For most of the last decade, the pet aisle was planned around dogs. The latest data shows cats are now doing more of the growing — and that matters for anyone buying cat furniture, litter products and toys.
September: cat food outpaces dog food
YipitData's September 2026 Pet Monthly Recap, which tracks 15 US retailers including Walmart, Amazon, Chewy, Petco, PetSmart, Target and Costco, found cat food sales up 11% year on year, against 3% for dog food. Year to date the gap is similar: cat food +11%, dog food +2%. Costco led with cat food sales up 31% in September, and Amazon cat food grew 22%.
The trend shows up in company results too. In September, General Mills, Chewy and Petco all called out cat as a strength in recent earnings, while dog products continued to soften.
More cats per home
The American Pet Products Association's 2026 Cat Report, released September 14, puts US cat ownership at 53 million households in 2025 — 39% of all households and up 5% year on year, following a record 23% jump in 2024. Multi-cat homes are growing even faster: households with two cats rose 7% year on year, and households with three or more cats rose 7% year on year and 45% since 2018.
The owner profile is changing as well. Gen Z now makes up 22% of cat owners, up 10% year on year, and balances value-oriented staples with targeted premium purchases for health, wellness and enrichment. Men account for 43% of US cat owners.
Earlier this year, NielsenIQ reported that cat products were the only pet species segment growing both online and in store, with non-essentials accelerating and cat accessory growth led by automated litter boxes.
Europe: more cats than dogs
In Europe the shift is already established. FEDIAF's Facts & Figures 2026 counts 111 million cats against 91 million dogs, with the cat sector accounting for 50% of European pet food value. Italy's latest Assalco-Zoomark report shows cat hygiene and health products up 18% in 2025. Not every accessory segment is growing, though: in German bricks-and-mortar stores, supplies and accessories across all species fell 4.6% in 2025, a reminder that hard goods need a clear function and price to earn shelf space.
Supply side: cat products scale up in China
Chinese suppliers are expanding cat-specific capacity. In Shandong, Yantai Customs reported exports of pea-fibre cat litter of 56,700 tonnes in January–September, up 33.4%. Cat trees, scratchers and cat furniture are also among the fastest-growing pet export lines from clusters such as Lu'an in Anhui and Suqian in Jiangsu.
What this means for cat accessory buyers
- Plan for multi-cat homes: larger or multiple scratchers, extra litter boxes and more feeding stations per household. Bundles and two-packs fit this shopper.
- Design for apartments: compact, vertical and multi-use furniture — scratcher-beds, nests and wall-friendly posts — suits the smaller homes where many cats live.
- Make function obvious: high-wall litter boxes that reduce scatter, sisal that survives heavy use, and enrichment toys with a clear play pattern are easier to sell online and on shelf.
- Price for the Gen Z shopper: a solid value tier, plus a few premium SKUs where materials or design are visibly better.
Yling Pet supplies wholesale cat furniture, scratchers, litter boxes, toys and feeding products for brand buyers and retailers. MOQ and packaging are confirmed per SKU on RFQ.
Sources: YipitData September 2026 Pet Monthly Recap via PetfoodIndustry (October 22, 2026); CNBC (September 24, 2026); American Pet Products Association 2026 Cat Report (September 14, 2026); NielsenIQ "Purrspectives" (January 2026); FEDIAF Facts & Figures 2026 and Assalco-Zoomark data via PET worldwide (September 2026); Qingdao Customs / Yantai Customs (October 14, 2026).
