.

 

[Lamb]

Apparently it calms cats to be in a box. I read a study that looked at cats being moved to a new home and how the stress it caused them diminished over the course of a few days. Apparently if they could get inside a box the stress diminished much faster. Why a box should be so soothing to them wasn't clear.

It's probably for the same reason that guinea pigs like to be hidden inside things like tunnels or small huts. It helps them feel secure in that they are hidden from predators and feel protected.

I gave my daughter's guinea pig hay twists for Christmas. We had her open a package yesterday because she isn't bringing the guinea pig on Christmas Day.

 

[tango]

It's probably for the same reason that guinea pigs like to be hidden inside things like tunnels or small huts. It helps them feel secure in that they are hidden from predators and feel protected.

I gave my daughter's guinea pig hay twists for Christmas. We had her open a package yesterday because she isn't bringing the guinea pig on Christmas Day.

You might think so but even if the box is completely open at the top and for much of the sides it still has the same effect. Apparently (I haven't tried this) if you mark a square on the floor with tape a cat will lie down inside it. When we bring home a drinks case (typically little more than a cardboard tray, with sides no more than a couple of inches high) we leave the empty tray on the floor and the cat makes a beeline for it. It offers no shelter, no protection, no shielding, nothing. But he loves it.