How many cats there are in Denmark is not a figure you can look up in one official register, but the most widely used estimates suggest that somewhere between 650,000 and 750,000 owned cats live in Danish homes. On top of that comes a large, though more uncertain, number of stray and feral cats, often estimated at several hundred thousand. The cat is therefore one of Denmark's most common pets, and in many households more than one lives there. Below we go through where the numbers come from, why they vary, and what it means when you have to give your own cat a daily life with calm, wellbeing and good meals.

Why there is no one precise figure for the number of cats

Unlike dogs, cats are not covered by a mandatory central register in the same way, and therefore there is no single source that counts every single cat in the country. The figures in circulation are instead based on questionnaire surveys among Danish households, in which a representative sample answers whether they have pets and how many. The results are scaled up to the entire population, and that is precisely why you see different figures from survey to survey. Method, year and how you define a household's cat all play a part, and this explains why the range is typically several tens of thousands rather than one fixed number.

How the cats are distributed across Danish households

A large proportion of Danish cats live together with another cat. Many cat families have deliberately chosen two or more, because cats in many cases thrive with company, and because kittens often go in pairs when they leave home. This is also one of the reasons why the number of cats is higher than the number of cat households. Geographically, cats are especially common outside the most densely populated urban areas, where gardens and access to going outside make it obvious to have a cat, but indoor cats in flats also make up a growing and well-functioning group.

Owned cats, stray cats and feral cats are three different figures

When talking about how many cats there are in Denmark, it is important to distinguish between three groups. Owned cats are the ones the surveys primarily capture, and which live in homes with regular feeding and care. Stray cats are former domestic cats or descendants of domestic cats that live without a fixed owner, often in colonies around farms, allotment gardens and industrial areas. Finally, there are feral cats, which are born and raised without close human contact. The last two groups are the hardest to count, and the estimates are therefore more uncertain and broader. It is precisely this uncertainty that is the reason the overall figure for all cats in the country is always presented as an estimate.

How the number of cats has developed

Pets have generally been given a larger place in Danish homes over recent decades, and the cat has kept pace. A cat fits well into a busy everyday life, because it can to a greater degree manage on its own during the day than many dogs, and this has helped keep the population stable and high. At the same time, cats today live longer than before, partly because more are indoor cats, go regularly to the vet and get meals adapted to their life stage. A cat can easily reach twelve, fifteen and more years, and that means each individual cat is part of the statistics for many years at a time.

What the large number of cats means for your own cat

Whether there are 650,000 or more cats in Denmark, it is your one cat that matters in everyday life. Cats are carnivores by nature, and their body is designed for a diet with a high content of animal protein. That is the angle we emphasise in ESSENTIAL FOODS' cat meals, where the meals are prepared with human-grade ingredients and select raw materials, so they meet the cat's natural needs rather than filling the bowl with unnecessary fillers. A meal composed with the cat's predator nature in mind supports appetite, digestion and daily wellbeing throughout life.

Choose meals according to the cat's life stage and needs

A large population also means a wide spread in age and needs, and your cat belongs to one particular place. A growing kitten needs something different from an adult cat in its prime or a cat that has been neutered and has a more moderate energy requirement. If you need to find the finest beginning for a new kitten, you can explore meals for kittens, while the adult cat thrives with meals for adult cats. If your cat has been to the vet and had its reproductive drive removed, meals for neutered cats are composed with exactly that need in mind. If your cat prefers the soft texture, you can dive into our cat pâté, where PÂTÉ is prepared from carefully selected raw materials. Cats each have their favourites, and that is why it makes good sense to experiment with a few different flavours.

If you are in doubt about what suits your particular cat best, ESSENTIAL FOODS' nutrition advisers are ready to advise on feeding, food and nutrition by phone, chat or email. They can help you find the right meal for the cat's age, taste and everyday life, so the transition from bowl to wellbeing becomes as good as possible. If, on the other hand, your concern is about the cat's health, you should always contact your vet.

A brief perspective on the figures and your role as a cat owner

That there are close to three quarters of a million owned cats in Denmark tells us first and foremost how large a place the cat has been given in Danish homes. Behind each figure stands a cat with its own personality, its own habits and its own needs, and that is where it really counts. By meeting your cat with meals adapted to its nature and life stage, and by keeping an eye on appetite, weight and behaviour on a daily basis, you give your cat the best conditions for a long and good life, no matter where it is in the big statistics.