Well, I don’t really consider it “spoiling”- after all, my kitty gives me a lot back and helps keep my blood pressure low (usually). But there are a couple of things I do for her that have some of my friends going :dubious:
I grow grass for her in a little tub. Cats love to eat grass, and it’s good for their digestive system, and we don’t have grass here unless you grow it yourself, which I don’t (except for hers). So I cultivate some nice healthy green grass for her here in the house, and she loves it. Chows down on it every day.
Whenever I go to the bathroom, I turn on the sink for her to drink from. She follows me in there anyway, and now she’s used to me doing it, so she automatically jumps up there and starts drinking. I do leave a water bowl out for her, but she rarely drinks from it.
I used to know a lady who had to feed her cat his canned wet food out of her hand, or he wouldn’t eat. Now *that’s * spoiled- I’d never go that far.
What do you do for your babies that make your friends or family accuse you of spoiling them?
Her brother gets windows opened a third of the way, even in the winter, because he likes fresh air and pretending he’s a small cat that can fit in the opening.
Tho we all agree to keep the dog off the furniture, at times my wife wishes she could let her up on the couch to cuddle. She decided if she couldn’t have the dog up on the furniture in the house, she’d at least let her up in the backyard hammock with her.
This a.m. I let the dog out into the backyard. When I looked out the window, there she was ensconced in the hammock, just looking like she belonged there. Gazing about at her domain.
My kitties get to drink out of the sink in the bathroom and they sleep in the bed with me. Anytime I buy anything that comes in a box or get a package in the mail the empty box is left around for days for kitties to play in. I also have enough cat toys in the corner of my living room to open my own cat toy store.
How I spoil the kittehs: When I thaw chicken in the microwave, some chicken juice always ends up on the plate. I pour the juice over their food. If I open a can of tuna, likewise, it gets drained on top of their food.
How I spoil the “pigs” (guinea pigs): I watch for bagged salads on sale BOGO or reduced produce at half off. I swear to you, when I go into the room where their pen is, if I say “OK, ladies, time to eat” they understand the difference between that and when I say “OK, ladies, I have some salad for you”. They actively anticipate the “salad”. If I feed them salad for several consecutive days, then run out and only give them “Piggy Kibble”, they will sniff at it like, “WTF? Where’s the greens?”
We always turn the sink water on for them so they can drink when they ask for it (and someone almost always does.)
We open the linen closet door for them when we go by and they ask, because they like to sleep up there (it’s up high and soft–of course they do!)
My Russians (particularly Gracie) like to play a game we call “red bug,” which is chasing the laser pointer beam up and down the hallway. Whenever I get near the place where the pointer is stored, Gracie runs up, stares imploringly up at me (she’s got the best imploring stare–big green eyes and this “pleeeez” expression) and puts her paws up on the bookshelf. I can’t deny her anything when she does that.
We feed them little bits of meat baby food (“kitty pudding”) every morning when we get up and every evening before bed. They show up in the kitchen at the appointed time and wait for it. If you’ve ever been stared at by five pairs of big round eyes, you know how hard it is to skip this ritual, even when you’d really rather just go to bed.
Our other Russian, Sonata (“Fred”) doesn’t like to jump up in the bathroom window herself, so the spouse always picks her up and puts here there when she asks.
Aside from that, all five of them sleep with us and pretty much get whatever they want. They’re family.
Boomer the Dog gets a Milk Bone every time he comes inside from his potty break. He dances in place until he gets one, and then runs to the living room, puts the bone down, and waits for one of us to pretend to take it away from him. He’ll fake-growl and get all protective.
He also sits on my husband’s lap. He weighs about 60 pounds. He’ll crawl right up on Ron’s lap, lay his head on Ron’s shoulder and snuggle.
We don’t do anything special for the two cats. They can sleep on the beds (or anywhere they want, really) and they get attention whenever they ask for it, but they’re not very demanding.
Tara T. Cat waits very patiently for me to finish my cereal every morning because she always gets the drops of milk in the bottom. I never actually give her any milk, but she’s quite content to lick the bottom and sides clean.
