Published: September 25, 2008 11:16 pm      

We’re proud to call ourselves parents of pampered pets

For those who can’t resist the idea of pampering their canine or kitty, there’s a world of services out there waiting to help.

If you can’t take kitty on vacation with you, for example, you can always give her a well-deserved break by putting her up at a top-of-the-line Cat’s Meow, like the one in Maberly, Ontario, near Ottawa.

This cats-only inn offers everything from private balconies to specialized menus such as fresh tuna and canned asparagus.

The Cat’s Meow has hosted cats from as far away as the Middle East.

But don’t laugh.

It’s a slippery ramp from pet owner to pet parent. And one recent study found that 84 percent of all animal owners refer to themselves as parents.

Increasingly, it seems, animal lovers blur the line between pet and child and an entire industry has sprung up to support the trend.

Indeed, many people (including my wife) think it’s time that cats are treated like the royalty they really are.

“Buttercup,” a 2-year-old gray and white kitten, pranced into our home one day and never left. She has the run of the house and dines on the finest feline cuisine.

And when Linda Lee gets home from grocery shopping, the proud pet owner carefully unwraps a treat for Buttercup, who seems to appreciate the gesture of affection.

At first I thought it a bit foolish to be calling on the phone to find out what the cat is doing. But that’s usually how our conversations begin nowadays.

Anyway, in light of our centuries-old partnerships and all the therapeutic benefits that we know pets bring to us, treating the animals to organic snacks and regal rewards doesn’t seem like a crazy indulgence after all.

If you can afford to pamper your pet, why not go for it?

You can always count on the pet food industry to have something tasty at the local super market.

In case you haven’t noticed, the pet food aisle at the local grocery store is bulging with gourmet items that would make your cat’s mouth water.

And there’s good reason: the pet product industry in the United States generates more than $40 billion, and that figure is growing about 6 percent per year.

These figures aren’t all that surprising if you’ve been following pet food manufacturing during the past few decades. We might have done well to invest some of our earnings in the market because pet food manufacturing is capital-intensive, with average annual revenue per employee estimated at more than $700,000.

Not too shabby. Next to the giant oil companies and the fast food chains, it’s only a drop in the bucket.

But who wouldn’t like to be sitting on the board of directors for one of the 50 largest U.S. pet products companies, a group that controls almost 100 percent of the total market.

Let’s face it. Pet ownership drives demand.

And the profitability of individual companies depends heavily on effective marketing of major products — items such as dry dog food, canned cat food, dry cat food, and canned dog food.

Dry dog food accounts for about 50 percent of industry revenue, canned cat food for about 20 percent.

But the gourmand pet grub has even caught on in Paris, France, where dogs are getting delicious desserts from a new bakery that specializes in baked goods for pet pooches.

The bakery is called “Mon Bon Chien,” (MOHN BOHN shee-AHN), which means “my good dog” in French. It sells treats such as bacon-flavored biscuits shaped like cats, and cookies made of duck liver.

In the U.S., meanwhile, more than half of all occupants residing in 65 million households own pets, a national menagerie that includes 77.7 million cats, 65 million dogs, 16 million small animals, 17 million birds, 9 million reptiles, 7 million saltwater fish and 185 million freshwater fish.

Some of these critters, to be sure, are pampered beyond belief.

Take the gourmet food and birthday parties for dogs, room service for traveling pussycats and you get the picture.

What is the world coming to?

Time was, if someone referred to herself as a dog’s mother, you’d roll your eyes in amazement.

Not anymore.

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Top o’ the morning!

— Blankenship is a columnist for The Register-Herald.

E-mail: jabbb@suddenlink.net