Pets are People Too

Pets are people too. They’ve got personality and feelings just like the rest of us. They sulk, smile, dance and cuddle.

They also get the weirdest cravings.

I’ve had several pets over the years that chose unusual treats. My deaf cat Jonathon loved doughnuts. Any kind would get his motor rumbling, but especially the powdered sugared. Mom had to lock them away in a cupboard or he would eat them. Once, he managed to get the door open. We came home to find every doughnut had one feline sized bite out of the top.

Raquel, (Rocky for short) liked spicy food. She was a shepherd/husky mix but I used to call her my little Chihuahua girl. Salsa, chili, jalapenos… she loved spicy food. She also loved peanut butter. She was the only dog I’ve known that could open a jar of peanut butter like a normal human. We’d come home to find the jar sitting upright in the floor, lid unscrewed and laying neatly beside it and a giant groove licked through the middle of the peanut butter. She had the longest tongue on a dog. She could give Gene Simmons a run for his money.

Jack, my current blue-eyed baby boy, loves Jelly Belly’s, Suckers and fruit. He’s even been known to gobble down tomatoes. He doesn’t like cucumbers, but give him oranges, grapes (I know, I just found out you’re not supposed to feed them grapes), apples, pineapple, strawberries, nectarines… the list probably goes on and on. If he smells it, he’s begging for it. What dog likes fruit?

He’s hysterical when it comes to suckers. The first time he begged for mine, I held it for him while he sucked on it. (I was finished with it – just thought you should know that.) My nephew didn’t know that though, so he just gave it to him. I looked over to find Jack lying in the floor with the stick between his paws, gnawing away. He ate the thing down to the stick and left the stick in the floor. Jelly Belly’s are hysterical too. He can hear those things rattle from the other end of the house. (Despite the fact that he can’t hear me telling him to come in at night – he’s got selective hearing.) I give him all the flavors I don’t like. Like black licorice and jalapeno.

(Now before you all freak out over what I feed my dog, trust me when I say these treats are few and minimal in size. But I can’t deny him completely. Those big blue eyes just melt my heart.)

Maybe I spoil my baby, but like I said, pets are people too. I draw the line at dressing him up though… I think they deserve to keep their dignity in tact.

A.