Monday, December 16, 2013

Should you give a kitten for Christmas?


I was scrolling through my social media when I saw this blog post and thought what a wonderful idea for a post
                                                                 © Depositphotos.com/ Hannamariah 
Immediate thought is the obviously no, no way, absolutely not.. A kitten is a living being, with feelings and emotions and we are doing are darnedest to elevate their status above a toaster.  Giving a cat as a gift can feel like a really really bad idea. We all have visions of kittens getting lost in the chaos, being forgotten because of other presents.  We have memories of bunnies swamping shelters after Easter and dalmatians flooding shelters after each release of the 101 Dalmatians movies.  Impulse pets are ALWAYS a bad idea.

However..

A pet as a gift can also be a very very good idea when it is not an impulse but rather a well considered decision.  A gift given with thought and care to the recipient as well as the animal. Taking into consideration that this is a life long 10-20 year commitment. Making sure everyone involved knows what this means and everyone is welcome to the idea of a pet. In fact, according to a recent study 86% of pets given as gifts in the last ten years remained in the home.

This is not a gift to be given lightly, nor with out thought and planning. If you know your day or the days around the event is going to be crazy,  giving  a 'gift certificate' for a kitten along with the general trappings like a litter box and food bowls can be a perfect solution.  Yes, it will not be the exact same thing as opening a box and seeing that cute face, or seeing the wide eyes when they hear that first mew not knowing what is in the box.

A kitten as a gift can be a good idea if you know the pet is wanted and will be loved by all. If you know that the gift giving situation will be calm enough and not overly stressful and you want that joy of a kitten (or cat, or puppy or guinea pig) under the tree, in a stocking, or in a gift box then by all means go for it.

And please don't shop, but adopt.  Save a life and give it the best gift ever, the gift of life.

9 comments:

  1. Kitties are always a gift, no matter how they get home! Purrs to Jack from all of us.

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  2. ITA with this! If you are going to get a "gift" of a cat or kitten, the entire household should be involved in the process. And yes to adopting!!

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  3. well put. our theory on gifts (and "sales") is this - so long as the adoption process doesn't change and the whole family (or at least the adults) are in agreement, then fine. But we are in BIG favor of giving the stuff and a gift certificate and letting the person pick out their own new kitty.

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  4. Agreed! I was a gift, you know. But I was on a trial foster first, and then, when momFOD KNEW for SURE that dadFOD wanted to keep me forever, she said "CHristmas gift!" and took him to the shelter to fill out the papers. I think that kind of gift is great. It always requires thought. A fine article. - Crepes.

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  5. all pets are a gift when they come in to your home,xx

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  6. This is great. Thre are a lot of assumptions made about this topic by some rescues. I posted a while back on the subject and got blasted by someone (can't recall who, it's been a while) saying flatly that there's too much chaos at the holidays for that. Well, how do you know that there's too much chaos in a household if you don't know the household? Maybe the family has quiet holidays and likes the idea of being around during holiday vacation days to help a new cat adapt to their home. Just like one cat doesn't fit all families, one timeframe doesn't, either. The important thing is that the cat is a decision between all of the adults in the family and that the family adopts at the best time to help the cat transition in... whenever that is for them, even if it is Christmas.

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  7. If you count my ~10 years of wishing and begging for a cat, our first cat Holly was well planned for when we adopted her in early December one year - just in time for my dad's winter break from work, and my brother and I to be on Xmas break from school. :-)

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  8. When I was a kid, maybe 7 or 8, I wanted a kitten badly and when I got a stuffed one instead, I was very disappointed and wrote Santa a letter the day after Christmas. (LOL) I couldn't have understood the work and expense a kitten would be, and looking back, I'm glad my parents waited until I was 13 or so. Getting any pet is a commitment and not something Santa should have in his sack.

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