今年日本宠物猫的数量第一次超过了宠物狗的数量，日本宠物食品协会发布的一项调查显示，2017年宠物猫的数量估计有952.6万只，几乎与前几年差不多；
而宠物狗的数量已经连续下降了三年，现在大约只有892万条。
有专家表示，人口老龄化和更高的养狗成本也许是造成日本宠物狗数量下降的原因。
日本宠物食品协会称，从出生到死养一条狗大约要花160万日元，而养一只猫大约需要108万日元，这一费用差别可能影响了人们的选择。
另外，由于认为照顾狗的要求更高，比如，主人要每天外出遛狗，并且负有法律责任为狗注射疫苗，更多老年人选择放弃养狗而去养猫。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
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| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 今年 | jīn nián | this year |
| 日本 | Rì běn | Japan |
| 宠物 | chǒng wù | house pet |
| 猫 | māo | cat / (loanword) (coll.) modem |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 数量 | shù liàng | amount; quantity / (math.) scalar quantity |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number) |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 次 | cì | classifier for enumerated events: time |
| 超过 | chāo guò | to surpass / to exceed / to outstrip |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 狗 | gǒu | dog |
| 食品 | shí pǐn | foodstuff; food; provisions |
| 协会 | xié huì | an association / a society |
| 发布 | fā bù | to release / to issue / to announce / to distribute |
| 项 | xiàng | classifier for principles, items, clauses, tasks, research projects etc |
| 调查 | diào chá | investigation / inquiry / survey / (opinion) poll |
| 显示 | xiǎn shì | to show / to illustrate / to display / to demonstrate |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 估计 | gū jì | to estimate; to assess; to calculate / (coll.) to reckon; to think (that ...) |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 万 | wàn | ten thousand / a great number |
| 只 | zhī | classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 几乎 | jī hū | almost; nearly; practically |
| 与 | yǔ | (formal) with; from (marking the other participant in an interaction, comparison, or contrast) |
| 前 | qián | ago / before / BC / former / formerly |
| 几 | jǐ | several / a few |
| 差不多 | chà bu duō | about the same / good enough / not bad |
| 而 | ér | but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates contrast) |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 连续 | lián xù | in a row |
| 下降 | xià jiàng | to decline / to drop / to fall / to go down / to decrease |
| 三 | sān | three / 3 |
| 现在 | xiàn zài | now; at present; currently |
| 大约 | dà yuē | approximately |
| 条 | tiáo | classifier for long thin things |
| 专家 | zhuān jiā | expert; specialist |
| 表示 | biǎo shì | (of sb) to express; to state; to show / (of sth) to indicate; to signify; to show |
| 人口 | rén kǒu | population / people |
| 老龄化 | lǎo líng huà | aging (population) |
| 和 | hé | and; together with |
| 更 | gèng | more / even more / further / still / still more |
| 高 | gāo | high / tall / above average / loud |
| 养 | yǎng | to raise (animals) / to bring up (children) / to keep (pets) |
| 成本 | chéng běn | (manufacturing, production etc) costs |
| 也许 | yě xǔ | perhaps; maybe |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 造成 | zào chéng | to bring about; to create; to cause |
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause / origin / root cause / reason |
| 称 | chēng | to state |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via / (bound form) retainer; attendant / (bound form) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate / (bound form) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor |
| 出生 | chū shēng | to be born |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive / to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) / (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) |
| 死 | sǐ | to die |
| 要 | yào | will; shall; about to / need to; should / if |
| 花 | huā | to spend (money, time) |
| 日元 | rì yuán | yen (currency of Japan) |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 费用 | fèi yong | cost / expenditure / expense |
| 差别 | chā bié | difference; distinction; disparity |
| 可能 | kě néng | might (happen) / maybe / perhaps |
| 影响 | yǐng xiǎng | to influence / to affect / to disturb |
| 人们 | rén men | people |
| 选择 | xuǎn zé | choice; option; alternative |
| 另外 | lìng wài | in addition / besides / moreover / furthermore |
| 由于 | yóu yú | due to / as a result of / thanks to / owing to / since / because |
| 认为 | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel |
| 照顾 | zhào gù | to take care of / to show consideration / to attend to / to look after |
| 要求 | yāo qiú | requirement |
| 比如 | bǐ rú | for example; for instance; such as |
| 主人 | zhǔ rén | master / host / owner |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 外 | wài | outside / external |
| 出 | chū | to go out; to come out / to arise; to occur / to produce; to yield / to go beyond; to exceed |
| 遛狗 | liù gǒu | to walk a dog |
| 并且 | bìng qiě | and; besides; moreover; furthermore; in addition |
| 负 | fù | to bear / to carry (on one's back) / to turn one's back on / to be defeated |
| 法律 | fǎ lǜ | law |
| 责任 | zé rèn | responsibility; duty; liability |
| 为 | wèi | because of / for / to |
| 注射 | zhù shè | to inject |
| 疫苗 | yì miáo | vaccine |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 老年人 | lǎo nián rén | old people; the elderly |
| 放弃 | fàng qì | to renounce; to abandon; to give up |
| 去 | qù | to go, to go to |