Next week is Thanksgiving. It’s a time when we reflect on our lives take a moment to be thankful and grateful for the special people in our lives and other things. Personally I am thankful for many things such as my husband and all he does for me and our family (laundry, cleaning, cooking, food shopping…). I am thankful that I have two wonderful children (even if their teenage attitudes leave a lot to be desired:-)). I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for the roof over my head, food in my tummy and a warm bed to sleep in at night (even though it’s only a sofa bed).
Thanksgiving is a time to spend quality time with family and friends and make lasting memories. As you are passing the cranberries and stuffing around the table, don’t forget other FAMILY members who have a thing or two to be thankful for – your pets!
PetSmart Charities, who are committed to helping homeless pets, feel that adopted pets are VERY thankful for their “forever homes”. In addition to having a family who loves and cares about them, adopted pets are also thankful for other things you provide them such as a daily walk, fuzzy blanket, playing catch and a variety of other things.
All of our pets are adopted from the local animal shelter, except one cat. He was a feral (wild) kitten who we took in. We also have two fish – one was won at the country fair and the other we purchased from PetSmart to keep him company.
PetSmart would love for you to tell them what your adopted pet is thankful for. They would love for you to upload your pets photo with a message about what they are thankful for on Twitter and Instagram. Please include the hashtag #ThankfulPets so that PetSmart an see them as well as others.
I thought it would be fun to snap photos of my pets and what they are thankful for. The only ones missing are our fish. I couldn’t get a good picture of them. I’m pretty sure they are thankful for a clean tank and food.
Anakin (aka “Boobie Boy” – for some off reason he loves boobs. It’s really weird) LOVES to play in tunnels, crinkly bags and boxes (he LOVES empty boxes). He also has his own laundry basket that he loves to sleep in. He’s thankful for all the fun things to play and sleep in. He also loves to have conversations with us (it’s pretty comical).
Espn (pronounced Es-pin) is thankful for his toys. He has his own “toy box” (it’s really a large wicker basket). He’s crazy about his toys and plays with pretty much all of them. Every time he goes to PetSmart to get groomed he always gets a new toy. He even loves to play with cat toys and catnip. At times I think he thinks he’s a cat.
Kitty is thankful for the cat tree. All the cats love the cat tree – especially Kitty. She loves to climb all over it, scratch on it and sleep on it. It’s old and wobbly and needs to be replaced. I just haven’t had the $$$ to buy a new one for them. Sorry about the typo in her message too.
Padmé (pronounced Pad-may) loves to find the softest, most snuggly place to rest her head. Her favorite spot is the top right corner of our loveseat next to my desk. We keep a cover on it because he hair gets all over the loveseat (this way we can wash away the hair). Padmé is thankful that we have so many nice places to sleep including most furniture and plenty of pet beds.
Velcro is the “old man” of the group. He was a feral (wild) kitten that we took in. He suffers from Diabetes (that is why he doesn’t look so good) and requires insulin shots twice a day. Velcro is thankful that we took him in (his siblings were either hit by cars, killed in the dumpsters or ended up being captured and put down because they were “unadoptable” to do their wild, unfriendly nature). Velcro is also thankful that we take him to the vet and give him the insulin shots that he needs every day (the syringes we use cost a small fortune each month). He’s also thankful for ice cubes in the water bowl (he loves it when the water is freezing cold).
Bella is our foster kitten that we adopted from the local shelter. We fostered her since she was 1 day old. Bella has health issues including severe asthma and three leaky values in her heart. In the past year I have paid OVER $5,000 in vet visits, animal hospital visits, tests and medications. She has to take pills every day including her asthma inhaler (one if a daily inhaler – the other is her emergency inhaler). She is thankful for everything we do for her, even if it means spending $$$$ on vet bills and medications and driving her to another state to see specialists for her asthma and her heart. Had we not adopted her who is the say the other possible adopted family could afford to care for her health needs. She could have been put down or spend out her life in a cage labeled as a “special needs” pet waiting for a “forever home”.
If your pet could talk, what would he/she be thankful for?
Please consider uploading your photos to Twitter and/or Instagram (please use the hashtag #ThankfulPets). I think it would be fun to see your photos.
For more information about PetSmart Charities please visit www.PetSmartCharities.org. You can also check them out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Kimberly
*I was not compensated for this post. I posted this for the benefit of PetSmart Charities because pet charities are near and dear to my heart. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Sherri Lewis says
That is so funny about Anakin… we have one of those. When he gets upset holding a boob is the only thing that will calm him down. We have 3 kitties, 2 we got from the humane society and the other from a friend who was going to have to take him to the shelter if he couldnt find someone to adopt him. Our westie died on January 2nd after 11 years of health issues. We were told repeatedly by the vet that if anyone else had gotten her, she would have either wound up being euthanized because of all her health problems, or dropped off at the shelter. We still owe almost $6000 on her bill….. when and if I ever get it all paid off, I would love to have another dog….
Rosie says
That is so cute! I noticed yesterday at a local Whole Foods they started a collection bin for pet foods! That is in addition to a bin for regular food. People are very generous, I notice things people put in there that are really expensive! I bet the one for pets will be a big success, too.
Danielle F. says
I rescued my all black cat, Midnight, from my backyard when he was a little kitten – he was sleeping on my patio at night during the winter time (I found him in January). I would imagine he is thankful for our cuddle time since he is a major cuddle bug, blankets since he loves to curl up on any type of blanket and steal the covers at night, all his toys especially the catnip crinkle ones and bag.. he never met a bag he didn’t love. You put a bag (especially those cloth recycle types) on the ground and come back 5 minutes later and he’s either in the bag, laying on top of the bag or doing running dives into it and running with it around the room.
Tammy S says
I love all your pet’s Thank you’s! So cute. My cats would be thankful for all the treats and toys. Very spoiled!
ellen beck says
Mne are all rescues usually from ferals and they were the kittens no one wanted because of medecal or behavioral problems. I love them all and I am as thankful for them as I am sure they are for me.
Linda Szymoniak says
My five Treeing Walker Coonhounds are all rescues (three of them were pulled from kill shelters for me the very morning they were scheduled to be killed) and my three cats are all strays (we searched for their families, but never found them – and they became part of OUR family). My furbabies are thankful for their lives, and for a loving home with warm beds, good food, a huge box of toys to play with, and most of all – ME. Just as I’m grateful for them, they never let a day go bay without letting me know that they love and appreciate me, too. People really need to learn about showing love and appreciation from animals.