February is the month of love! First we celebrated Valentine’s Day, and now on the 20th we get to show our pets just how much we love them.. Whether they have 2 legs or 4, hooves or fins, paws or claws – it’s National Love Your Pet Day!
And there is a lot of love to give! Our nation is an animal loving bunch – there are almost as many pets as there are people living alongside us in our houses or close by in the stables.
So who comes out on top?! Do cats truly rule and do dogs in fact really drool? Well, don’t tell the cats this.. But more people own dogs than our feline friends. A quarter of households own a dog while only 1 in 6 of them will own a cat! Or is the data skewed because cats.. in fact.. own us!
No matter where you sit on the cats versus dogs (or any other pet) debate, this Saturday is for them. Even though they have our attention day in and day out, with all of the love and fuss, we can still treat them to something super special this weekend.
Here are some of our ideas on how to celebrate National Pet Day!
- Treat them to a “Spaw Day” – pampering our pets is always easy, so why not give them a nice brush out or fill the tub with bubbles and give them a wash in a new shampoo.
- As we are able to squeeze a few more moments of sunshine into our day, the National Trust has put together a regional list of places to walk with your pooch, as well as any health considerations for the area you’re in (like tick and Lymes disease).
- If you can’t get out for a walk, Youtube has loads of videos you could stream for your cat or dog – complete with birds chirping and squirrels squirreling!
- Put those lockdown cooking lessons to practice by baking some dog treats – the best thing is that they will probably still eat them even if you get the recipe wrong! Puppy Leaks have a list of treats you can make with 5 ingredients or less , and some even include using jars of veggie packed baby foods!
- This seriously simple recipe makes about 30 cat treats, and the flavour is enough to make any kitty go crazy.. Tuna and catnip!
The Feel Goods
Animals often give us the ‘no-questions asked unconditional love’ that as humans we crave, but there is more to it than just that. Having a pet reduces stress and anxiety levels, they’re there when we feel sad or lonely, they often get us outside exercising and even encourage us to be social in the local parks while out on a walk – and most of all, they make us laugh.
I often wonder who actually needs each other the most – do they need us just as much as we need them? Well, that really is the beauty of the human-animal bond.
So get cuddling, pampering, spoiling and lovin’ this National Love Your Pet Day!