It’s no secret that for many of us, our pet was the true favourite child growing up. Whether you were part of a feline family or considered yourself pooch people, you’ll probably agree that your domestic darling got the real VIP (very important pet) treatment above anyone else in the household. Life on four legs just keeps getting sweeter too, with dedicated dog spas, organic meal delivery services, custom catwear and pooch-friendly hotel packages making it easier than ever to spoil your pets. And it turns out, we’re pretty good at it – with new research revealing that Australian pets are the most pampered in the world.
The study conducted by pet accessory shop Fur King analysed 200 keywords related to pampering the 13 most popular domestic animals – from dogs and cats to fish, rabbits and even snakes. The researchers then calculated the total average monthly searches for these keywords, covering everything from ‘grooming’ and ‘treats’ to ‘toys’. With data from 163 countries, they standardised the results based on each country’s population to create the final top ten rankings.
We’re not sure whether to feel proud or a little embarrassed that Australia claimed the top spot as the country with the most pampered pets worldwide. With a total of 56,516 average monthly searches, it’s clear pets Down Under are living the dream. The most searched terms include ‘dog grooming’ (38,167 searches), followed by ‘dog pet toys’ (10,117 searches) and ‘cat grooming’ (6,083 searches). While the United States ranks second globally with the highest overall average monthly search volume (551,373 searches), Australia takes the crown when adjusted for population size.
Joining the pet pampering party in third place is Ireland, followed by the United Kingdom in fourth. Canada rounds out the top five and is the only country in the top five where a cat-related search term was more popular than those for dogs. You can check out the top ten countries with the most spoiled pets below.
The top 10 countries with the most pampered pets:
- Australia
- United States
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- United Arab Emirates
- Cyprus
- Malta