addicted to cats, and raising cats is "poverty"? Young people urge the "cat economy"
half a month to talk about reporters Lu Hao
is cute and cute, and can be carried with him. Nowadays, cats are more and more sought after by young people as pets. Raising cats, going to cats to tease cats, and "catching cats in the cloud" have become the daily lives of many young people.
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8zis "skinny" for cats.
"I don't need to eat, but cats must eat well." "To make a living for cat owners"... "Cat slaves" use all kinds of humorous jokes to ridicule the daily routine of raising cats.
Hu Chao, who works in Guangzhou, couldn't stand the temptation of his friends to keep cats a year ago and adopted an orange cat. The monthly salary is less than 6,000 yuan, and there is very little left after rent and daily expenses, so his initial idea is to never be rich.
Eat cheap cat food, use ordinary cat litter, and choose affordable cat toys... In the first few months, the arrival of cats did add a lot of joy to Hu Chao's life. "When I came home and saw a cute cat, the exhaustion of the day was gone in an instant."
is not afraid of cats being naughty, they are afraid of cats being sick. At the beginning of this year, Hu Chao's cat suffered a serious illness, which caused his living expenses pressure to rise sharply.
did several inspections before and after it was confirmed that the cause was a virus infection, and the inspection cost was one to two thousand. After being diagnosed, I went to the hospital on time for injections every day, and there were hundreds of them in a week. Hu Chao said that life is a bit difficult at present, but if he chooses to keep a cat, he will stick to it. After all, the companionship and happiness of a cat is irreplaceable. Xiao Yang, who is an intern of
in Guangzhou, is also a cat lover, and once considered raising a British short. "I thought about it for a long time, but thinking of the cat's monthly living expenses and my ability to resist risks after the cat got sick, I finally gave up." Xiao Yang said that her current internship salary is not enough to give the cat a "decent life" ".
But in order to "suck cats", Xiao Yang would often buy some cat cultural and creative products, and occasionally go to cat cafes. “The main purpose is not to drink coffee, but to tease the cat and be satisfied.” Xiao Yang said that although the cat will spend more than 300 yuan a week on the cat, the expenditure is very worthwhile. "When I have a certain material foundation, I will raise a cat myself and play as long as I want."
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The rapid growth of pet cat consumption
The "2019 China Pet Industry White Paper" released by the pet social platform dogmin.com shows that 2019 The number of owners of pets (dogs and cats) in cities and towns across the country reached 61.2 million, an increase of 4.72 million over the previous year, of which 24.51 million were raising cats. The scale of the pet cat consumption market was 78 billion yuan, an increase of 19.6%, which exceeded the growth rate of the dog consumption market. The cat owners are mainly young people.
From cat expression packs, animated pictures to cat claw cups and other cat cultural and creative products, the cat economy spawned by cat culture is unprecedentedly hot, and a complete cat industry chain has been derived.
In a pet shop in Tianhe District, Guangzhou City, the reporter from Banyue Tan saw that in addition to providing cat breeding and trading services, all kinds of cat products are dazzling: from cat food and cat snacks to cat trays and cat litter, and even has three areas. A four-square-meter cat house.
Many people like cats but do not have the requirements to raise cats. For example, the landlord does not allow them and their roommates dislike them. In recent years, the emergence of cat cafes is satisfying the needs of non-cat people who "punish cats". Taking Guangzhou as an example, the reporter of Banyue Tan searched a certain lifestyle app with "cat coffee" as a keyword, and the search results were 136. In Shanghai, the number is 467.
Young people in a cat cafe Photo by Tang Wenhao
Industry insiders said that in addition to traditional cat food and cat supplies, new businesses such as cat coffee shops, cat boarding, cat funeral services, cloud cat apps, etc. are rapidly emerging. In 2015, Japanese economists invented a new term: "cat economics", which means that no matter how difficult the economy is, the public's enthusiasm for cats and related products is always high.
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8zDon’t follow suit. Cats are also responsible.
Associate Professor Wei Wenqi of the School of Psychology, South China Normal University, said that the behavior of raising animals has evolved from the survival needs of chickens, ducks and pigs in the past to the spiritual needs of raising pets. There are multiple motivations behind it.
One is to resolve loneliness. "Introverted, at home, need company, afraid of trouble, contemporary young people and cats have similar personalities, so more young people take cats as their spiritual sustenance." Wei Wenqi said.
for the present petFor the Lord, pets are no longer just animals, but have been given the attributes of "human". Pets have become a member of the family and have been dubbed "sons" and "daughters". Pet owners are willing to call themselves "cat slaves".
Two is the result of social learning. "The classmates around are raising cats, and there are cat shops everywhere, why can't I." Wei Wenqi said that some young people raise cats because of the influence of people around them. Some people really want to raise cats, and some may follow suit. .
Many interviewees believe that cats do bring happiness to the young group, but if you decide to keep a cat, you must take a responsible attitude towards cats. "For young people, with job changes or job promotion, there is less time to keep cats in their leisure time, and when the cat gets sick, pistachios will become troublesome." Wei Wenqi said.
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