Spend Hk$10,000 A Month On Your Pets? Why Not, Say Cat Lovers At Hong Kong Expo

With 14 cats and a dog at home, Hong Kong couple Mr and Mrs Cheung spend more than HK$10,000 (US$1,275) a month on their beloved pets.

“Pets are meant to be spoiled rotten,” said Mrs Cheung, a pet groomer in her thirties who visited the cat expo in Wan Chai on Sunday with her husband and four Maine Coon cats. The cats were dressed up and carried in a HK$4,000 stroller made in Japan.

She said the four cats enjoyed going out, but were “a bit emotional today” because of the attention they received from eventgoers.

Halfway through their visit, the couple had already spent about HK$2,000 on cat food and snacks from Hong Kong and Taiwan brands.

“We do not have a budget in mind; we will buy anything that is right for us,” Mr Cheung said.

He said they used to buy cat food from Taiwan and ship it to Hong Kong because of the premium quality, so they were happy to see more Taiwanese brands featured in this year’s event.

The couple said they had another, more expensive stroller at home and had dedicated a whole room for pets to roam freely.

The Cheungs were among the tens of thousands of feline enthusiasts who packed the annual Cat Expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on the last day of the three-day event.

Mr and Mrs Cheung with one of their four Maine Coon cats. Photo: Emily Hung

Exhibitors in general reported a positive business performance this year despite the wet weather, with many indicating an interest in joining again next year.

Another pet owner, Yan Leung, a finance employee in her forties, brought one of her three cats, Lumi, for a feast of free samples.

“I visit the cat expo every year so I can buy what my three cats need all in one go at a discounted price, and let my cat enjoy new snacks,” she said.

“I have bought a few months’ worth of cat food, and I received a lot of free gifts, such as these two scratching boards … so the cats got food and toys in one go.”

Leung said she spent about HK$3,000 on cat food halfway through her visit, which was relatively less than in previous years when she also bought litter and a pet feeder.

A survey found that Hongkongers spend on average more than HK$2,000 a month on pets, with the market value of the pet industry projected to exceed HK$6 billion.

Featuring more than 180 exhibitors, the event offered not only cat food, supplements, litter and toys, but also innovative solutions such as robotic buddies and artificial intelligence-powered collars that claim to translate meows into human intentions.

The event featured more than 180 exhibitors offering cat food, supplements and even AI gadgets. Photo: Karma Lo

The PetPhone, developed by Nasdaq-listed UCL, uses big data to analyse the needs and feelings of pets and display them in human language on a mobile app.

“It’s just like a group chat that allows family members to check in on their pets and interact with them anytime,” said Alina Zheng, the company’s sales manager.

Zheng said the collar also helps prevent pets from going missing.

“When the pet gets lost, the collar will play a notification that alerts people around it of the phone number of the owner … in addition to an extremely precise GPS,” she said.

She added that visitors expressed strong interest in the technology, with a few collars sold every day.

VIPets, a cat food distributor for more than five brands from places such as Canada, Germany, Australia and Hong Kong holds one of the biggest booths right at the entrance of the exhibition.

Marketing coordinator Alice Tan said the firm had joined the expo for the fifth time and had gradually expanded their booth size over the years.

“I found the foot traffic of the cat expo higher than the pet show in January,” she said.

“Last time we had both dog and cat owners, but this time we only have cat owners, and Hong Kong has more cat owners than dog owners.”

Over the past five years, she observed that cat owners in Hong Kong had become more proactive in understanding different brands, prioritising quality, nutrition and place of origin way above cost.

“They do not care about the price at all,” Tan said.