DYEING PETS

Okay, this is not a sad blog entry about pets who are dying, so put away your tissues.  It's a blog entry about people who are dyeing their pets, which is kind of a fad right now.  But if you think it's cruel and sad to dye a pet, then I guess you will need your tissues after all.

China seems to be where this new dyeing trend got started, and there are big dyed dog competitions and everything.  Actually, it's kind of weird that the Chinese are spending so much money on dogs nowadays, since it wasn't all that long ago that dogs were mostly raised for their meat and were eaten in restaurants.  But now there are Chinese people with more money, and they love owning dogs and putting cute outfits on them, and they also love dyeing them.

Just looking at the photos of Chinese dyed dogs, it seems like they are mostly either painted to look like pandas or like tigers.  But I'm sure there are other dye "costumes," too.  I would think, since this is the Year of the Rabbit, that people would dye their animals to look like rabbits, but I didn't see any photos of that.

The dyeing of pets thing is getting popular in other places, too, like for example in the U.S.  But some people wonder if it's a nice thing to do to your pets or not.  Other people think it's fine and lots of fun.  The problem is that we don't know if the dye will hurt an animal, especially if the animal is dyed several times.  Dyes for animals are made out of stuff that is supposedly safe, but dye covers most of the body, and it is absorbed through the skin.  So sometimes animals have allergic reactions to it.  And sometimes they just get really stressed out while they are being dyed, because it can take a long time to make a special design.

Small, exotic pets like hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and chinchillas shouldn't be dyed because they can have bad stuff happen such as respiratory infections and pneumonia.  Also if you have a pet that is difficult to bathe, like me, for instance, you shouldn't dye that pet because of course after you dye it, you will have to bathe it later to get the dye off.

It's best to have your pet dyed by a groomer who has experience doing it.  And you should just start by dyeing a small part of the animal first to see if there is any bad reaction.  Cats are especially likely to get an allergic reaction to dyes because they groom themselves and swallow the dyes.

My own opinion is that it would be best not to dye your pet.  Of course, if you remember, I don't like costumes for pets either.  But at least costumes won't make your pet sick unless the costume gets eaten and sticks somewhere inside your pet.  But dyeing animals is a new thing, and we don't know how it will affect the animals over time.  Which is why it is kind of a risky thing to do, if you ask me.  And it's also why I'm glad that Mom says there is no way she is going to dye any of her dogs or cats!