What a Meow-velous Day
vol.1389
Since yesterday was February 22nd, it was Cat Day.
Looking at the news, various companies are stocking up on products and services for cats, showing great excitement.
And that is to be expected.
The Nekonomics (economic impact generated by cats) 2025 estimate is approximately 2.9 trillion yen.
Compared to '22, it has surged by 50 percent.
〈Nihon Keizai Shimbun / February 21, 2025〉
The pandemic seems to have prompted many people to welcome cats into their families, and according to the Japan Pet Food Association's 2024 National Dog and Cat Ownership Survey, the domestic number of cats owned is 9.155 million, while the number of dogs owned is 6.796 million.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that as of April 2024, the number of children (population under 15) was approximately 14.01 million, which shows that the number of pets in the country now exceeds the number of children.
It is no wonder that things are heating up.
~With that in mind, today I would like to introduce various companies' initiatives for Cat Day🐱
The Heating Up Cat Day Market Battle
First, let's start with convenience stores, which we visit almost every day.
At the convenience store closest to my house, FamilyMart, they released a record-breaking all-time high of 21 unique Cat Day products this year.
Dubbed the 'Family-Meow-t Great Operation!', they began selling items such as sweets that recreate cat faces and paw padssweets starting on the 18th.
What particularly caught my eye were the products collaborated with Yamato Transport's characters, the 'Kuroneko' (Black Cat) and 'Shironeko' (White Cat).
It is truly a great selection that makes you feel Famima's 'touch'.
And at the next closest store, 7-Eleven, they were selling items like cat-themed sweet breads under the title 'Found a Kitty!'.
They also significantly expanded their product count to a total of 23 items, up from 5 last year, marking their highest number ever.
Furthermore, department stores are also rolling out luxurious Cat Day products.
Matsuya Ginza, which is bustling with wealthy customers and inbound tourists, is holding a special event featuring a wide range of items such as bags with cat illustrations and antique goods.
Compared to last year, we have doubled the sales floor space, and stocked approximately 1,300 items.
Odakyu Department Store is also holding a Shinjuku store event, the “Cat Exhibition” featuring about 3,000 items“Cat Exhibition”, running until the 24th.
They are stocking items such as hand-knitted hats for cats, and it seems they have extended the event period by three days compared to last year.
Of course, it is not just about Cat Day; some companies are consistently strengthening their cat-oriented product lines.
Living a pleasant life with cats
“A pleasant life” provider MUJI has been since last November launching a full-scale rollout of cat-related items as pet supplies.
They explain the reason as follows:
“Since the Ministry of the Environment’s standards also recommend that cats be kept indoors, we thought we would develop products that allow people and cats to live together in the house without stress by utilizing our existing expertise.”
they stated.
〈ITmedia Business Online / February 10, 2025〉
The products are divided into two categories: “Eating,” which is the basis of life, and “Living,” which makes the living space comfortable, with two categories of products being offered.
In the food category, we offer a complete nutritional food "Cat Food Made with Natural Ingredients: Domestic Chicken and Brown Rice with Fish Dashi Aroma", as well as a line of four types of gluten-free treats containing lactic acid bacteria, made with domestic rice flour and free from chemical seasonings, colorings, or thickeners "Puree" (Chicken Tender, Tuna, Fish Mix, and Bonito).
For the puree, they considered vegetable flavors among multiple candidates, and ultimately adopted the flavors that monitor cats also showed a good appetite for.
Meow! So there are cat monitors... (Surprised)
This shows just how much the company values the cat market.
By the way, the most popular products are the cushions and food bowls.
The cushions use fabric resistant to cat scratching, and the cover is removable.
They are designed so that both the filling and the cover can be machine washed.
On the other hand, as pet products, they are still in the stage of expanding awareness.
"We want to actively share information so that owners can choose with peace of mind for their pets, who are members of the family."
, says a company representative.
Toward a day when the "rescue cat" problem is also solved
Speaking of sharing information, there is a wonderful initiative they carried out on Cat Day that they want more people to know about.
That is the Yellow Hat Shin-Yamashita store adoption event featuring about 100 rescued cats called “Yellow Cat”.
〈Traffic News / February 21, 2025〉
According to the “People and Animal Symbiosis Center” NPO’s “National Roadkill Survey 2024,” the number of cats that lost their lives on roads in 2024 is estimated to be as high as 223,366.
This figure calculates to 612 cats per day, or roughly one cat every two and a half minutes involved in an accident.
Currently, the number of people becoming foster parents for rescued cats is increasing, but there are still many cats meeting sad fates.
Yellow Hat has actually been conducting the “National Traffic Meow-fety Campaign” since 2019.
By the way, the adoption event was scheduled for three days from Thursday, February 20th to Saturday, February 22nd, but it reportedly ended on the first day, the 20th.
That just goes to show how many people are considering becoming foster parents.
Additionally, the “Cat Punch Donation” is being held for a limited time from February 17th to the 24th.
This allows you to enjoy donating by spinning a roulette wheel on a dedicated website.
Yellow Hat has set a fundraising goal of 5 million yen, and the money collected will be donated to rescued cat and animal welfare organizations.
I am sure these kinds of heartfelt initiatives will continue to increase throughout the world as well😊
By the way, kidney disease for cats suffering from drug development aiming for AIM Institute of Medicine and IAM CAT, CyberAgent subsidiary Cygames and several other companies have raised over 1 billion yen in funding necessary to launch the drug.
I would like to keep an eye on feline medicine in the future.
Thank you very much for reading until the end today!