Vetcetera Dolittler’s holiday gift guide for healthy pets and happy animal-loving humans

It’s time for the inevitable: shopping! Because I refuse to frequent traditional retail establishments during Thanksgiving and New Year’s (for years now), I always either shop online or make my own gifts. (The supermarket and the craft store are as far as I’ll get to a mall.)

This year I’m treating my family, friends and staff to my used books (they always appreciate this, despite their previous use), home-made marshmallows (with chocolate and instructions for the BEST hot cocoa ever) and, for the pet people, handmade dog and cat toys.

But there’s always someone who deserves a little extra. That’s when I shop online. The Daily Kibble helps by cluing me in to the coolest, newest pet products and services, as does The Woof Report (though on a less frequent basis).

I also shop for charities. This year I’m sticking to three recommendations:

1-Heifer International: My love of goats makes this a personal gift and one I’ve never had anyone fail to deliver a beaming smile for receiving it. Donate cash and your giftee gets the pleasure of having “bought” a goat for a family in Guatemala. How can you resist that?

2-The International Fund for Animal Welfare: Thanks goes to Embrace Pet Insurance’s blog for raising awareness for this one. From saving elephants to paying for shelter animal care, you can dedicate your dollars to a variety of animal welfare imperatives.

3-The University of Pennsylvania’s Shelter Medicine Program: Every year I’ll offer this one. I believe the work my alma mater does in this area is groundbreaking and essential. One of my clients gave $500 in my name last year and it made me cry. So sweet.

For home-made pet toys, I got my best idea this year from Great Green Pets. Old sweaters, tightly braided into a spiral. Instructions and ready-mades are on their site at the above link. Check it out for a very green idea.

Another favorite recommendation of mine is the pet-calming music of Through A Dog’s Ear.

We play the CDs at work and I have one for the car and another at home. These CDs of simple piano music devised for maximum pet friendliness by a veterinary neurologist and audiologist team are serene, wonderful and potentially pet-soothing. Here’s a post on its benefits.

For more great gifts, check out my more traditional list of recommended products from last year’s (slightly silly) Dolittler holiday gift guide.

(Feel free to offer your own suggestions below.)

Season’s Greetings!

December 12th, 2008

Add Comment7 Comments

Dr. K. the last link to your holiday gift post doesn't seem to be working.

Another special and specific gift would be to give a donation in someone's name to a breed rescue for their favorite breed or a shelter. Many of them have clothing items or books that both help support the group/shelter and give the giftee an actual gift to open, which can be important to kids.

KateH December 12th, 2008 10:46:28 AM

I remain a sceptic about the music. It can be beneficial in masking sudden noise and avoiding silence--it may even (although evidence here is weak) be calming. But the neurological angle doesn't IMHO hold up to scrutiny.

emily December 12th, 2008 12:03:50 PM

Thank you for mentioning Woof Report! We have added a huge Holiday Gift Guide to our site with 50+ ideas and links to gifts for pets and pet lovers, including many that benefit animal charities. We hope this helps people find great gifts and saves them time.

http://woofreport.com/guide_gift

stacey December 12th, 2008 02:40:47 PM

Everybody, please check out IGIVE.COM, a shopping broker website that allows you to raise money for a selected charity while simultaneously saving money for yourselve when you shop online!

All you do is sign up and select a charity to receive the cut agreed to by the participating vendors you buy from. You can change your charities any time. Animal-related charities include national and local SPCAs, Humane Societies, breed rescues, Best Friends in Utah, The PetFund and IMOM (both of which help qualified recipients pay for vet care), all kinds of things!

It's great because the vendors (which include most of the biggies like BestBuy, Ebay, Dell, PetSmart, PetCo, Nordstrom . .. ) agree to donate a % of your sale to the selected charity (from 1% to 15% with most in the 2-4% range), and also the vendors advertise all their specials (coupon codes, free shipping, etc) there. So, usually, you end up paying less or getting free shipping -- while your charity gets a little cut at no cost to you!

Love IGIVE! They also have a search tool that raises 1 cent for your charity for each websearch you do.

With all the online holiday shopping you'll be doing, you could raise a nice chunk of change for your charity while saving yourself money at the same time.

Stefani December 15th, 2008 05:54:35 PM

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Click to read more on Faxless Payday Loans

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