I have a friend who bought her dog a Burberry coat (which incidentally, the dog refuses to wear)I also know people who cook a dinner of rice and vegetables for dogs every night, instead of feeding them kibble.But, really, I’m no better than the rest.  I splurge on ridiculously expensive holistic food for my cats.  When going out of town, I hire a cat-sitter who visits the house not only once but twice a day – because I worry that they will get lonely.
And when my cats have been sick I have plunked down my credit card without a second thought for any treatment that offered some hope.  Believe it or not, I once put a cat on antidepressants.
  
It’s not surprising the extremes we go to for out animals.  After all, most people today view their pets as part of the family.  Some of us actually think of them as our children.
For parents whose children have left home, pets fill the empty nest.  For younger people who are delaying having kids of their own, a pet is something to baby – without the responsibilities and time commitment of a real child.
 
“Most of my friends, like me, have dogs and don’t have children,” says 26-year-old Crystal Bennet, who has three pets: a Pomeranian named Metro, and English bulldog called Suki, and a part bulldog/part Shar-Pei puppy named Samo.
Bennet recently opened Hip Pooch on Corydon Avenue.  The boutique sells all sorts of fashionable and fun dog products, such a designer collars, funky feeding bowls and stylish clothing, including a Juicy Couture line of velour hoodies and down parkas.

“The store caters to young people like myself who want upscale and trendy items for their dogs,” she says.
  
Like Crystal, I also prefer pethood to parenthood. I am “mother” to nine spoiled felines, who have a carpeted cat tree, a cat tent, and numerous mice-shaped toys (though they prefer playing with the corks from wine bottle, digging up plants, tearing up chesterfields and knocking vases off shelves).
  
They meow pitifully if they don’t get breakfast at 6 a.m. and hiss indignantly at night if I dare try to move their sprawled bodies off my bed to make room for myself.
And yes, I know I have a lot of cats.  But some of them are “special cases” that were in desperate need of a home.
  
I foster for the Winnipeg Humane Society, caring for kittens and sick cats until they are ready to be adopted.  Over the past four years, several of my little charges, for various reasons, weren’t suitable for adoption and ended up staying with me permanently.
  
So I guess you could say I know a thing or two about the concerns faced by today’s pet owner and, in this new weekly column, I will seek out practical advice on an array of pet-related issues:  everything from keeping your cat off your new leather furniture (a battle I am losing) to ways of dealing with your neighbour and his annoying barking dog.
I will also explore the ever-widening array of products, services and health-care options available for today’s pampered pets.
  
I am interested in hearing your ideas, too.  Please feel free to e-mail me at cheryl.binning @freepress.mb.ca with topics you would like to see covered in future columns.