Pampering Your Pet: Giving Your Pet the Very Best

Think that there isn't anything that you wouldn't do for your pet or any expense that you won't pay? Pet lovers are finding more ways to spoil their pets and spending more money to do it every year. It's estimated that people will spend more than $38 billion on their pets this year, more than $2 billion more than what they spent last year.

How about spending $125 a night for your favorite chocolate Labrador to be put up in a posh kennel while you're on vacation. Not enough? Add $22 a night for a hand-delivered a 12-ounce filet mignon dinner served on a gold platter. Worried that you Lab isn't going to have enough fun? Check out the New York-based Loews Hotel's "Hound of Music" package. For $1,600 your dog rides in a limousine to a recording studio where a voice coach will help them cut their first cd. Lodging is included once your pooch is done howling at the moon.

Asking yourself what's next? How about checking you pet into a pet nursing home when she gets old instead of have her put to sleep? Homes such as Bide-A-Wee's Golden Years Retirement Home in Westhampton, New York offers just such a place. Cats with similar temperaments play together during the day. Dogs have their own cubicles and bedding. The staff feeds and plays with the elderly guests and makes sure they get their medication on time. The cost is a mere $15,000 for your pet's lifetime.

As more Americans are waiting to have children or empty nesters are starting to miss their own, our pets are filling in for kids. "More people are choosing to have fewer children and are having them later in life," said Trilby White, practice manager at Creature Comforts. "Many of these people enjoy having pets instead of a large family." And money it seems is no object.

Would you spend:

$350 for a Pucci dog carrier

$900 for a gold crown on your cat's tooth

$965 for a Louis Vitton Monogram Dog Carrier

$4,495 for The Bark Avenue Jeweler's semi-bezel diamond dog necklace

$10,000 for a catered party for your pet

$12,000 for a handmade Loius XVI-style bed from Herrod's in the United Kingdom

$250,000 for a one of a kind diamond dog collar

If you would buy any of these things, you're not alone. In fact, gifts for pets have become an American tradition. We don'
t leave our pets out of Christmas or forget their birthdays and the gifts get bigger and better every year. However, if you can't afford to live a modern dog's life, don't worry. If your dog could talk he would tell you that all the best things in life are actually free. He'd love a kiss and cuddle –but don't you think that diamond collar would look stunning around his neck?