Whether you’re a cat or dog person, or another animal entirely, pets really do become an important part of our lives. So, it’s no surprise that so many Brits want to mark their birthday with celebrations that are on par with what they might do for an actual person.
But how far do pet owners actually take this and are they being more spoilt on their birthday than the rest of us? Well, we took it upon ourselves to find this out and conducted a survey to find out just what sort of money is being spent on celebrating a pet’s birthday.
Over half of Brits spend more on their pet’s birthday than family and friends
Depending on where you sit on treating your pet as though it is an actual family member, you may or may not be surprised to hear that our research discovered over half of Brits (53.5%) are willing to spend more on their pet’s birthday than they would for others.
In fact, 16% of respondents even went so far as to admit having purchased a particularly expensive or luxury gift for their pet. The real question is, would they know the difference or not?
Perhaps they would actually be pickier with presents if they’ve gotten used to an extravagant lifestyle, and it turns out that 47% of owners do spoil their pets with treats and gifts on a regular basis. When asked why they spoil their pets so much, half of Brits put it down to the simple fact that they just can’t resist doing so.
As everyone knows, there are certain things that make a birthday, well, a birthday! The same also seems to go for celebrating a pet’s birthday with 61% going out and buying special presents for the day. Meanwhile, 30% are even going so far as to getting their pet a birthday cake that they can tuck into.
Cats vs dogs – who is more spoilt on their birthday?
It’s the longstanding debate: cats vs dogs. But which furry friend is being more spoilt when their birthday arrives? According to our research, it’s looking like cats may have the win on this one as the average Brits is spending £75 on their feline’s birthday compared to a slightly lower £65 for pooches.
Delving into this further, the same goes even when you split it by gender with women splashing out an average of £56 on dogs versus £67 on cats. Meanwhile, men end up forking out £67 on a cat’s birthday celebrations and only £56 if they’ve got a dog, which ultimately begs the question, are dogs really man’s best friend?
If your pet is about to turn another year old (or 7 years older, if you’re counting in dog years), don’t forget to pick up an extra special pet birthday card to go nicely alongside your presents. And if you really want to go all out, be sure to read our blog on how to throw the pawfect dog birthday party for ideas and inspiration that can be adapted for all sorts of pets.
Methodology:
To get this data we surveyed 1,500 brits through the research provider TLF in August 2023.
