All I want for Christmas are my 2 front teeth!

or, maybe all you want or want to give someone is a new pet.

It is a tempting and exciting subject for many around a holiday.

If you are having company to your home - sometimes quite a crowd, or if you are traveling to see family and they will have many folks in and out also it can be awkward and even dangerous to get a new pet.

Is it a milestone year? You promised someone when they were 'this age' that they could have a pet?

It's tempting, that's for sure. Let's go out and find just the right one!

3 siblings, 8 months old, Paxton, Patches and Pepper (a brown tabby torti female) - they're going to be big cats when they grown up!

Often we suggest that you purchase items the pet will need: a bed, some ceramic or metal food and water bowls (not linked together because you need to wash each one), some toys with catnip or toy mice or bells in balls. All these items can be placed in one larger box or to make it lots of fun, wrap each small item and place it in a yet larger box and wrap the outer box too. Don't forget to include the note:

Dear New Pet Owner,

We know you've been waiting and waiting! As soon as we have finished traveling, seeing cousins and friends and having company we will go to a rescue group or a humane society and we will find the best pet ever for our family! I can hardly wait, I know you're anxious too. Here is one website we can look at to see what kinds of cats and kittens they have to help you think about what kind of pet you might like to look for!

Love,

Mom and Dad,

Your friend ______ ,

Your best friend,

Your loving (daughter, husband, son),

Talk over what kind of personality would best suit the person who will be gifted.

Bold and busy?

A gentle, quieter lap cat?

One you won't mind having it dash between your feet and hurry along with you to wherever you are going? One that is more respectful of your space so you or the person getting the cat won't have to worry about it tripping them.

Does someone have knick-knacks and trinkets sitting around? You certainly don't want some full-of-energy teen who thinks everything in the house is a toy.

A basketful of kittens from several years ago, all adopted now and happily in homes.

Give the person receiving the pet the luxury of planning and the excitement of looking and choosing their very own new pet - and you can still be the giver by paying the adoption fee. Continue to help by getting the first bag of food that it is used to eating and take it home to settle in and everyone can get to know it at a quieter time.

One year, someone we know, carried the tree, all bundled up in a huge plastic bag out to the curb for recycling. Luckily a minutes were spent getting the mail at the mailbox so the odd movements of a kitten could be seen inside the bag. Quick - back to the house, open the bag, retrieve the kitten from inside the bag, COUNT the house cats and fosters, and again take the tree to be recycled.

Ms Jazzy Jasmine who has lived happily with a family with children, another cat and a dog. Her previous owner developed an allergy to cats. She's a gentle girl, 8 yrs old and waiting for a new home to spend the rest of her life. Most cats live to be 14 to 20 years old.