Choosing A Dream Pet

Getting a pet is a big commitment: they need to be fed, cleaned and looked after.  They can be your friend for months or even decades so it’s pretty hard to choose the perfect pet. I think mine would be one that loved a cuddle and didn’t make a mess. We’ve all been thinking about what our dream pet would be after Petplan invited us to take part in a campaign where they would create a cuddly version of an animal drawn by my eldest daughter.

A young girl with big blue eyes cuddling an alien in bed

This is Scrubbly. She is an alien. Yes that’s right, no earthly creature is good enough to be my daughter’s dream pet and she has to go into space to find inspiration. Her alien has 4 arms, 2 eyes on stalks and 6 little legs. To be honest I’m surprised, I would have guessed she would have chosen some sort of unicorn, but maybe they should run wild instead of being domesticated?

A drawing of an alien with purple arms with heart hands, blue eyes on stalks, an orange and blue body and 5 udder like legs

A cuddly version of the hand drawn alien above

I asked M what she loved about her alien and she said he is small so she can take him around with her. As M spends half her time at her Dad’s house and half at mine having a pet who can travel around is important. Her Dad and I both have a cat and she loves them, but they spend most of their time outside so she doesn’t get to see them much anyway. Her Dad’s cat is currently poorly and is having tests at the vets. It’s so important to have good pet insurance so he can be checked out and treated without having to worry about the financial impact. Having suspected diabetes has also highlighted the importance of having a lifetime insurance so you can keep on claiming if it’s a lifelong condition without reaching a maximum claim amount, like the options available from Petplan’s Pet Insurance

The alien created thanks to Petplan is being cuddled by a young girl while she sleeps

When I asked M to describe Scrubbly she said she had super strong arms which could protect us from all the bad people. So my daughter’s dream pet is one that is always with her and will look after her. I’m not going to psycho analyse that too much, but it definitely sounds like a great pet.

After M had finished colouring in her dream pet I told her that I was going to send the picture away to the clever people at Petplan and they were going to get someone to turn it into a cuddly animal for her. She was very excited and asked every few days for weeks if it had arrived. Finally it was here. M took it out of the bag and gave her perfect pet a big cuddle before going around and showing everyone.

A young girl hugs her alien dream pet with a big excited grin on her face

***Disclosure: Thank you so much to Petplan for creating the dream pet for M. This post is in collaboration with Petplan but all thoughts are mine (and M’s) ***

Petplan was created in 1976 so they have spent over 40 years focusing on providing great pet insurance policies and excellent customer service.  They aim to understand the needs of pet owners and became one of only a few pet insurance providers to offer genuine ‘lifetime’ policies. They also offer a slightly cheaper 12 month policy to suit all needs.

As well as providing insurance Petplan works with more animal rehoming charities than any other pet insurance provider. They support more than 1200 charities throughout the UK as well last having their own Charitable Trust which has raised more than £7million since 1994 to help make a better, healthier world for animals.

7 comments

  1. We have recently got a family pet called Milo. When we first got him we never thought about pet insurance, but just as we need cover so do the new additions to the family, as pet bills can become quite costly.

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  2. This is a brilliant concept! I love your daughters pet, bless her! x

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  3. What a wonderful idea. I can really imagine the excitement of having your own pet come to life.

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  4. Well done PetPlan, your daughter's Scrubby is fantastic.
    I was so grateful we had pet insurance after our cat got attacked by a neighbour's dog and the bill for an operation and treatment was huge!

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  5. This is amazing, what a lovely thing to do! We have a big fluffy dog called Bilbo!

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  6. Oh wow I love that scrubbly was created from her own drawings. I think that it is pretty awesome! We have a pet snake called Conan so not your average cat or dog.

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  7. Love the concept, definitely a great alternative to those who might not be able to get a pet and what a great way to get kids involved as well with what to incorporate into design. Thanks for sharing x

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