Pets at Home has warned customers it is rationing certain pet food due to a national shortage in supplies.
The UK’s largest pet supplies retailer has sent an email to customers saying stocks of wet cat and dog food are low and they will be unable to buy multiple packs.
“Due to a widespread increase in demand for wet cat and dog food, you may have noticed your pets’ favourite products are temporarily out of stock, not only at Pets at Home, but other retailers too,” the company has told customers.
“To help feed as many pets as possible, we’re limiting all multi-pack purchases of wet food to two packs per person while we work hard to restock our shelves.
“Should you need to find an alternative food for your pet, we’ve created two handy guides on how best to change their diet.
“As always, we appreciate your patience and understanding and will keep you updated as the situation progresses.”
Shortages of certain stocks of cat and dog food are being blamed on a surge in pet ownership over the past 12 months.
The findings of new research recently released by the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association revealed that a staggering 3.2m households in the UK had acquired a pet since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. The big increase was driven by younger families, with two-thirds of new owners aged between 16-34.
Customers enquiring about the shortages on Twitter were told that it was part of a wider national problem but that social distancing measures at its warehouses were also in the mix.