She also gets a tiny bit of ice cream when I have some.
She loves Cheetos, pork rinds, and Doritos.
I only give her tiny, controlled amounts–I know I should probably stop, but it makes her so happy.
My kitterz is lucky, because we don’t have a linen “closet” per se, but a set of shelves in the bathroom where sheets and towels are stored. The “junior” kitterz (who is less than a year old, as opposed to the “senior kitterz” who is about four years old) loves to sleep on the clean linens!
I have 2 beagles that eat compressed dog food. They will not be happy if they don’t split 3 inches of log every night. They split a can of dog food too. They sleep under the covers every night. They get a walk in the park for from 2 miles to 8 miles every day. Nordberg is about 3 years old and has never missed a walk.
The cat eats Fancy Fest, One can per day. He gets it in the morning. Then he has dry available all day.
For water I have a 3 gallon bucket that I fill every other day. They all drink out of it.
The cat requires string playing or rubber band shooting every day.
My husband is captive to our very small dog. She has him wrapped around her little paws. She has three beds: one for my car, one for his car, one for home. He put the bed for her in his car on top of a box on the passenger seat, “so she can see out the windows, too”. That same bed gets brought in when he comes home so that he can turn it upside-down over one of the heating vents so it’s warm in the morning when they go off to work together. He hand-feeds her kibble. He gives her far, far too many tastes of people food. He bought some dental stuff that gets put in her water, and measures out fresh water every night (just common good care) with an exact portion of this dental rinse, not one milliliter more or less. She also has toothpaste rubbed over her teeth every night before bed. She gets to sleep in bed with us under the covers, and he will move over to accommodate her should she stretch out a bit. He will pick her up and carry her in his arms so she can have a higher vantage on the world. I can’t put her toys in an attractive basket because “it’s too hard for her to get them out to play”, so they pile up on the floor. We can’t put anything on the coffee table, because he needs to be able to move it out of the way to play fetch from the couch. She has her own health insurance policy. She gets her bum cleaned with a wet wipe should he think that Princess Poo-poo Head is less than pristine. (I do give her a bath every month, just before her monthly Revolution flea stuff.) He takes her harness off at night so she’ll be perfectly comfortable in bed.
Jasmine gets walkies every day (not spoiling, I know!), all of her favorite kinds of treats, and her own soft, cushy bed (which she has to kick cats off of to lay on.)
Molly, Punky, and Rio get their own pot of catnip on the back patio and a huge catnip scratcher-box to share, plus all the toys, snuggles, and treats they want.
My Penny-dog does not deal well with storms, and her favorite place for escape is the closet in the computer room. She has a pillow and blanket in there, seperate from her normal bed, and I’ve found alternate lodging for the longer clothes that would get knocked down during the freak-outs.
The other two - nothing out of the ordinary. Just your typical pet-spoilage!
Oh, when we grill out, Tony makes mini-burgers for them all.
My two cats like those cardboard scratchers. One day at Target, I see one shaped like a little sofa. It’s over twice as much as the regular ones, but what the heck. They luuuuurve it. But my big kitty is so chunky he can’t fit on it tho’ he keeps trying. I feel so bad for him I spring for this gigantic, incredibly expensive cardboard cat lounger. :smack: BUt, I’ve had it for 8 months, it still looks good, and the kitties do really like it…
My dog (70-80 lbs Labrador mix) sleeps on the bed with me almost every night. She curls up on her side of the bed and goes to sleep.
But there are rules. She’s never on the bed when I’m not there (as evidenced by the bed being the same way as I left it, and no hairs). She jumps out of the bed when I get out, and jumps back in when I go to rest again.
She also obeys when sometimes I tell her she can’t be on the bed.
Other than that, she doesn’t get treats (except when I can scavenge freebies), she only eats dog food, and I’m sure the general hygiene regimen I do for her she dislikes (toothbrushing, ear cleanig, bathing, toenail clipping).
