DO give your pet tidy, attractive treats and toys.
Dogs adore pig's ears and rawhide bones, but Julia Szabo says they're a bad idea. "They're hideous, they're smelly and they're as bad for your pet as they are for your floor," she says, pointing out they're coated in nitrates and leave greasy stains on floors and furniture.
It's important to give your dog something to chew on, or he might go after a chair leg. Szabo suggests rubber toys like the Kong or the Super-Tuff Rhino. Home furnishing seller Design Within Reach sells Bodhi Chew Toys, a set of nontoxic, vinyl doggie chews in feng shui-enhancing shapes: a stick of bamboo, a lotus blossom and a carp (set of three, $48).
For cats, Szabo recommends Everyday Studio's Cat Tree ($75), a scratching post/climbing tree combo that hangs on the wall. It's a chic, geometrically shaped concoction of colored metal and cardboard that offers a stylish alternative to homely carpet-covered scratching posts and plywood climbing trees. "It's like a work of art for your pet; it's beautiful and it's functional," Szabo says. Another option that will allow your cat to get out his inner panther, stylishly: shelves for him to perch on. Szabo sells "Tiger Branches," a set of wooden demilune shelves that attach to the wall. (Contact animalhousestyle.com) for pricing.)
Read on for more pointers on making your home a showplace fit for a pet.
