As I begin preparing for the holidays, I thought I’d share my tips for wrapping gifts for dogs and cats using pet-friendly paper and a few tips to encourage animals to unwrap their own gifts.
I can’t take credit for this idea. I first saw this in the early 1990s at a boutique cat supply store in Seattle where they wrapped all cat toy purchases using the techniques I now use for cat gifts.
My cat-wrapped gifts seem to be a big hit. I’m still perfecting the dog-wrapped gifts.
Here are a few guidelines:
- Use tissue paper because it’ll disintegrate if it’s ingested. Bonus: most cats like the way it sounds when the touch or chew on it. Another bonus: balling up the tissue paper after the gift is unwrapped gives you a great back-up gift for cats who don’t like the gift inside the paper.
- Include something with an appealing scent. For cats, I add a dash of dried catnip or a spritz of honeysuckle scent. For dogs, I like to crumble up a few treats.
- Avoid using tape. In addition to frustrating (and sometimes scaring) animals who get tape stuck to them, most tapes use toxic chemicals. (And I don’t like to expose animals to any sort of toxic substance.)
- Avoid ribbons because they’re a strangulation hazard. I must confess that I’m diligent about keeping cats away from ribbons and strings. I don’t leave strings or ribbons unattended around my or my client’s cats. (This includes strings that control window blinds.) I’d rather be safe than sorry.
Do you have additional ideas or cautions for animal-friendly gift wrapping?
Do you have photos of your pets unwrapping gifts?
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