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Pet Horoscopes
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Published: September 25, 2006
Though few will admit it, many people enjoy checking their daily horoscope in the newspaper or online. It is fun to see how close our actual experiences get to the predictions, and it is intriguing to think there is a way we can see into the future.
But who could have predicted that one day we would have horoscopes for our beloved pets, too?
Sure enough, these days pet horoscopes can be found on the Internet. Some of the sites are run by commercial enterprises, such as astrologers or companies producing pet-related products. Others are "labors of love," put together by animal lovers promoting pet awareness, responsible pet ownership or just sharing their deep affection for pets.
For the most part, pet horoscopes work like human horoscopes. A pet is assigned a sun sign – such as Aquarius, Gemini and Leo – based on his or her birth date.
For example, if your dog was born on July 14, he would be a Cancer, or "Moon Child." Human Cancers are believed to be domestic, placid and affectionate. It should not surprise anyone, then, that the Cancer dog (or cat, or guinea pig, or boa constrictor) is also portrayed as home loving and desiring of affection in most pet horoscopes. (You do have to stop and consider how affectionate you want to be with a boa constrictor, but that's another topic altogether.)
Similarly, Leo pets, like Leo humans, want to be at center stage and rule the family. According to www.petsforum.com, a Leo cat (July 23 - Aug. 22) "will enjoy sitting on a perch, like a king, watching the world go by . . . (they will) love it if someone passing by remarks how beautiful they are."
Most "pet horoscopes" offer little more than behavior generalities grouped under each sun sign, like the examples above. Other pet horoscopes take a few more liberties. They often are written with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, as if the pet himself was reading the prediction.
Take, for example, a weekly reading called "Madam Fifi" (a French poodle icon, of course) posted for Sagittarius dogs (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) on www.doghoroscopes.com in September 2006: "Walks and exercise will be featured. There are new paths in life that will challenge you. Find new hiding place for favorite toy. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio play exciting roles."
Now those are specifics a dog can use in the course of a day!
Or try this one for Aquarius cats (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18) from www.petstainremoval.com: "Rekindle your loving nature. Your ruler, Uranus, is retrograde and on the cusp of Pisces/Aquarius. Lay off the heavy cream this month and ask to go out a little more."
On the other end of the spectrum, some astrologists take the idea of pet horoscopes quite seriously. Astrologyweekly.com, for instance, gives detailed pet horoscope profiles and suggests which pets are the best choices for humans based on each other's star signs. Other astrologists offer personalized pet readings for a fee.
The latter's potential market must be limited, however. A personalized horoscope requires not only a birth date, but also the time and location of birth. Unless animals are pedigreed purebreds, were born in our own homes or had their birth records recorded in a diary, we seldom know the specifics of our pets' births.
What about people who follow the Chinese zodiac instead of the Western one? Is there a pet horoscope for a cat born in the Year of the Pig? A dachshund could develop some severe identity problems if people keep telling him he's a Rat, couldn't he?
It's no great mystery to animal lovers that pets have their own personalities and idiosyncrasies, just like humans. But chances are pretty good that our pets are the way they are because of their breed, their genes and the influence we have had on them rather than how the planets were aligned when they were born.
Remember what Shakespeare said: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves."
But who could have predicted that one day we would have horoscopes for our beloved pets, too?
Sure enough, these days pet horoscopes can be found on the Internet. Some of the sites are run by commercial enterprises, such as astrologers or companies producing pet-related products. Others are "labors of love," put together by animal lovers promoting pet awareness, responsible pet ownership or just sharing their deep affection for pets.
For the most part, pet horoscopes work like human horoscopes. A pet is assigned a sun sign – such as Aquarius, Gemini and Leo – based on his or her birth date.
For example, if your dog was born on July 14, he would be a Cancer, or "Moon Child." Human Cancers are believed to be domestic, placid and affectionate. It should not surprise anyone, then, that the Cancer dog (or cat, or guinea pig, or boa constrictor) is also portrayed as home loving and desiring of affection in most pet horoscopes. (You do have to stop and consider how affectionate you want to be with a boa constrictor, but that's another topic altogether.)
Similarly, Leo pets, like Leo humans, want to be at center stage and rule the family. According to www.petsforum.com, a Leo cat (July 23 - Aug. 22) "will enjoy sitting on a perch, like a king, watching the world go by . . . (they will) love it if someone passing by remarks how beautiful they are."
Most "pet horoscopes" offer little more than behavior generalities grouped under each sun sign, like the examples above. Other pet horoscopes take a few more liberties. They often are written with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, as if the pet himself was reading the prediction.
Take, for example, a weekly reading called "Madam Fifi" (a French poodle icon, of course) posted for Sagittarius dogs (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) on www.doghoroscopes.com in September 2006: "Walks and exercise will be featured. There are new paths in life that will challenge you. Find new hiding place for favorite toy. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio play exciting roles."
Now those are specifics a dog can use in the course of a day!
Or try this one for Aquarius cats (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18) from www.petstainremoval.com: "Rekindle your loving nature. Your ruler, Uranus, is retrograde and on the cusp of Pisces/Aquarius. Lay off the heavy cream this month and ask to go out a little more."
On the other end of the spectrum, some astrologists take the idea of pet horoscopes quite seriously. Astrologyweekly.com, for instance, gives detailed pet horoscope profiles and suggests which pets are the best choices for humans based on each other's star signs. Other astrologists offer personalized pet readings for a fee.
The latter's potential market must be limited, however. A personalized horoscope requires not only a birth date, but also the time and location of birth. Unless animals are pedigreed purebreds, were born in our own homes or had their birth records recorded in a diary, we seldom know the specifics of our pets' births.
What about people who follow the Chinese zodiac instead of the Western one? Is there a pet horoscope for a cat born in the Year of the Pig? A dachshund could develop some severe identity problems if people keep telling him he's a Rat, couldn't he?
It's no great mystery to animal lovers that pets have their own personalities and idiosyncrasies, just like humans. But chances are pretty good that our pets are the way they are because of their breed, their genes and the influence we have had on them rather than how the planets were aligned when they were born.
Remember what Shakespeare said: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves."
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