Purr-fect day for Hong Kong pet owners as cat expo opens
Some booth operators at Hong Kong Cat Expo report brisk business as owners splurge on products ranging from cat food to DNA tests
Pet owners splurged on their furry friends as a cat expo opened in Hong Kong on Friday, spending thousands of dollars on products ranging from food to DNA tests for hereditary diseases and jewellery items made with feline hair.
The three-day Hong Kong Cat Expo, which has been held annually since 2023, features more than 180 exhibitors and 380 booths at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, with some reporting brisk business.
Among them was Hero DNA, which said that in the first five hours of the expo, it had sold around 10 to 20 pet DNA tests for HK$1,380 (US$177) each, with business growing 10 to 15 per cent this year.
Its tests check for 49 genetic health risks in cats and 132 in dogs.
“[When pets get sick] vets have to guess the disease. But with our DNA test, pet owners can focus on checking for illnesses which their pets have a hereditary risk for,” Hero DNA owner Clement Lai Yat-lung said.
“Any check at the vet will cost a few thousand to ten thousand, but our test is cheaper.”