Is a dog a Best Buy? Should you hopt for a rabbit over a goldfish? It’s not fake meows; our reviews help find the best value pet, even if you’re on a budgeet.
Dog, cat or budgie, goldfish or gerbil? Which type of pet will give you the best value?
That’s the question we asked in August 1977 when we analysed data on 2,088 pets. 42 years later, we’ve fetched our pet reviews from the past and have brought them back for 2019, with quite a few updates.
Cats vs dogs: a blast from the past
Are you a cat person or a dog person? Actually, nevermind. More to the point, which one should you be from a money-saving perspective?
There were 750 dogs in our original reviews, but for 2019 we’ve embarked upon something much more ambitious.
As many as 1,000 dogs took part in this year’s reviews. Things got a bit hairy in the office with so many visitors, but fortunately we know exactly which vacuum cleaners are best at picking up pet hair.
As you can see below, dogs fared pretty well in 1977:
But will that hold true today? The price of everything from pet insurance to harnesses could make it a rough day for the dogs – will that leave the door open for cats to take the Best Buy title this time round?
Our new CATegories
Our new reviews take inspiration from the originals, but with a few twists.
Durability becomes reliability, because we know how important reliability is to Which? members. After all, no one wants stratospheric vet bills.
And then there’s our new Energy Consumption Rating (ECR). How much will they knacker YOU out? That’s where our fitness trackers come in:
Next up, social media. Should you get a canary that tweets? Or is that an idea that just isn’t gonna fly?
We’ll also be giving each pet an Instagram rating – an essential in 2019. We’ve got a crack team to go over the analytics, including Computing Editor Kate Bevan and her cat, Daphne:
Sound the horns! Daphne is here, magnificent moggy. My month could not be any better. pic.twitter.com/U3YbSSQuLr
— Daphne's Catflap (@DaphneFlap) March 23, 2019
We suspect that this may be an area where the cats get a purrfect score.
Which pets are a Best Buy?
Dogs (35%, 200 Votes)
Cats (33%, 193 Votes)
Unicorns (27%, 153 Votes)
Hamsters (3%, 18 Votes)
Snakes (2%, 13 Votes)
Total Voters: 544
Loading ...What do you think of our new Which? pet reviews? What other categories should we check and update? See the full results here.
