Use of Canned Pet Foods Containing Fish in Pet deeding 



1. Ownership of Pets . About one-third of American 

 households own dogs and about one-fifth own cats. Ownership of 

 pets is notably less prevalent in the Northeast where 13% own 

 dogs and \J>% own cats. Among Southern households \\L% own dogs. 

 Other areas were very close to the national averages. Pet owner- 

 ship is almost equally prevalent among all income groups. It was 

 highly concentrated in rural areas especially on farms where nearly 

 70% of households own dogs and 63$ own cats. Pet ownership was 

 also more prevalent in larger families. 



2. Households Using Product . The use of canned pet food 

 containing fish was much more widely prevalent for cats (.UO^) than 

 it was for dogs (26%). Moreover, only 21% of those stating that 

 they used this product in feeding their dogs did so every day (seven 

 days in the past week), whereas, $0% of those who fed it to their 

 cats used it every day. 



Purchasers of canned pet food containing fish bought in 

 relatively large quantities with nearly half of all users stating 

 that they normally bought five or more cans at once. 



Respondents were also asked if they purchased canned fish 

 other than pet food for their pets. Only 3«E$ of dog owners and 

 10% of cat owners indicated that they ever made such purchases. 

 Among these few respondents, sardines were the kind of canned fish 

 most often bought for pets with some use of mackerel and salmon also 

 indicated. 



Brand Interest 



1. General . Users of the three major varieties of canned 

 fish and canned shrimp were asked, "Do you usually look or ask for 



a particular brand when buying canned "? "Yes" answers to 



such a question would reflect brand awareness plus some degree of 

 demand or preference for a particular brand. On the one hand, re- 

 spondents may be well informed about brands and yet not be conscious 

 of enough preference for any one of them to "look or ask for" that 

 brand. On the other hand, respondents may "look or ask for a par- 

 ticular brand" and yet be so nearly equally willing to buy another 

 or any other brand that their action cannot be interpreted as brand 

 demand in any effective sense of the term. 



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