You may never have guessed it, but behind Shanghai's modern facade is the most pet-friendly city in China. There are 700,000 officially registered dogs in Shanghai, 40 percent more than in Beijing according to a recent research paper on China's growing pet market. There are also an untold number of household cats, caged songbirds and, of course, the Chinese affinity for fish.

But when someone must leave town for vacation or business trips, where and with whom to leave one's pet has become an increasing concern for urban pet owners in Shanghai. Dogs are easier to place with pet shops and animal hotels, but cats are a different story due to their anti-social nature and loathing for unfamiliar environments.

Hygiene conditions at pet shops is also a problem in China, as is the reputation that some animal hotels have for cramming pets into cages without any attention, care or exercise.

Stephane Le Caignec (LC), a cat behavior consultant from Shanghai-based cat-sitting service Catatom, recently spoke with the Global Times (GT) to address these concerns and discuss the city's unique fondness for furry creatures.

GT: When and why did you start a cat nanny business?

LC: Me and my wife Yang Li started the business in 2012, as we wanted to solve a problem that we personally encountered. The year before we left our cats in a Shanghai cat hotel for one week, but when we came back one of our cats was completely traumatized and had lost 2 kg. We wanted our cats to stay at home the next time we left town but we didn't know any professional cat sitters who would come to our apartment, so we decided to create the service ourselves.

GT: Are you the only cat-sitters in Shanghai?

LC: There are some pet sitters in Shanghai, but they are more specialized in dogs. We are the only company that specialize in cats. Since 2015 there are more individuals who provide cat-sitting service during Chinese New Year when many people leave. But they only spend 15 minutes to feed the cat and clean the litter box. Catatom will stay one hour minimum with your cat to play, cuddle, brush its fur and wash if needed. We will also be introducing massage sessions. 

GT: What were some difficulties when you first started the service?

LC: Registering our business was not easy, not even for my wife who is Chinese. Recruiting cat sitters was a big challenge too, because nobody understood what being a cat sitter meant. Some candidates think it's an easy job, but if you don't understand cats you'll be surprised. People must be trained before starting this kind of job.

GT: Is your service limited to cats? What about other pets?

LC: Dogs are completely different than cats and even if we personally love dogs, we are not trained to understand their needs. Sometimes we take care of rabbits, but such opportunities are rare.

GT: What are your most memorable experiences sitting cats?

LC: There are two kinds of cats: cats that get stressed out by your presence and cats who are excited by your presence. If I meet a very shy cat that, after several days, can't leave me, then it's a great experience. If I meet a hyperactive cat who, after several days, can control his energy around me, it's also a great experience. I am a cat behavior consultant and love to observe every kind of cat and try to understand what their needs are and bring it to them.

GT: Cats don't like strangers in their space, so how do you sit new cats?

LC: It's simpler for a cat to accept a stranger in his territory than for a cat to get used to a new territory, especially when there are other cats there. Cats are very similar to humans in this regard. But when cats are afraid by the presence of strangers in its own territory, it's because this territory hasn't given them enough self-confidence. So if one of our sitters encounters this kind of cat, I'll always be around to help them solve the problem.

GT: What has been the feedback from your customers?

LC: When a cat's guardian tells you it was disappointed to see them come back from their holiday, it means the cat had fun, which means we succeeded.

GT: How have you been reaching new customers?

LC: Raising awareness of our service to local cat owners is still very difficult. East Asians like Chinese don't like to let strangers in their homes because there's a question of security. But mentalities are slowly changing, especially with young post-90s generation Chinese. Most of our customers are expats, which are used to cat nannies service, so online expat forums have been a good way to make us known around Shanghai (http://www.catatom.org/). We are also using WeChat (猫妈咪CATATOM) to increase the number of our Chinese customers. And for the past two years we have been exhibitors at the Shanghai Pet Fair in order to meet more Chinese cat lovers.

Stephane Le Caignec (front from left) and Yang Li with their cat nannies

Photo: Courtesy of Catatom

 
Newspaper headline: Mao mami