By 4Paws, a number one supplier of pet insurance coverage for canine, cats and rabbits.
It’s no secret that the pandemic has had a profound affect on people, households and companies proper throughout the UK.
Cat charities and organisations, particularly, have been drastically affected by restrictions — unable to welcome present and would-be cat lovers into their rescue centres, shelters, charity outlets and extra.
Remarkably, nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped Brits adopting furry, four-legged felines into their households in report numbers. Let’s check out some distinctive insights into lockdown cat possession.
More households are actually cat homeowners — and these are the most well-liked varieties of cat
Comparing the lockdown interval with the earlier 12 months, quotes for cat insurance coverage elevated by over 9.6%.
When it involves the kind of cat, the overwhelming majority cross and mixed-breed cats — or, as we extra generally know them, ‘moggies’. Pedigree cats are far much less frequent than their canine equivalents.
In truth, moggies, cross-breeds and different varieties of mixed-breed cat accounted for 73.8% of all cat insurance coverage quotes in the course of the March 2020–February 2021 interval. As for the pure breeds, the British Shorthair topped the lockdown pedigree pussycat recognition polls, adopted by the Shorthair Tabby and the Ragdoll.
The high 10 hottest pedigree cat breeds within the UK:
1. British Shorthair
2. American Shorthair
3. Ragdoll
4. Bengal
5. Maine Coon
6. Persian
7. Siamese
8. Russian Blue
9. Sphynx
10. Scottish Fold
[Caption: The British Shorthair, Britain’s most popular pedigree cat.]
Cat prices are up throughout the board
One results of elevated demand for cat possession: elevated related prices with coming to personal a kitty.
When requesting a pet insurance coverage quote, homeowners present a value paid for his or her cat. Taken all collectively, this information reveals that the typical value of buying a moggie elevated by 35.3% from March 2020–Feb 2021, from £59.61 to £80.66.
The heightened prices for moggies could replicate a combination of elevated demand, extra working prices for rescue centres in addition to lowered charity earnings in the course of the pandemic.
The most costly varieties of cat as revealed by the info are, unsurprisingly, pedigrees. Although many shelters do rescue and rehome pedigrees, a big quantity are raised by breeders to be bought.
The high 10 most costly pedigree cat breeds within the UK:
1. Sphynx — £818
2. Scottish Fold — £740
3. Russian Blue — £674
4. British Blue Shorthair — £634
5. Snow Leopard Bengal — £567
6. Ragdoll — £561
7. Maine Coon — £529
8. Bengal — £472
9. British Shorthair — £331
10. Persian — £302
[Caption: The coatless Sphynx topped the pedigree feline charts as the most expensive breed.]
The hottest pedigree — the British Shorthair — elevated in value on common by 38.5%, from £239 to £331. The common value of a Ragdoll, one other widespread breed, went up by £133 from (£428 to £561), or 31.1%, undoubtedly on account of elevated demand.
Very uncommon breeds — these with fewer than 1000 quotes for the entire 12 months — usually are not included on this information to keep away from skewing.
Richard Sharman, Commercial Director at 4Paws, commented: “Clearly, many households within the UK have seized the chance introduced by lockdown to grasp their cat possession desires — it’s fascinating to see the image painted out in numbers. The work of charities, shelters and rescue centres in serving to our furry feline buddies to seek out new properties, regardless of the pandemic, is awe-inspiring.”