Pet Toy Reverie

While shopping at a large grocery store this weekend, I was waylaid by an unexpected reverie while passing through the Pet Supply department. As I noticed the panopoly of pet toys available I couldn't help but take my time and muse among the novelties.

Photo © O. Douglas Jennings. All rights reserved.

It brought to my memory a Steve Martin routine from his early days as a stand-up comic. As I recall he was complaining that his cat had misappropriated his credit card and ordered hundreds of dollars worth of cat toys. "And I can't return the things because they have spit all over them!"

I loved that last bit about the spit.

Photo © O. Douglas Jennings. All rights reserved.

Obviously the toys are made to initially appeal to the human owners. A dog or cat would not care if its toy looked like Woody Woodpecker, Garfield, a Sock Monkey or a Hedge Hog. The most trendy item was the Zombie-themed toys.

Photo © O. Douglas Jennings. All rights reserved.

And, although I do not own a pet, I am charmed by these creations as expressions of human innovation, imagination and compassion for animals they care about. The toys actually do have specially-designed features for pets: Crinkly-crackly sounding stuffing, squeak features --one even touted the sound it made as being calibrated to the range heard primarily by dogs.

Photo © O. Douglas Jennings. All rights reserved.

One of my favorites is the Owl toy. To me it's a symbol of the wisdom of caring enough for one's pet to appreciate its need to have fun.

 UPDATE: See this Video about what your pet preference says about you.