….Why do we actually buy presents for pets? Seventy-seven per cent of people surveyed said they did it because they didn’t want their pet to feel left out.
Whatever your position on the need to make a cat feel included at Christmas, you have to admit that unlike everyone else on your list, a pet is very easy to shop for. A dog will not complain about the colour of a new collar, or ask if you kept the receipt.
Buying a Christmas present for my wife is an annual exercise in handwringing anxiety. I can get a gift any cat will love from a petrol station.
We certainly don’t seem to be expending an excess of imagination on animal presents; just money. The number one Christmas pet-gift category is food, and the top 10 includes chew toys, balls, bones, cat nip, beds and blankets.
It’s true there are now £300
designer dog hatsfor sale, along with a
Versace dog bed that will set you back almost a grand, but most people still seem to be buying the sort of thing you would have found in my dog’s stocking 50 years ago. The exception, of course, is the dog costume. We didn’t have those then.
It is said that we increasingly treat our pets as children, but really we treat our pets as reflections of ourselves.
When you pick up a pet-sized Santa costume and exclaim, “My dog will love this!”, what you really mean is, “I love this, and my dog can’t talk!”…….
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...s-presents-uk-shoppers?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other