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Pet friendly
At a time when households are facing the ongoing costofliving crisis, pet owners aren’t looking to compromise when it comes to their pets.
A huge 59 per cent of surveyed respondents said they do not plan to cut down on overall spending for their pets while a majority (61 per cent) said they would make other sacrifices first before they consider cutting back the amount they spend on their pets.
Some owners stated they would reduce their spending on everything from necessities such as utilities (27 per cent) and socialising with friends (40 per cent) before cutting back their spending on their animal companions.
Bone fragments found on funeral pyres in Heath Wood, Derbyshire the only known large Scandinavian cremation site in Britain show that the animals were burned together with their owners, and were therefore more important to the Vikings than merely being used for economic purposes.
The findings were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
Feeding time
AM I feeding my pet correctly?
This has always been one of the main concerns for owners, who can become confused and overwhelmed with the sheer amount of different options and conflicting advice available today.
A growing trend reported recently shows that vegan and vegetarian pet owners are increasingly trying to change their pets’ diet to plantbased products which can be dangerous for the animals’ health.
Dogs and cats are carnivorous by nature. Experts suggest that dogs must be fed on a predominantly meatbased diet but can live on vegetablebased products, while cats are strictly carnivorous and cannot survive without animalbased food, as well as having higher protein requirements than most mammals.
Pet food manufacturers reveal that the ideal menu for dogs consists of 80 per cent meat and 20 per cent fruits and vegetables, while cats need at least 95 per cent meat and 5 per cent fruit and vegetables.
A 2020 Spanish study also revealed that owners who are conscientious about eating healthily themselves are also more likely to feed their pets with higher quality products.
