Herding Cats: Our Favorite Savings Stories for the Week of October 11th

If you know anything about the Savings.com blog, you know that we love our LOLcats. I'm pretty sure there have been times that we've written posts specifically so we can use something amazing we found on "I Can Has Cheezburger." But in the spirit of fairness to the other most common domesticated animal, stella.louise has decided that this week's roundup should be (mostly) canine-themed.

I know, I know--it's an outrageous and atrocious betrayal, so I just wanted to let you know that I took no part in this decision. I'll try my best to be stoic.

• NY Daily News: Your Dog May Soon Be Able to Fetch You a Nice Big Rebate - Apparently Congress is mulling over a bill that would give pet owners a tax cut of up to $3,500. This is great news for America's overflowing animal shelters, but if 62% of the country's 115 million households have a pet, and they receive an average of $1,000 for pet care costs (one cat averages around $670, $870 for a dog), that's an annual $115 billion addition to the deficit. The ASPCA and the Humane Society better start trying to distract as many fiscally-conservative Senators as they can with federally-subsidized kittens if they want to get this thing passed.

• Budgets are Sexy: Figure Out How Much Your Pet Costs - This should give you a better idea of how much your pet(s) are costing you. I've always wanted to buy a giant aquarium and fill it with those red-eared slider turtles they sell for $20 at Petco, but the habitat-to-animal cost ratio is just ridiculous. Maybe I can convince the bigwigs here at the Savings office that a family of slow-moving reptiles would be more practical than our current pet: a puppy that managed to urinate all over some legal documents last week.

• Consumer Reports: Best Dogs for Retirees - You're on your own for this one--I know next to nothing about dog breeds. I've never understood the joy of lavishing money and attention on a loud, annoying animal that exists solely to shed hair, smell awful, chew on things it's not supposed to, and defecate wherever it wants. If that's your thing, you might as well just have another human kid.

• WalletPop: Who Needs a Pension when Dogfood will do? - I'm not sure what other kids of my generation would say, but the entire concept of getting a pension has always been pretty weird to me. Social security is one thing, but getting paid a full salary every year until you die seems like a little much. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about public sector economics, so I'll leave it at that.

• Consumerist: Sexy Halloween Costumes for Dogs - I'm not going to lie--dressed-up cats with homicidal looks on their faces are probably one of the best things ever...but this is just disturbing. "Sexy" costumes for your little dog? Lucky for you they come with matching sexy human owner costumes, so get ready to celebrate Halloween 2009 by creeping out your entire neighborhood!

• MainStreet: Praying for Cash: When Religion Meets Personal Finance - This article is obviously the black sheep of this week's roundup, but as Stella pointed out to me, "dog" spelled backwards is "God." The connection is a little tangential, but let's go with it. I'm all for anybody who preaches debt-free living, but this trend of holy financial advising kind of reminds me of the South Park episode where Cartman figures out he can get rich off the Christian music audience by recording a gospel album.

Well, that's over. I'm sure our usual cat supremacy will return next week. Feel free to use the comments to bash me for my anti-canine-ism--but please, don't link to any pictures of your dog wearing a "sexy" Halloween costume. That kind of thing might get your hypothetical tax credit taken away.