Pawpularity contest: dogs vs cats

Leading vets reveal UK pup and kitty ownership hotspots

• Pet owners in Northern Ireland are second-biggest cat lovers
• NI ranks only in fifth for dog ownership
• Dogs still lead, but cats are clawing their way up the pet ownership ranks

It’s an age-old debate and defining characteristic: are you a cat person or a dog person? Now the UK’s leading pet health plan provider, Pet Health Club, has revealed which regions are the biggest pooch and moggie lovers.

The team at Pet Health Club analysed data from across their nationwide network of over 800 vet practices*, revealing that South West England is the most dog-daft region, with the highest number of dogs per household, while Wales is the most cat-crazy area.

Dogs continue to lead as the UK’s favourite pet — outnumbering cats in nearly every region by population, density, and per-household ownership – but the cats have got the cream in Wales and NI, where there are more kitties than pups per household.

While dogs are still in fur-st place across the country, social media trends suggest cats are gaining ground. Cats dominate meme culture and feline content is shared twice as much as dog images and videos.

Cat-loving celebrities like Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran are potentially driving a trend for Gen-Z cat ownership, with TikTok searches for videos comparing cat breeds up by 1000% and Scottish folds (Taylor’s cat of choice) the most popular searched breed.

Holly McKinley, Senior Vet at Pet Health Club, said: “While we see a huge variety of pets in our practices, dogs and cats are still very much a mainstay of British households.

“There’s nothing quite like welcoming a new puppy or kitten into the family, and while those in the South West are the biggest dog lovers and those in Wales and the North East are the top cat fans, we’re lucky as vets to see every day how much families across the UK love their pets.

Research has shown that certain types of people are more drawn to dogs or cats†. For example, dog owners are traditionally thought to be more extroverted, loyal and conformist, while cat owners are typically more introverted, creative and independent.

So it would appear that ‘dog people’ and ‘cat people’ really are a thing, however what matters most is that they are given a loving home and are well cared for by their owners and their vet, right through from being a puppy or kitten through to adulthood.

The top 10 UK regions for dog ownership are (per household):

The top 10 UK regions for cat ownership are (per household):

Pet Health Club has launched Little Paws, a puppy and kitten preventative healthcare package to help new owners in the early days. With expert support for every step of their pet’s journey, owners will receive advice on training, diet and healthcare plus essentials like worming, anti-flea treatment, micro-chipping, vaccines, check-ups and more. There’s also a welcome bundle worth up to £100*, and exclusive access to Pet Health Club’s popular Puppy and Kitten Academy.

* Dog and cat ownership analysis taken from pet registrations at over 800 Pet Health Club vet practices in the UK in June 2025.

† Gosling, S. D., Sandy, C. J., & Potter, J. (2010), ‘Personalities of self-identified dog people and cat people’, Anthrozoös (Vol. 23, Issue 3)