Holiday Gift Guide for Adventure-Loving Pets and Pet Parents
The holiday season is upon us and with it comes an influx of gift guides to inspire your shopping. But, if you share your heart and home with an outdoor-loving dog or adventure cat, traditional pet gifts may not be the best fit.
This season, we’ve put together a round-up of our favourite pet-related outdoor adventure gear and gift ideas.
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for your furry best friend or a family member that can often be found hitting the trails with their pet by their side, we’ve got you covered!
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Collars, Leashes and Harnesses
To kick off our gift guide, let’s look at the basics – every adventure pet needs a reliable leash, collar, and/or harness. Not only are these a fun way to showcase your pet’s personality, but they also play an important functional role, keeping them safely contained and ensuring that they always have ID on them in the event of an emergency.
For adventure cats, we can’t say enough about the Biothane gear from KittyCatGo! Both Pippen and Jinx sport one of their waterproof and stink-proof Kylo Collars. They are available in a wide variety of colours, and we get compliments on them everywhere we go.
If you’ve been around The Kas Pack for a while, you may have learned that while Jinx enjoys hanging out at camp, Pippen is our true adventure cat. For her go-to hiking gear, we pair a basic vest-style harness with a Kylo Leash made to match her collar. The best part about Biothane is how easy it is to clean – simply wipe any mud, dirt, and debris off and you’re ready to go!
Use our Coupon Code THEKASPACK10 for 10% off any KittyCatGo gear.
Of course, there are also our canine travel companions. We have Biothane collars and leashes for all 3 of our pups too. Unfortunately, the company that we regularly order from hasn’t been accepting new orders on their Etsy shop for the better part of 2022. But another company has come with great recommendations from members of our Camping & Hike with Dogs Ontario Facebook Group – Pack Hardware Adventure Goods.
We also had a custom swim leash made from KittyCatGo for Lucifer. It has two parts to it – the basic 15 ft swim long line and then a 10 ft extension that we can add on if we are in a location where we can give him a little more freedom. This isn’t something that she regularly makes, but Emily is great to work with on a custom order!
While we love Biothane for its cleanability, we also have regular collars that our crew wears when they aren’t playing in the dirt and mud or hitting the dog beach. Recently we discovered the tactical collars and leashes from Boss Dog Brand for Lucifer and the quality is 110% worth it!
This line of collars and leashes are well built and super durable, but they also have an easy-to-use safety clasp if you’re ever in a situation where you need to release your dog and FAST. This is SO important when you’re out and about exploring.
Finally, safety should always be priority #1 when heading out with your pet. Despite our best efforts, emergencies happen. If your best friend ever gets loose while adventuring, the Undercollar could make a huge difference in making sure that they get home safe and sound. This is a simple stretch band that can be worn on its own or under your pet’s collar that includes your contact info and a QR code that will immediately notify you when it has been scanned.
Hiking Accessories
In addition to a good collar and leash, there are a few other fun accessories we recommend this holiday season both for you and your adventure-loving pets. If you’re looking for stocking stuffers this season, why not pick up poop bag holders for both your used and unused bags. While we picked ours up from local vendors, you can find similar products on Amazon:
- Bone-shaped used dog poop bag holder
- Dog Doo Tube Odour-proof used poop bag holder
- Earth Rated Dog Poop Bag Dispenser
Another great hiking accessory that we recently discovered is the Spleash. This is a leash handle that you can add to any standard leash that carries water to hydrate your dog as well as a spray feature to use, if needed, to keep off-leash dogs at bay in a humane way.
Safety on the Water
If you are heading out on the water canoeing or kayaking with your pets, we are big supporters of the use of life jackets for dogs and cats. Even if your pet is a strong swimmer, emergencies aren’t always that cut and dry. There are rules in place to make sure that humans wear life jackets for their safety, and we believe if you have to wear a life jacket, so do they.
Our dogs all have the Outward Hound Granby Life Jacket. We have been using this for years with our older dogs. They are good quality, budget-friendly, and easy to adjust to each pet’s unique size and body shape. While we haven’t taken our cats on the water yet, we are planning on introducing Pippen to the canoe this coming year. We purchased a Paws Aboard Neoprene Pet Life Jacket after reading recommendations from other cat adventurers.
Winter Adventure Gear
Adventure lovers that are interested in getting outdoors all year long may need to pay special attention to their pet’s comfort during the colder winter months. Purchasing winter adventure gear is a great way to extend your adventure season, which is a gift in and of itself! Who doesn’t want to spend more time outdoors?
The first time we seriously had to consider this was with the introduction of little man Lucifer to our pack. Our older dogs Daviana and Indiana are both comfortable outdoors in the ice and snow. Lucifer wanted to play with them, but it doesn’t take long before he starts shivering in the cold Canadian winters. After introducing a coat and booties to the mix, he was proudly strutting his stuff outdoors. Lucifer’s go-to winter outfit includes a Shedrow K9 Chinook Dog Coat and dog booties from Qumy Pet.
Neither of our cats has been adventuring in the winter months. Jinx is much happier spending her time curled up on her bed by the fireplace and while Pippen is curious, we haven’t taken that step. But we learned at SuperZoo 2022 that RC Pets has released the cat-specific Drift Kitty Coat which is worth checking out for your feline friends.
For the Campsite
When setting up our campsite, we always want to make sure that there are comfortable places for our pets to kick back and relax. After all, it’s their camping vacation too! When backpacking, our gear is a little more limited due to obvious space restrictions. But car camping allows us to pack everything needed to make a pet-friendly camp paradise. This includes comfortable enclosures for them to hang out, raised beds, heating/cooling pads, and more.
Some of our favourite go-to campsite items include:
- Carlson Pet Products Portable Pup Travel Pet Bed
- MidWest Foldable Metal Dog Exercise Pen (we use 3 connected for our dog enclosure and 1 for the cat enclosure)
- Mesh/Fabric Pet Playpen Cover
- 48” 600D Oxford Cloth Pet Playpen
- K&H Pet Products Self-Warming Pet Pad
- Coleman Pressure Activated Comfort Cooling Gel Pet Mat
Travel-Friendly Treats
Of course, no vacation is complete without some tasty treats. Whether you’re planning on relaxing at the campsite or offering treats to your good dog or cat on the trails, we had to make sure to include this section. Plus, let’s be honest, our pack wouldn’t let us skip the snacks!
There is no denying the fact that Lucifer has a deeply rooted love for his Charlee Bear dog treats, and he firmly believes they are the best treats to toss in your treat pouch before heading out on your next adventure. They are healthy, low-calorie, and pocket-friendly (which we all know is important). At the campsite, we have a tradition of packing Earth Animal No-Hide Dog Chews for each of the pups to enjoy.
Recently we discovered a new treat for the cats that was a BIG hit. Both Pippen and Jinx go crazy over Caru Daily Dish Smoothies Lickable Treats for Cats. They are all packaged in convenient tubes for travel, making them an ideal option both for hiking and camping. Plus, being a lickable treat, they have a higher moisture content which can help to prevent dehydration.
Speaking of preventing dehydration… There are two more products that we feel should be included on your adventure pet’s holiday wishlist this year. DoggyRade and KittyRade are healthy electrolyte drinks that help to keep your pet both safe and healthy. They are packed full of great nutrition all with a delicious taste that has all our pets licking the bowl clean. They offer high levels of nutrition, making them ideal for highly active pets as well as those that are adventuring during the hot summer months.
Are you shopping for adventure-inspired gifts this holiday season? If so, we’d love to hear your gift ideas for adventure cats and dogs (and their parents) in the comments.
