10th December 2006

Dear Santa...

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Dear Santa... Love Fido and Tiddles

If you're counting the shopping days till Christmas and want to make sure your pet doesn't miss out on the festivities, see our quick round-up of some of the best Christmas treats and gifts for the animal members of our families, and how to keep them safe throughout the festive period.

This year, some of the shops have really got creative in how to include our pets in the celebrations in a safe and fun way. Remember that many of the things we bring into the house at Christmas can be dangerous or just plain confusing to pets, so try to plan ahead to keep them safe but include a few specialist treats to give them a fun time too.

Safety First

Chocolates dangling from low branches of the Christmas tree could be tempting to a dog, but remember that chocolate is toxic to dogs, so hang them from higher branches or keep in a tin. Likewise, don't wrap up edible presents and leave them under the tree. Your dog or even cat may well smell out the treats and unwrap your parcels while your back is turned. Keep these presents on a shelf, in a box or in a cupboard until the big day.

In addition, decorations can look like a tempting treat to a dog or cat. Holly and mistletoe are potentially toxic, so make sure they are hung well out of reach – particularly challenging if you have an active cat. There are some great fake plastic holly and mistletoes available, which might be a good idea if you know your cat is curious and greedy!

Cats Protection advises owners to watch their cats to see how they react to decorations such as baubles, tinsel or Christmas light cables. If they can't keep their paws off them then it is best to keep cats out of the room when you are not with them, it says. It also warns that packaging materials can be potentially harmful to cats, and to dogs too. Make sure in particular that elastic bands are picked up when you've finally got into the boxes of toys and gadgets. Elastic can pose a choking hazard to both cats and dogs, and check all the staples, wires etc. have been picked up too before they are pounced upon by a fun-loving pet or get stuck in an unsuspecting paw.

Make sure your tree is secure, and don't hang ornaments from the lower branches, where they pose more of a temptation to being pulled off, especially if you have a younger puppy or kitten. If your cat is an active climber, consider tethering the tree to a wall by a strand of picture wire and a picture hook. No-one will notice, but you'll know it's not going to come crashing down when the cat launches itself in a bid for the summit.

Lastly, don't be tempted to feed your pet scraps from your own Christmas dinner. The quantities of salt, sugar, fat and just general rich food aren't good for their digestion and can lead to them being sick. If you want to treat your cat a little cooked fish or chicken (check carefully for bones) is a good treat, and dogs love chicken too. My own dog loves the boiled rice and tinned tuna in spring water I give him when he has an upset stomach, so that's what his Christmas treat will be this year.

The Fun Part – gifts…

Once you've checked that the human treats and decorations can't harm your pet, you might want to think about replacing some of them with safe and fun treats just for animals. One great example of a good treat for cats and dogs are the pet crackers available in stores and online from Hawkins Bazaar. At £5.99 for a pack of three, it's an inexpensive way to include your pet in the festivities, and each cracker contains a toy, a corny joke and a 'bang' flag, which replaces the traditional cracker snap, which may remind your poor pet of bonfire night and send it running for cover. Consider shutting your pet in another room with the radio on when you pull your own crackers if they reacted badly to the fireworks this November.

Pet Crackers, Hawkins Bazaar – for dogs, click here; for cats, click here.

If you’re worried your dog might be neglected at Christmas, as everyone gets occupied with their new games and gadgets, treat a member of the family to the How Smart Is Your Dog IQ Test, available from www.iwantoneofthose.com. It costs £4.99 and can be found under CODE: SMADOG.

The Doggy IQ Test is a self-scoring intelligence test for dogs devised by Dr Stanley Coren, Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Author of a number of books about dogs, such as "How to Speak Dog" and "The Intelligence of Dogs", he's a prize-winning dog trainer and authority on dog behaviour and intelligence.

The 12 carefully designed and researched tests will show you how to determine the Canine Intelligence Quotient (CIQ) of your pet. Five of the tests cover problem solving, while the other seven deal with learning ability and memory. With a test book, score and result guide, and a stopwatch for timing the results, the Doggy IQ Test has everything you need to silence those detractors who keep telling you your dog's stupid.

However, if you want a comic photo opportunity, where your dog really does look stupid, try the Humunga tongue, which comes in two sizes depending on the size of dog, for £9.95 (CODE: HUMTOL) or £5.95 (CODE: HUMTOM), also from www.iwantoneofthose.com. This is a ball, with a large protruding tongue attached, so that when your dog picks it up he appears to be sticking out a comedy tongue, reminiscent of the dog in the movie The Mask. It's a good toy as it's fun for both of you – he gets to play ball and you get to have a good laugh.

Along similar lines in the same store is the Doggy Smile Fetch toy. It's another plastic dog toy, but instead of a protruding tongue, it gives your pet enormous comedy lips in a smile. Perfect for photos or just scaring the living daylights out of visiting relatives. £5.99 and found under CODE: DOGLIP.

If you have children, or even just have children visiting this Christmas, you could buy yourself a little peace and goodwill by indulging them in a kit to Design Your Own Dog Collar. Available from http://www.petplanet.co.uk, the kit costs £8.99 and allows you to customise a collar for your dog's own style or particular needs. Fun and easy to use, you can put their name on, telephone number, and any number of design ideas. The kit includes 1 high quality dog collar, a paint kit with 5 colours, and a practise strip of fabric, an instruction booklet, and 10 easy collar design ideas. Paints are non-toxic and once applied are durable, washable and waterproof.

If you want to treat your pet – dog or cat – to a little luxury this winter, have a look at the Orthopaedic Sable Pet Bed available from Tesco Direct, for £21.47, along with lots of other pet treats. It's fluffy and chic – for the pet who has everything – and it's delivered to your door for the owner who has everything but time to shop. Find it here.

The True Meaning Of Christmas

If you're a pet lover, you may prefer not to spend your money on silly treats like those above (although they are great fun!). Perhaps you'd prefer to make your hard-earned cash go a little further to helping pets and people who need a little boost. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has a virtual gift store where you can donate an amount that will help preserve wildlife

For each virtual gift you order the RSPB sends you a gift card explaining the practical value of your donation, for you to hand over at present-giving time. The card explains how, instead of a present, you are making a donation on their behalf, which helps to preserve our precious wildlife. You can also choose an attractive greeting card to fill in with your own personal message.

Gifts include protecting 100 square metres of heathland for £70, an albatross protection kit for £50, ten metres of hedgerow for £28 or a nestbox for a goldeneye duck for just £10. Check out what's on offer on the society’s website.

Oxfam offers a similar package: for just £14 you can donate an Animal Care Kit, which will provide, it says, "all the food, water, vet care and shelter our funtastic farm animals need, plus training for their owners – helping to make life better for them all." Check out http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com/ for this and other similar packages.

And if dogs are your pet love, you can donate an RSPCA Pamper Hamper for a recommended donation of just £22. For this, a rescued dog will feel safe and secure snuggled in the warmth of a brand new blanket and the RSPCA's care this winter. There's a smart, shiny new ID tag, grooming brush too, and toys to keep active minds busy long after the Christmas season. Get one at www.rspcagiftbox.com, or call 08707 538538.

There are also packages for cats, such as a Cat Pod for a day for only £5.60. These special pods keep cats safe, warm and dry, and give them a quiet place to sleep - and we all know that cats value their sleep more than most! This present will pay for the upkeep of a rescued cat in one of our Animal Centres for a day keeping her snug and safe until a loving family gives her a new home.

If you're fed up with all this talk of dogs and cats, and you prefer other animals, there are gifts for donkeys, mice, hedgehogs, rabbits and wild birds here too.

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