It comes around every year—Dress Your Pet Day. Do you comply? Does your cat or dog or horse or ferret appreciate you squeezing them into silly dresses and shirts and plopping hats on their head or glasses on their nose? Probably not, however many pets will tolerate it and some are thought to even like dressing up.
I’ve never tried to dress my cats. Oh, I did make a cape 
for Lily one time when she was a kitten to delight a granddaughter who was also wearing one that day. And I tried to put a kitty-cat party hat on Max for his first birthday. That didn’t go well. And I made my mom’s cat, Smokey, a frock in honor of his most important job as support cat for Mama.
So how did National Dress Your Pet Day come about? Colleen Paige is an animal behaviorist and celebrity pet lifestyle expert. In 2009, she launched this idea in order to help support the pet fashion community, and, perhaps, the industry.
We’re seeing more fashion-harnesses for pets and 
matching leashes, and pets wearing cute collars with holiday themes and for special occasions. We use raincoats or warm sweaters to protect our dogs in wet or chilly weather and those with hairless or near hairless cats often cover them in a frock of some sort to keep them from getting a chill. But did you know that some people dress their pets every day—some spending as much as $20 a month on clothing. I know people who have large wardrobes for their two dogs. Some say that their pets actually love wearing clothes and will even drag a skirt or beanie out each morning—choose their outfit for the day.
Will you dress your cat today? If you do, please send pictures. And enjoy this array of photos of cats wearing clothes. It’ll make you smile.
