By: Ernest Gurulé
While on-line shopping may have reduced trips to the malls to fight the brick-and-mortar crowds, there’s still that one gift that requires a ‘hands-on’ checklist, one that’s often ignored. It’s the list that includes terminally cute and cuddly, impossible to resist puppies and kittens. They’re gifts that’ll be remembered, alright, but oftentimes for all the wrong reasons.
“Getting animals as presents can be OK if there’s forethought and planning,” said Colorado State University small animals veterinarian, Dr. Cindy Sotelo. But quite often, both are missing in action as these fur babies, gushing with interminable love and affection, melt both hearts and judgment.
Impulse pet buying, said Sotelo, isn’t the same as gifting almost anything else. With children, that ‘perfect’ Christmas toy—high or low tech—is often forgotten as soon as its batter- ies go dark. Out of sight, out of mind. But a pet is not just a gift, said the CSU vet. A pet, Sotelo said, “can live a long time.” In fact, some birds can actually outlive an owner. Serious thought should be a factor in any decision involving gifting a pet that depends on care and commitment.
People who gift puppies, kittens, hamsters, guinea pigs or any number of animals as presents often “tend not to think long term,” said Sotelo. The lifetime of a pet also means a long term investment in everything from food and grooming to vet care, things often not factored into the buy.
Buyers must decide what they want. Purebred or pound? Puppy or an older pet? Purebreds are neither cheap nor always what the seller advertises. Puppy mills, often run by careless, thoughtless breeders more focused on profit than animal welfare, continue to exploit the pet market often selling animals with congenital health conditions. Many unforgivably capitalize on uninformed buyers. Sotelo advises a little bit of homework before buying.
Petbudget.com, a site that tracks puppy prices, says the average cost of a puppy with papers averages around $1,300. A more affordable option is adoption, visiting a local animal shelter where an animal—already vaccinated, spayed and neutered— can be found for anywhere from $50 to $500. Don’t be influenced by pedigree, said Sotelo. “Shelters are just as good as breeders,” she said. Sotelo strongly suggests to also weigh other factors before buying.
The popularity of a breed often dictates its cost. Boutique puppies often come with sticker shock. Goldendoodles, Golden Retriever-poodles, or Labradoodles, Labradors-poodles, routinely fetch prices up to $3,000. French bulldogs, a breed growing in popularity for their temperament and friendliness, about the same.
“Choosing a pet,” she said, “has a lot to do with lifestyle.” Consider the pet’s needs first. Larger dogs need the space for exercise and play. Smaller ones can live comfortably in an apartment.
Buyers who fall in love with a kitten should think beyond the ‘cute kitten’ stage. A couple of basic check-offs are parentage and personality. Seeing a cat’s parent will tell you how big it’ll grow as well as offering a peek into its future, big cat personality. It might also hint at its long term health. Pets, both dogs and cats, don’t come with warranties and future vet costs can break the bank.
Dr. Sotelo advises potential pet owners to always con- sider buying pet insurance along with the pet. As with humans, unforeseen circumstances can be costly. “They can have emergent issues,” said Sotelo. If an animal eats something it shouldn’t, the meter keeps on running. Dogs, for example are notorious for eating chocolate, something that can be toxic—and expensive. Treatment can run as high as $3,000. Surgeries are also costly and can be an only option anytime in an animal’s life. Average costs for pet insurance is anywhere from $30-$50 per month.
But for the majority of the country’s pet owners, pet insurance is a luxury. It’s estimated that nearly 30 percent of house- holds with pets do not have the income for vet care. Also, in the paper “Underdogs: Pets, People and Poverty,” author Arnold Arluke writes that 66 percent of pets in poverty have never seen a veterinarian.
In cities and towns across the country, there exists some- thing called ‘vet deserts,’ communities where there is neither a close-by veterinarian or, if there is one, a medical option that is too costly. Because an expensive medical treatment can be out of reach, some pet owners often opt for euthanizing the animal. Others simply abandon it.
“It’s really sad,” said Sotelo when an animal is treated as a throw-away. “It happens all year round.” Worse, said the southern California native, is when an owner just can’t handle animals “that are peeing and pooping in the house” and make the decision to get rid of them. But there are options to explore before abandoning an animal because of discomfort with its habits or behavior, something that regularly happens “after the holidays,” said Sotelo.
Pounds or shelters should always be explored. They’re also worth investigating when confronted by out of reach medical costs. “I often find that shelters have pretty good things like low-cost clinics. They also do spay and neuters fairly cheaply.” Sotelo, who owns two dachshunds, has also used shelters for basic animal health issues.
Giving a pet as a holiday gift is not always a bad idea, said Sotelo. It can also work out wonderfully. But before making the decision to give one, it might be a good idea to both discuss and research the plan. Pets, unlike PlayStations, are things you can’t just walk away from.
