While we are temporarily petless (our 17-year-old cat died in May 2024), my husband and I have been cat owners our entire marriage; Deacon was the fifth to share our home. We both also grew up with cats.
Thus, we’ve experienced the long arc of cats’ status and products and services offered for them — ranging from their living outdoors even during Midwest winters (with access to a warm garage) and eating prey, scraps or the lowest-priced commercial cat foods; to being indoor-only, full family members ruling our homes, couches and beds, and eating premium or therapeutic foods.
As evidence of their current status, look no further than the trends in new cat food and treat products (p. XX) as well as to the rising levels of cat ownership around the world. While cats have always been the most popular pets in some regions, such as Europe, their numbers continue to grow even there.
Pet cats now number 129 million across Europe, versus 106 million dogs, according to FEDIAF, the federation for European pet food associations. That’s up from 113.5 million in 2021, versus nearly 93 million dogs. In 2021, an estimated 26% of households in Europe owned at least one cat, with a similar percentage (25%) owning at least one dog; in 2024, the share of households owning at least one cat stands at 27%, while dog-owning households have stayed the same.
Even in countries where dogs have traditionally reigned, the number of cats is growing — for example, Brazil, where there are twice as many dogs as cats (60 million versus 30 million), the latter group is increasing, according to Abinpet, the pet product association.
In the U.S., Packaged Facts data shows cat-owning households increased from 30.2 million in 2021 to 32.1 million in 2023, while dog-owning households dropped from 53.3 million to 49.9 million. A similar dynamic has happened with U.S. households bringing in new, young pets: The number adopting kittens rose from 3.1 million back in 2014 to 3.9 million in 2023, as the number adopting puppies fell from 5.6 million to 4.4 million. During that period, the ratio of kitten-to-puppy households changed from 54% to 89%.
Dogs are wonderful companions and family members, so the point is not to disparage them — hey, I love dogs, too! It’s to highlight the changing population dynamics due to increasing urbanization (more people living in smaller spaces) and the fact that, in general, cats eat less than dogs, making them more affordable to feed during economically tough times.