A holiday gifts wish list for Spike, Cleocatra and Bongo

The holidays are a great time to show loved ones how much you care. And you are including those furry, finned and feathered friends in your gift list for “loved ones” aren’t you?

So what do you buy the partridge in a pear tree for her 12 days of Christmas?

PetSmart offers Prevue brand translucent acrylic bird toys with metallic colored bells starting at $3.99. If your bird is a talking or singing breed, you can buy him training CDs for $16.99. The talking CD teaches 98 phrases, while the singing CD teaches 78 songs.

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“PetSmart is offering a wide variety of toys for the holidays,´ said Amy Moffet, assistant director of the Glendale, Colo. PetSmart.

Reptiles can enjoy an Exo Terra Reptile Den with Magnet for $19.99. The product allows you to watch your reptile while he hides without waking or disrupting him. The Exo Terra Waterfall costs $19.99 and adds much needed humidity to your lizard’s terrarium.

Other exotics, like ferrets, can participate in the holiday season as well. The $32.99 Super Pet FerreTrail Playground Kit contains colorful plastic connecting tubes and balls for these creatures to tunnel.

Super Pet Waffle Blocks are made for rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils. The blocks snap together to create play areas inside a pet’s cage. Each block is $9.99.

If your small mammal is ready to bust out of cage life, you can buy her a Critter Cruiser from Super Pet. The animal exercises on a wheel, which propels a miniature car around your house. The car and wheel are $12.99 at PetSmart. If the whole house sounds like too much freedom for your speed demon, you can buy her a Run-About Hamtrac raceway for $12.99.

Rabbits can gnaw on a Flip-N-Toss carrot-shaped rope toy for $2.59. For a more satisfying chomping experience, rabbits can try wood chew toys by Mac’s Creations in a variety of Food and

Drug Administration approved flavors and colors. Such toys cost $7.99 each at PetSmart.

Fish can embark on a psychedelic aquarium experience with a Hi-Lite Underwater Aquarium Lighting System. The lights are safe for fresh or saltwater fish. The entire system costs $29.99 at PetSmart and contains one blue and one green light, a power source, four suction cups, one adaptor box and ports for as many as five modules.

Boulder-based Whole Pets offers deliciously soft “Buddha bag” cat beds in sage, black, purple, tan and ivory. The sacks cost $44.95 and even include a kitty haiku poem on the price tag.

P.C.’s Pantry Dog & Cat Bakery sells a plastic Panic Mouse for $34.95. This interactive cat toy has a swinging tail cats can try to catch.

Watch with delight as your feline bites the innards out of catnip-stuffed dolls of Bill Gates, Newt Gingrich, Ross Perot or some nasty neighborhood kid. The Kitty Hoots Fat Cat Toys sell for $6.99 at Boulder-based Colorado Canines (& Felines, too).

Colorado Canines also sells miniature Kong toys for cats with two catnip-coated mice to place inside. The Kitty Kong costs $6.99.

Cat lovers can treat their feline friends to a 19-piece blue and white cat toy gift bag filled with Mylar balls, plush mice and stuffed toys. PetSmart sells the stocking stuffer for $11.99.

Cranky cats might still be impressed with Our Pet’s Play-N-Squeak with Cheese. The $9.99 wedge of fake cheese has a fuzzy gray mouse hiding inside. With two AA batteries (not included), you can control when the mouse exits his hole. To add to Fluffy’s fun or frustration, the mouse even makes realistic squeaking noises.

Speaking of realistic noises, Migrators Wild Bird Dog Toys look like game birds and even make lifelike calling sounds. The plush playthings cost $7.99 at PetSmart.

If you want to know what your dog thinks of the Migrators toy, or of the Iraq war, for that matter, you can buy a Bowlingual by Takara USA for $119.99 at PetSmart online. This technological marvel was designed by animal behaviorists to interpret more than 80 dog barks. Fox News troubleshooter, Tom Martino, gave it “pawsitive” marks.

Destructive doggies now can get out their aggressions with Rip Roarin’ Fun-nies. The stuffed animals come in tiger, cow, pig and monkey varieties. Each animal makes its own species-specific sound. What’s unusual is that the head and legs are velcroed to the torso. Therefore, Cujo can literally tear them limb from limb without removing the stuffing. Whole Pets sells these for $9.95.

Planet Dog’s Sport Orbee Collection claims to be the only guaranteed indestructible dog toy.

Lafayette-based Struttin’ Pup sells these footballs, golf balls and baseballs for $6.95 to $16.95.

If Alvin and the Chipmunks annoy you this season, you can exact sweet revenge with Spot Bites brand Chitter Chatter dog toys. These soft impersonators look like squirrels, skunks and chipmunks and make eight irritating noises. You can watch your dog rip into them for $11.25 at Whole Pets.

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ucky for sentimental dog guardians, Whole Pets sells Pawprints keepsakes for $39.95. These kits come with a picture frame in which to place a photo of your four-legged loved one and impression material, so you can make an imprint of his paw. Frames come in black and mahogany.

Holiday-inspired dog toys include a plush dreidel for $11.99 that plays the dreidel song as well as gingerbread or “latkes” and applesauce-flavored treats shaped as cats and postmen. Treats cost $5.75 at Whole Pets.

“Chewish” dogs can play with colorful Geflite fish plush dog toys. These and soft Kosher bone squeak toys cost $7.99 at Colorado Canines.

“The cutest new thing that I’ve seen this year for Christmas is from Cosmo’s Dog Bakery in Denver,´ said Julie Smith, owner of Struttin’ Pup in Lafayette. “It’s a gingerbread house kit for dogs.” Struttin’ Pup sells the do-it-yourself doggy delicacy for $14.95.

As pets age, they can use products similar to those for humans with mobility issues. The Pet Step Half Step II is a portable ramp to help elderly dogs enter a car. Boulder-based P.C.’s Pantry offers this product for $99.95. Soft Steps offer an animal a leg up to get onto a sofa or in his human’s bed. P.C.’s sells it for $119.

Small dogs can still enjoy the sights and smells of the outdoors, even when their limbs can no longer carry them. A special canine stroller gets the job done for $129.95. P.C.’s also sells 18-inch-high feeding stations for dogs who can no longer bend. They simply belly up to the buffet for $39.95.

Puppies can feel safe cuddled next to Warm Whiskers microwaveable lavender and buckwheat products. The soft items are shaped like a cat and sell for $39.50 at P.C.’s.

Both dogs and cats can relax in wood futons in a variety of sizes and with many cushion colors. The beds are assembled by P.C. store staff and range from $89.95-$139.99.

“I think we have both fun and functional items for cats and dogs,´ said Mary Lee Withers, P.C.’s Pantry owner.

Contact Sheryl Bass at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail research@bcbr.com.