There are more and more cats in Switzerland. Many owners know no borders.
If you give your cat to the “Aristotel”, you can book Reiki therapy with healing crystals for it. Or a candle light dinner. Birthday parties are also possible: with Prosecco, cake and a disco.
Elisabetta Morandi, who runs the cat hotel in Siebnen (SZ) together with Johann G. Rengucci, says that money is not an issue for most of them: “Up to now, in the two and a half years that we have been in business, I have only had two customers who who canceled because it was too expensive for them. »
Four-digit sum for the hotel
Every cat has a “suite” to which it can retreat. Depending on the size, this costs CHF 49.90 or CHF 91.90 per day. Since most animals stay two to three weeks while their owners go on vacation, a four-digit sum can quickly be raised.
Even if only three cats are currently guests: the holidays are usually fully booked.
Mail order company Digitec Galaxus has also noticed that cat lovers are willing to spend money. Sales of cat products there have increased tenfold compared to before the pandemic, and sales have increased almost sevenfold.
Cat food, cat litter and transport boxes in particular have been ordered more frequently. The increase in sales here is around 3000 percent.
The retailers Coop and Migros also confirm that sales of cat products have increased. They don’t give numbers. Coop writes: “We noticed an above-average growth in demand for cat food, especially snacks, clumping cat litter and accessories such as care or toys.”
More at home, more online
Digitec Galaxus benefts from two trends that have remained from the corona pandemic: People are spending more money at home. And they shop online more often.
Customers are also turning to increasingly extravagant products. The head of the supermarket department at Digitec Galaxus, Karina Stump, gives examples: “It starts with small products such as Bach flowers against jealousy, continues with more expensive products that are app-controlled and can also spit out treats at home and it goes somewhere with cat litter boxes that cost several hundred francs and are self-cleaning and app-controlled.»
By no means only expats and managers
At the cat hotel, Elisabetta Morandi counts many English-speaking people among her customers. But it is by no means only expats who book in Siebnen: “There is everything. Self-employed people, doctors, managers, but also normal people with normal work, such as craftsmen.”
It is less the luxury that people are looking for. “They want to be sure that their cat is being treated well.”
However, not all cat owners in Switzerland seem to have a long-term love of animals. Several animal shelters complain about overloading. In addition, according to estimates by animal protection organizations, there are 100,000 to 300,000 feral cats in Switzerland.