Now the anticipation of actually getting what you have dreamed of has born fruit: your new, longed-for mini furry is in your hands. After all those holiday present hints about how your mini menagerie needed to be expanded your friends and family indulged your fondest wishes. Your job is done.

Or is it?

What so many people who collect or make their own collectibles fail to take into account is that receiving a gift is not the end of the story. It's just the beginning of a small saga starring you and your new furry adoptee. Most important is to keep them clean and safe, thereby ensuring years of enjoyment. So where do you begin? Well, like everything else, we begin at the beginning!

I remember vividly when I was younger. It was Christmas and I was so excited to receive a set of Crayola© crayons. Not the wee box of 12 crayons, Feathered 1:12 scale whooping crane by IGMA Artisan Stephanie Brown but the deluxe set of 64 bright, pristine beauties packed neatly in their compartments. Most exciting was the gold crayon. I had never had a gold crayon. It was wonderful, and I imagined all of the things I would color using that gold.