Consumer Acceptance of Sustainable Cat Diets: A Survey of 1380 Cat Guardians

There is increasing awareness about the adverse environmental and ‘food’ animal welfare impacts associated with the production of meat-based pet food. However, little is known about cat guardians’ acceptance of more sustainable food choices for the global population of approximately 476 million pet cats. By surveying 1380 cat guardians, this study explored feeding patterns used by guardians, determinants of their cat food choices, and their acceptance levels of more sustainable cat food alternatives. The sources of information used by cat guardians to obtain information about the cat diets they chose were also investigated. Key results included: (1) 51% (620/1211) of cat guardians currently feeding meat-based cat food (raw or conventional) considered at least one or more sustainable alternatives to be acceptable, with cultivated meat-based cat food being the most popular alternative, followed by nutritionally sound vegan cat food; (2) the top five characteristics alternative diets needed to offer to be considered viable were good health outcomes, nutritional soundness, palatability, quality, and environmental sustainability; (3) diet types consumed by cat guardians and their cats were strongly associated; and (4) labels/packaging and veterinarians were the information sources most used, although veterinary staff may have been less trusted as reliable sources of dietary advice by guardians feeding unconventional diets. It should be noted that, due to the reliance on convenience sampling and the overrepresentation of respondents from the UK, of female guardians, of respondents with higher education and of vegan guardians, the reported relative frequencies of subgroups were not fully representative of the global cat guardian population. Association estimates were based on regression analyses to minimize any resultant bias effects.