Cute and cute, but also portable.

Nowadays, as pets, cats are more and more sought after by young people. Raising cats, going to cats to tease cats, and "catching cats in the cloud" have become the daily lives of many young people.

1

"Skinny" purses for cats

　　"I don't need to eat, but the cat must eat well." "To make a living for the cat owner"... "Cat slaves" use all kinds of humorous jokes to ridicule the daily routine of raising cats.

　　Hu Chao, who works in Guangzhou, could not withstand 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 not much left after rent and daily expenses, so his initial idea is to never be rich.

　　Eat cheap cat food, use ordinary cat litter, choose affordable cat toys... In the first few months, the arrival of cats has indeed added a lot of joy to Hu Chao's life.

"When I got home and saw the cute cat, the exhaustion of the day was gone."

　　Not afraid of cats being naughty, but afraid of cats getting sick.

At the beginning of this year, Hu Chao's cat suffered a serious illness, which caused his living expenses pressure to rise sharply.

　　I did several inspections before and after it was confirmed that the cause was a viral infection, and the inspection cost cost 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 now, but if he chooses to raise a cat, he will stick to it. After all, the companionship and happiness of a cat is irreplaceable.

　　Xiao Yang, who is an intern in Guangzhou, is also a cat lover, and once considered raising a British short.

"I thought about it for a long time, but thinking about the monthly living expenses of the cat 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 to sit down.

“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 by myself and play for as long as I want."

2

The rapid growth of pet cat consumption

　　The "2019 China Pet Industry White Paper" released by the pet social platform Goumin.com shows that in 2019, the number of pet owners (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 cats.

The scale of the pet cat consumer market was 78 billion yuan, an increase of 19.6%, surpassing the growth rate of the dog consumer 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 fierce, and a complete cat industry chain has been derived.

　　In a pet shop in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, the reporter of 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 covers three or four. A square meter cat house.

　　Many people like cats but do not have the requirements to raise cats, such as the landlord does not allow them, and the roommates do not like 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.

　　According to industry insiders, in addition to traditional cat food and cat supplies, new businesses such as cat coffee shops, cat boarding, cat funeral services, and cloud-raising cat apps 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.

3

Don’t follow suit, you have to be responsible for keeping cats

　　Wei Wenqi, an associate professor at the School of Psychology at South China Normal University, said that the behavior of humans in raising animals has evolved from the survival needs of chickens, ducks and pigs in the past to the spiritual needs of pets today. There are multiple motivations behind them.

　　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 today's pet owners, 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 also willing to call themselves "cat slaves".

　　The second 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 raising cats are influenced by the people around them. Some people really want to keep cats, and some may follow suit. .

　　Many interviewees believe that cats do bring happiness to the young group, but if you decide to raise 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 a troublesome thing." Wei Wenqi said.

　　Half a month to talk about reporters: Lu Hao

　　Source: "Ban Yue Tan" Issue 21, 2020