Pet
Food
Review

Pet Facts and Figures - the chart results!

A new study has found that the UK domestic cat and dog population is larger than previously reported by industry figures.

Cats and dogs are popular pets in the UK but it has been over 20 years since domestic cat and dog population estimates in the UK have been published in scientific peer-reviewed journals.

The paper published in the Veterinary Record by Dr Jane Murray in the Department of Clinical Veterinary Science at Bristol University and colleagues, aimed to estimate the number of UK domestic cats and dogs and identify the characteristics of their owners. The figures are also useful to the animal health and welfare professions, including rescue charities, which can use these and future estimates to assess population changes.

In 2007, a telephone survey of households randomly selected from the electoral roll revealed that cats and dogs were owned by 26 per cent and 31 per cent of households, respectively. The number of owned cats and dogs were predicted by two variables: the number of people in the household and the geographical location (London/rest of UK) of the household. UK census information and mid-year population estimates of the number of households and the average household size in 2006 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were used to estimate that UK households owned approximately 10.3 million cats and 10.5 million dogs in 2006.

Characteristics associated with cat and dog ownership were also identified. Cats were more likely to be owned by; households with gardens, semi-urban/rural households, households with someone qualified to degree level, respondents who were female and respondents who were aged less than 65 years. Cats were less likely to be owned by households with one or more dogs.

The likelihood of dog ownership increased as the household size increased. Dogs were more likely to be owned by households with gardens, rural households and less likely to be owned by households with someone educated to degree level and households with cats or children aged less than 11 years.

Female respondents and those aged less than 55 years were more likely to report dog ownership than other respondents. Dogs were less likely to be owned by households with one or more cats.

Dr Jane Murray, Cats Protection Lecturer in Feline Epidemiology, commenting on the research, said: “The study has shown many common factors relating to cat and dog ownership, such as a garden and rural location, but it has also identified some notable differences.

“In particular, the difference in the level of education achieved by a household owning cats and dogs. The reason for this association is unclear. It is unlikely to be related to household income as this variable was not shown to be significant but it could be related to household members with longer working hours having less time available to care for a dog.

“Past reports have suggested that the number of pet cats exceeds the number of pet dogs in the UK. However, results from our study suggest that there are similar numbers of domestic cats and dogs.”

The researchers recommend the study is repeated in 2011, (the year of the next scheduled UK census), as any increase or decrease in population numbers will enable pet ownership trends to be monitored.

Top 10 Pets in the UK for 2009

The Top 10 Pets in the UK for 2009, starting with the most popular, are:
(the total number of species, rounded in Millions)

1. Fish (over 50.0M) Indoor and Outdoor)
2. Dogs (around 8.0M)
3. Cats (around 8.0M)
4. Rabbits (around 1.0M)
5. Birds (around 1.0M - Indoor)
6. Domestic Fowl (around 0.5M)
7. Guinea Pigs (around 0.5M)
8. Hamsters (around 0.5M)
9. Horses/Ponies (around 0.3M)
10. Tortoises/Turtles (around 0.2M)

fish_on_white_background_181006.jpg

Top 10 Dogs in the UK in 2008

1. Labrador (0.6M)
2. Border Collie (0.6M)
3. Jack Russell Terrier (0.5M)
4. Yorkshire Terrier (0.4M)
5. German Shepherd (0.3M)
6. Bischon Frise (0.2M)
7. Rottweiler/ Dalmation (0.1M)
8. Cocker Spaniel/ Shitzu (0.1M)
9. Labradoodle/ Golden Retriever (0.1M)
10. Greyhound (incorporating Whippets)/ Chihuahua (0.1M)

NB: There was 5.5M Pedigree and 1.0M Mixed breeds and 0.8M cross-breeds of dog in the UK

Top 5 Cats in the UK in 2008

1.
Bengal (0.1M)
2.
British Short Hair (0.1M)
3.
Burmese (0.1M)
4.
Manx (0.1M)
5.

Siamese (0.1M)

NB: There was 0.6M Pedigree and 6.6M Non- Pedigree cat in the UK

Please note: 2008 was the first year that we have looked at the top 5 cats and the sample size was fairly low. This means that there was always a higher level of statistical uncertainty but for general reference you may find these results useful.
(ref:PFMA/TNS)

Rabbits

It is estimated that there are between 1.6 and 2 million pet rabbits in the UK.

In 2004, 4.6% of UK households owned a rabbit

There are 67 breeds and 531 varieties of rabbit. The smallest breed is the Netherland Dwarf Rabbit, weighing just 1kg when fully grown, and one of the largest is the Flemish Giant Rabbit, which weighs up to 6kg.

Rabbits usually live to about seven or eight years old, but many live over 10 years

A rabbit chews 120 times a minute and has 17,000 tastebuds. That's 7,000 more than humans and 15,000 more than dogs

Litters usually contain between six and eight kittens. However, the largest litter ever recorded had 24 kittens

Pet Names

Pet names are being influenced by celebrity figures across TV, film and sport. Lord of the Rings characters have also become popular, with nearly 500 pets named Pippin and over 100 Gandalf insured with Direct Line alone.

Other pets with celebrity names insured with Direct Line include six Dumbledore's, four Harry Potter's, four Beyonce's, two Miriah's and fifteen Whitney's. Naming our pets after celebrities is a growing trend and the Direct Line research has thrown up some interesting results – from the Great Dane named Gandalf The Great, to the moggy called 50 Cent

How our pet ownership affects the way food companies target pet lovers

Total retail value sales for pet food and pet care products in the UK approached £2.6 billion in 2006 per Euromonitor International's latest research. This represents growth of more than 5% from the previous year.

With pet anthropomorphism gathering pace in the UK, manufacturers are increasingly able to persuade pet owners to trade up to the super-premium and premium products that have driven value sales growth in recent years. Consumers are driving this demand as they are increasingly aware of their pet's nutritional requirements.

In the UK, value sales for premium dog and cat food grew 9.2% during 2006 to £655 million. This growth has been driven by a raft of new health focused multi-functional foods aimed at weight management and improving pets' paws, claws, eyes, coats, skin, teeth, digestive health, and brain power. Key terms appearing on packaging have included omega 3 & 6, macro-nutrient profile, wheat and gluten free, and hypoallergenic.

2006 also saw significant innovation for pet life-stage and life-style products. Greater UK consumer interest for such products proved especially beneficial to Masterfoods' Whiskas cat food brand, which increased its share of total premium dog and cat food nearly 2 percentage points to claim 19.4% of value sales according to Euromonitor International research.

If you want to know the size of the pet food market in the UK then follow this link

source: PFMA, Euromonitor, Direct Line insurance