I love my kitten but no Reiki massage for her

During lockdown, you couldn’t get a cat or kitten in Wellington as people rushed to find an isolation project and family distraction. But now the dust is settling: Just how much do you love your pet?

With a child, it’s not something you ever would put a monetary value on. But with pets it’s a different story because with no public vet system, their dollar cost is obvious.

At what point does providing a warm, comfortable and healthy life for your animal tip over into being fiscally bonkers?

There are visits to the vet for check-ups and, to be honest, my cat’s at the vet more than I’m at the doctor.

Then there’s the cost of treating injury, illness and the everyday cost of special dietary food as they get fat, old, hairballs, diabetes.

As the cost mounts, now there’s pet insurance.

A current Southern Cross campaign shows two darling kids gazing at a puppy with the tag line

– ‘‘They’re family too’’. Tug those heartstrings.

The poster prompted me to look up the cost of pet insurance, which ranges with one insurer from about $11 a month for accident cover to $26 a month for comprehensive. You can pretty much double that for dogs.

And we pet owners are a massive market with 41 per cent of Kiwi households owning a cat and 34 per cent of us with at least one dog.

Personally the term ‘‘fur baby’’ makes me want to run screaming from the room. And if anyone ever describes me as a ‘‘pet parent’’ – well; just don’t.

But with 78 per cent of Kiwis surveyed saying they see their dogs as part of the family; and 74 per cent of cat owners – we’re a softhearted bunch and ripe for the picking.

Last week, a friend told me about one of his two family cats. He admitted up front that he pretty much loathed the cat because it wakes him every morning screaming for food and then eats so fast that it vomits, which he then has to clean up.

Said cat then got nose cancer, which entailed expensive vet visits. Scroll forwards, my friend is now taking a precious day of annual leave to drive the cat to Palmerston North vet hospital for a nosectomy. Then he’ll take another day off work to collect it and pay around $2000 for the treatment.

Will he do it? Of course he will, because he loves his family and they love the cat. He should have shelled out for the pet insurance.

And these days, basic dog chow isn’t good enough.

There’s every manner of special diet pet food, including stuff that looks good enough for human consumption.

There’s the never-ending array of toys, treats, collars, feeders, cattery or doggery – not sure if that’s a word – costs.

In the US, and probably here, there’s the growing trend of grooming, paid walking services and pet funerals.

Want to go really mad? You can spend thousands, millions even, on jewelled collars and designer jackets.

What will they come up with next? Yup, it’s already here: pet psychology, personal fitness trainers, pet spas, massage therapy and pet portraits.

So, while we all need to look after our pet’s health and wellbeing, there’s a part of me which balks at the idea of shelling out for pet fancies when I know there are humans who need my dollars more.

I love my kitten and I’ll make sure she has a happy life.

But I doubt she’ll be getting a Reiki massage any time soon.

We’re a softhearted bunch and ripe for the picking when it comes to our pets, says Sue Allen.