While dogs in Switzerland remain “man’s best friend”, when it comes to taking care of pets, people in the alpine nation have a clear furry favourite: cats. To find out more about our mountain moggies, the animal data centre Identitas has revealed what types of cat are most common, the most popular names for cats in Switzerland and which towns, cities and cantons are in the biggest feline frenzy.
As of November 2024, there are over 779.000 cats registered in Switzerland - over 200.000 more registrations than dogs. While you don’t necessarily need to register your cat in the alpine nation, it becomes somewhat inevitable when visiting the vet, signing some rental contracts and declaring immunisations when taking your cat abroad.
A net total of 39.068 cats were adopted, born in or taken to Switzerland between November 2023 and 2024. The number of cats in the country has been increasing significantly since the start of 2017, when only 382.000 felines were registered with the authorities.
The most common breed of cat in Switzerland is the European Common Cat, with 382.712 registered as of November 2024. In all the nine most popular breeds are:
Sadly, domestic breeds like the Swiss Mountain Cat did not feature highly in the ranking, with owners preferring standard European cats over their more exotic ancestors.
Zurich has the most cats registered, with 118.133 calling Switzerland’s most populous canton home. Zurich was followed by Canton Bern (108.350), Vaud (95.211), Aargau (72.673) and Geneva (40.222). However, there is reason to suspect that Geneva is a land for dogs, as it is home to the largest canine population at over 10.000.
The most “cat-mad” cantons are Schaffhausen and Neuchâtel, with 12 cats per 100 people. Solothurn and Vaud followed with 11,8 and 11,6 cats per hundred respectively. The least cat-obsessed canton is Uri, with only 5 cats per 100 people.
Now to the question of what people in the alpine nation name their feline friends. In Switzerland, owners have been quite uniform in how they name their cats.
For tomcats, the most popular names in Switzerland as a whole are:
Interestingly, each language of Switzerland had different preferences when it came to tomcat names. In German-speaking areas, Leo, Mogli and Filou were the most popular, compared to Tigrou, Caramel and Chaton in the Romande, while the Ticinese went for Leo, Romeo and Tigro.
For molly cats, the top 10 overall are:
While they may be divided on boys' names, the different regions of Switzerland were fairly consistent with their female cat names. In French-speaking areas, Luna, Nala and Plume took the podium places, while Luna, Nala and Mia took the top spots east of the Röstigraben and Luna, Mia and Nala clinched the top three in Ticino.
For everything you need to know about cats in Switzerland and beyond, check out the Identitas website.