Welcome to CATS 2024, our fifth comprehensive survey about cats in the UK. Packed with cat statistics, this year’s survey highlighted the need to engage our youngest group of cat owners, who will be carrying the torch for cat welfare into the future.
We have also documented a clear trend towards pedigree cat ownership, which may present challenges to the veterinary and animal welfare sectors. As ever, we are keen to work with owners, breeders and veterinary professionals in meeting these challenges, to improve the welfare of cats across the UK.
Here’s a summary of what we found. You can read a number of cat statistics in our full report as well as reports from the devolved nations.
Read the full report Read the reports from the devolved nationsFind out more about how to look after your cat during the cost-of-living crisis.
In its fifth year, the CATS Report continues to shine a light on the changes we are seeing for cats, providing vital insight for the animal welfare sector, the veterinary profession and government. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest shifts we are seeing is a new generation of cat owners coming through, who are drastically changing the feline landscape. This younger generation of cat owners care greatly for their beloved companions, spending more time searching for advice about how to best look after their cat, ensuring they have insurance and making sure their cat is up to date with vaccinations.
The changes we are seeing do however, present some major challenges and risks. For the animal welfare sector, this younger demographic is significantly more likely to buy their pet than adopt. This potentially has long-term implications for our ability to rehome cats, but also removes an important interaction point with these cat owners.
Inextricably linked to the move to ‘purchasing’, is an increased interest in pedigree cats, which are, of course, less likely to be found in cat centres than moggies. These cats tend to be presented to the vet more regularly than moggies which may be a reflection of positive owner motivation or the potential likelihood for health issues in this group. We have also seen a disturbing rise in the popularity of extreme body types.
This is a vital time to consider how the animal welfare sector communicates with this new generation of cat owner. If we get it wrong at this crucial moment, the sector’s expertise risks being drowned out by other, potentially less reliable, sources.
This is why Cats Protection is focussing efforts on reviewing our communication channels, ensuring the right information for cat welfare is available and accessible. We are also calling on the veterinary profession to stand up for cats, to make welfare a priority, and to support cat owners, particularly those new to cat ownership, in making the right decisions for cats.
The new government also has a key role in addressing these challenges. With a growing but largely unregulated market, we know there are unscrupulous individuals out their looking to make a profit, breeding cats in poor conditions and with extreme traits, detrimental to their welfare.
Cats Protection will continue to focus efforts on highlighting these challenges with government and hopes to see swift action with cat breeding regulations introduced to make a life better for cats, because life is better with cats.
Read the full report