Cats weren't a popular choice of pets in Taiwan until recently. Although it is hard to pinpoint the reason for the rise of cats, the data from the Ministry of Agriculture in Taiwan shows that cat popularity has been on the rise in the past decade.
However, despite the increase, the total number of household dogs in Taiwan still outnumbered household cats as of 2021, according to the Ministry of Agriculture in Taiwan.
Apart from the national estimate of household pets, the pet registration data in 2023 shows that Keelong topped as the city/county that owns the highest number of cats per household.
The top three cities/counties in 2023 with the highest number of cats per household are:
- Keelong: 8.41 cats per household
- Nantou: 8.15 cats per household
- Pintong: 6.28 cats per household
Surprisingly, we saw some overlaps between the top five cities/counties registered the most dogs and the most cats. Nantou and Pintung showed up on both top five lists.
Perhaps it's no longer an either-or between cats and dogs but a mix of both?