Gifts for Cats and Cat Lovers

By Jennifer Copley (Last Updated 9 November 2011)

 

Ethical Gifts

The Humane Domain

Shop at the Humane Society’s online Humane Domain (Hsus.org) for feel-good gifts that support animal welfare initiatives and programs. The Humane Domain offers great gift ideas for cats and dogs, as well as holiday decorations and clothing and accessories for animal lovers. See “For Kitty” for feline playthings, treats, and furniture. The navigation bar to the left links to other collections, including Christmas gifts for cat lovers, Christmas cards and decorations, and gifts for other occasions including Valentine’s Day. Click on “For Your Home” for links to household items such as pillows, mats, ornaments, and decorative accessories.

For additional humane organizations and shelters that have charity gift shops, see Christmas Gift Ideas: Online Shops That Help Cats and Dogs.

Arts, Crafts, and Building Projects

Gifts for cats and cat lovers don’t need to be expensive. Those with creative flair or building talents can make gifts for their pets at a fraction of the cost of commercially available products:

• Free Christmas Cat Craft Ideas and Patterns provides links to instructions and free patterns for creating Christmas cat cards, quilts, ornaments, and pillows.
• Free Cat Sewing and Quilting Patterns lists websites where you can find free patterns for sewing cat toys, blankets, and pillows, as well as quilts featuring cat designs.
• Free Cat Knitting Patterns is a directory of sites that have patterns for knitting and crocheting pet beds, blankets, and cat toys.
• How to Make Cat Trees, Beds, and Scratch Posts provides links to instructions and patterns for creating custom cat furniture.
• How to Make Cat Toys offers craft ideas and links to make a variety of feline playthings, ranging from artistic creations to basic items constructed from household junk.
• Christmas Crafts and Freebies provides links to sites that offer a wide variety of free Christmas graphics, templates, patterns, activities, and craft ideas for both kids and adults, including photos and instructions for making a number of cat-themed Christmas gifts.
  

Funny Gifts

Jingle Cats CD

The Jingle Cats are an all-feline singing group of real cats that purr, meow, and yowl various Christmas songs, including “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “Up on the Housetop,” “Oh Christmas Tree,” and “Here Comes Santa Claws.” The Jingle Cats got their start in 1991 when Cheesepuff, a cat who happened to be hanging around a studio recording booth for some reason, jumped onto a chair and began to meow in harmony with the Jingle Bells tune that was being recorded. The cat-enhanced song, which was sent to two radio stations initially, became an instant hit.

The Jingle Cats have recently released a new CD called Meowy Christmas, and there are also Jingle Dogs CDs available from the same company, including “Jingle Dogs: Christmas Unleashed.” The Jingle Cats and Dogs have featured in a number of major motion pictures and have appeared on many popular television shows.

Bad Cat: 244 Not-So-Pretty Kitties & Cats Gone Bad

Jim Edgar, who runs the website mycathatesyou.com, is the author of Bad Cat: 244 Not-So-Pretty Kitties & Cats Gone Bad. The book features edgy humour in the form of captions that accompany highly unflattering photos of deranged-looking cats engaging in bad behaviour (or in some cases just having very bad hair days). Some of the humour may offend certain people. Bad Cat is available at Amazon.com.

Stuff on My Cat Series

The Stuff on My Cat series is exactly what it advertises itself to be – books, calendars, and stationary supplies featuring photos of stuff on cats. The stuff in question includes a wide variety of items, such as funny hats, food, wigs, stuffed animals, shoes, electronics, and anything else imaginable, along with funny captions. The Stuff on My Cat series includes:

• Stuff on My Cat: The Book
• More Stuff on My Cat: 2x the Stuff + 2x the Cats = 4x the Awesome
• Stuff on My Cat 2009 Wall Calendar
• Stuff on My Cat Presents: Cats A to Z (board book)
• Stuff on My Cat Postcard Box Set
• Stuff on My Cat Stationary Set

The Stuff on My Cat products can be found on Amazon.com, along with the related offering from Chronicle Books, Wet Cats, a compilation of photos depicting soggy, annoyed felines. Also popular is I Can Haz Cheezburger?, a book featuring cats with humourous captions.

Dancing with Cats

The book Dancing with Cats by Burton Silver and Heather Busch contains action photos of elaborately attired human dancers of all ages cavorting with prancing cats. Although the Dancing with Cats website offers helpful tips on enticing cats to dance, the book tends to be appreciated not as a serious activity guide, but rather for its ability to induce hysterical laughter.

I Can Haz Cheezburger

I Can Haz Cheezeburger by Happycat Professor is a compilation of cat photos with funny captions taken from the popular website of the same name.

Simon's Cat

Based on the award-winning series of short animated films created by Simon Tofield, Simon's Cat features black and white drawings depicting the misadventures of a curious, mischievious, perpetually hungry feline.

Cat Shirts, Ties, Mugs, Buttons, and More

Zazzle.com offers a broad array of funny cat merchandise, including clothing, cards, posters, mugs, mouse pads, and more. The company also enables customers to upload their own images to create custom clothing, stamps, mugs, skate boards mouse pads, business cards, greeting cards, stickers, buttons, posters, key chains, bumper stickers, hats, bags, aprons, and calendars.

Christmas Stuff with a Cat Theme

Cat Stories

For adults, Shirley Rousseau Murphy offers an eclectic collection of stories in her 2005 book, Christmas Cats, that are linked only by the fact that all feature cats during the holiday season. For kids, Judith Kerr’s popular and highly-rated Mog the Cat series includes a holiday offering: Mog’s Christmas. Christmas Cats and Mog’s Christmas are available on Amazon.com.

Cat Ornaments and Cards

Unique, very cute cat-themed Christmas tree ornaments are available at CatsofChristmas.com, and Christmas cards with pictures of cats can be found at Yuckles.com.

For more Christmas stuff, including gift ideas for people and pets, recipes, and crafts, visit the Christmas page.