Emotional companionship fosters

The arrival of International Cat Day on August 8th once again drew public attention to the booming cat economy.

The arrival of International Cat Day on August 8th once again drew public attention to the booming cat economy. Against the backdrop of accelerated urban living pace and the expanding scale of solitary living groups, cats, with their advantages of lower breeding thresholds and smaller space requirements, have become the preferred emotional companions for young people, continuously driving the expansion of the domestic pet market.
According to the data from the "2026 China Pet Industry White Paper", the growth rate of the domestic pet cat consumption market continues to be higher than that of the dog market. The consumption concept of many pet-owning families is shifting from simple feeding and breeding to full-cycle and refined care, driving continuous changes in the upstream and downstream industrial chains.
The vast cat-raising community has given rise to multi-layered consumption demands, leading to the gradual maturity of a complete industrial ecosystem encompassing daily diet, living and entertainment, and health care. The three major sectors are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, collectively forming the core pillar of the cat economy. At the same time, challenges such as homogenization competition within the industry, insufficient standardization, and mismatch between supply and demand are gradually emerging. The industry is at a critical turning point for quality improvement and upgrading.
Cat food formulas continue to move towards segmentation and customization, solidifying the demand foundation of the cat economy
Pet food is the most stable and sustainable expenditure segment in cat-raising consumption, and it also serves as the cornerstone of the entire cat industry.
In the past, the cat food category in the market was relatively limited, with dry food dominating almost the entire market. Consumers gave priority to price when making purchases, and feeding standards were limited to satisfying hunger needs. Nowadays, pet owners have transformed into professional "ingredient enthusiasts". Cat food is divided into various production processes such as extruded food, baked food, and air-dried food. Brands introduce specialized formulas for kittens, adult cats, elderly cats, and sick cats, based on their stages and physical conditions. Functional cat food such as hypoallergenic, urinary care, and weight management has gained significant market recognition.
Canned staple food, canned snacks, and freeze-dried products have gradually become standard offerings in daily feeding, breaking away from the monotonous dry food feeding mode. The freeze-dried product category continues to expand its raw material types. Beyond chicken, duck, and fish, niche raw material products such as venison and rabbit meat are emerging, satisfying pet owners' pursuit of dietary diversity.
According to the data from Tianyancha Professional Edition, as of now, there are over 5.08 million pet food-related enterprises in existence and in good standing in China. Among them, approximately 635,000 new registered enterprises have been added since the beginning of 2026. Looking at the trend of enterprise registration numbers, the registration of pet food-related enterprises has shown a year-on-year increase over the past five years, reaching its peak in 2025.
In terms of regional distribution, Hainan Province, Guangdong Province, and Zhejiang Province rank top in terms of the number of pet food-related enterprises. The combined number of such enterprises in these three provinces and cities exceeds 1.886 million, accounting for 37.14% of the total number of enterprises.