The Ides of December

Tis the Ides of December, or better known as the halfway mark. Only 6 days until the winter solstice, same until Hanukah, and just 10 from Christmas.

The pressure is on to shop and acquire and even in this troubled economy, people do go out to experience the joy of giving. One thing you want to avoid, though, is giving a puppy or kitten (or dog or cat) to someone as a Christmas gift without doing some soul searching first.

I just got an email from an old client asking about helping her find a dog for her recently widowed mother in law who is in her mid 80's and seems lonely. While the intentions are very honorable, and I have no doubt her daughter in law loves her, her request suggested that MIL doesn't know this thought is about.

I wrote my former client back and strongly urged her to talk to her mother in law first and really think through whether and what kind of pet might be suitable, and to have a plan of action in place if for any reason MIL could not care for the animal either temporarily or permanently. My client thanked me and then I remembered all those Holiday Present Puppy calls I get the beginning of every new year.

And while I certainly like to be busy, I like the reasons to be more about carefully thought out and appropriately acquired pets, and not another box to unwrap amid the tinsel and the lights.

And lastly, speaking of tinsel, strongly discourage use if you have impulsive pets and if you can't resist AND your animals ingests it, one of the safest ways to get it out is to have the animal swallow real cotton balls, dipped in milk or half and half, which will collect said unsavory from the innards and safely dispel it through the bowel.

Enough of that talk. Happy Pre Holidays!

Ho ho ho.