Bella, Baby, Coco, or Fluffy?
New Zealander’s are most likely to call their dog Baby, or cat Bella, according to a new global study.
Drawing insights from over 20,000 pet parents from across 20 countries, the survey listed Kiwis’ favourite names and breeds, alongside the pressures faced as a ‘pet parent’.
Baby, Coco, Max, Milo, and Jack will be the names you’ll hear most often at the dog park. For cats, Bella, Puss, Fluffy, Molly, and Mary take the top spots. The Mars Global Pet Parent Study provides insights into the evolution of pet parenting and the impact pets have on us daily.
More than a quarter (29%) of dog owners were most influenced by family to get their pet, followed by friends and an online search (20%). Cat parents were evenly split between family and no-one (28%), followed by friends at 20% influence.
Millennials like to live life with spontaneity, with 38% of participants saying they had not planned on adding a dog to the household. They are also the biggest generation of first-time cat owners (56%), and share the crown with Gen X as the most spontaneous to becoming a cat parent (47%).
EMOTIONAL PRESSURES
The study found that New Zealander’s have the highest levels of satisfaction with pet ownership, from the 20 countries studied. Dog owners just take the crown, with 58% scoring their satisfaction as 10 out of 10. Satisfaction of cat owners in New Zealand came in at 55%. Globally, these ratings sit at 51% and 49% respectively.
No doubt, pets make our houses homely, with 56% of dog owners saying so, and 55% of cat owners agreeing. On appreciating the unconditional love a dog shows them, 61% said yes. Naturally, 56% of cat owners said the most satisfying thing about their cat was their ability to make them laugh.
It’s not all belly scratches and wagging tails, though. The study delved into the emotional connections between pets and their parents. Guilt from leaving pets alone was the biggest pain point of dog owners, at 42%, while just over a third felt guilty leaving their cat alone. A further 29% listed unexpected costs as the biggest pressure – cat owners scored this at 34%. Coping with the loss of their feline companion was the most troubling for cat owners, at 36%.
