DEAR PET TALK: I have friends who have cats and dogs, and I have cats and dogs. Can you recommend presents for everyone? I'm not cheap, but I'd like recommendations on inexpensive gifts for my friends' pets. -- Crazy About Christmas

DEAR CRAZY ABOUT CHRISTMAS: We surveyed the Be PAWSitive Therapy Pets community and have the following recommendations:

Plan for the new year. Toys are great, but keeping a dog healthy to be outdoors is costly. Every pet parent welcomes NexTar (monthly flea/tick prevention) or Pesties is a great herbal product to spray on pet's bedding in the warm months. If you decide to get new towels and blankets, consider dropping off the old worn items to an area shelter with some canned food.

And there are gifts that keep on giving. Leominster's Cassidy Gardner always "wraps all the dogs toys and they have a blast unwrapping them."

Contrary to popular belief, cats are very easy to shop for -- there are a variety of battery-operated and rechargeable moving toys for felines, which are sure to provide minutes, if not hours, of joy. Debbie White of Lowell has a very picky feline who receives the same gift every year: "Catnip banana. The only thing she likes. Licks it twice and then never again."

Winnie the Pig, a GP owned by Jennifer Markarian Grealey of Medford will receive "some twiggy balls and her favorite crunch seed sticks," and in the past we've given twigs from apple trees that were left to grow wild to rabbits we knew.

Yes, there are some people who do not have pets - and we urge them to consider the wildlife around them. We hope the bears didn't wake up last week when it was in the 50s, but we're waiting for more snow, and more freezing nights before putting out the bird-seed. Wild birds also appreciate half-oranges and suet cages hung from branches. Later this winter, we'll have a column about the best treats for wildlife. When you are shopping for friends and family members, ask if they put out a bird-feeder -- when you give a gift for the birds, everyone loves seeing them enjoy it!