Do your pets get birthday presents?

maisie_cat

Ours is a rescue found under the floorboards of a house, we have no idea when her birthday is or how old she is exactly.
At Christmas she gets some of the chicken though and on our anniversaries/birthdays she gets anything that we are having that is okay for cats.
To some extent this is so we can eat in peace, like a toddler she is always interested on what's on our plates!

Brie

maisie_cat said:

Ours is a rescue found under the floorboards of a house, we have no idea when her birthday is or how old she is exactly.
At Christmas she gets some of the chicken though and on our anniversaries/birthdays she gets anything that we are having that is okay for cats.
To some extent this is so we can eat in peace, like a toddler she is always interested on what's on our plates!

Our Smudge used to insist on observing us eat while he sat on the table.  If there was too much conversation (aka we weren't watching our plates carefully) he would slowly reach out a paw to some delicate bit that he fancied.  Current aged kitten Ariadne just circles my chair shouting the whole time.  Smudge was much easier to deal with - despite the fact I would have preferred he didn't sit on the table.

TripleH

maisie_cat said:

Ours is a rescue found under the floorboards of a house, we have no idea when her birthday is or how old she is exactly.
At Christmas she gets some of the chicken though and on our anniversaries/birthdays she gets anything that we are having that is okay for cats.

We don't do presents on birthdays, it's an as and when needed or we see something we like for them.

I once gave a friend's old cat a bit of turkey at Christmas. He thanked my leg intimately for it. It was more embarrassing for him.

Mnoee

I did try to enforce a strict rule of no cats eating from human plates - unfortunately I had crumpets and left the empty but buttery plate on the table and came back in to see one of the cats licking it. Now whenever I have crumpets she sits at the table licking her lips, waiting patiently. At least I'm only hounded for human food at breakfast. 

kimwp

I only leave food unguarded more than 20 seconds if it is in the locked kitchen, otherwise miss eats-everything will have her little nose in it.

They don't get treats because they are overweight and they don't get presents on special occasions. But they get James Well beloved food, six dedicated cat beds (for two cats), taken to the vet at the first sign of anything amiss, lots of cuddles and miss fussy-eater (cat) gets carried on demand just because she likes it.

Monsternextdoor

Mine gets a new outfit, collar, teddy and treats. 

My old girl would get the same, plus a steak  

My dog is as spoilt as my kids ! 

CaptainWales

My cat isn't really interested in human food although I tried her with 1/4 tin of tuna on her birthday and she LOVED it. So that will be her birthday treat (as I can't afford to give her tuna all the time, it won't be a balanced diet for her and I don't want to put her off her actual cat food.) 

Pets play an important part in people's lives so why not treat them now and again! 

zagfles

We never have, it all seems a bit childish to me. Pets can't understand the concept of birthdays like a human can. With a child they can look forwards to their birthday, they can do a list of what they want, they can understand why this is their special day when they are the centre of attention, and also when it's eg their sibling's birthday they can understand why their sibling is getting all the presents and attention without being jealous (usually) as they understand that their turn will come. And they can get involved in giving as well as receiving presents.

What do people with more than one pet do if they have different birthdays? "No Rover, those treats are for Fido, it's his birthday not yours"

I guess it's an excuse for a party though!

JosephK

If you go with the 1 human year = 7 dog years theory, does that mean lots of presents each year?

onylon

I prefer to do things more spontaneously rather than pin it to a particular day. I doubt the dog understands or cares.