₹21 lakh in 20 days: Man earns a fortune during the holiday season just by feeding cats; here’s his viral story

A young man in Shanghai earned 160,000 yuan (around ₹21 lakh) during the Chinese New Year by offering home cat-feeding services. His work shows how much people value professional pet care, especially during busy holidays.

Cat care services in high demand

Huan Cong, born in 1991, has worked in the pet-care industry for nine years, as reported by the South China Morning Post. He specializes in visiting homes to feed and care for cats. During this year’s Spring Festival, he and four employees stayed in Shanghai to look after cats while their owners were away.

Over more than 20 days before and after the festival, Huan and his team completed around 2,000 home-visit orders. Huan handled about 1,000 of these himself. According to the report, more than 80 percent of orders came from clients returning to their hometowns, while around 10 percent came from people traveling during off-peak periods. Many clients hire him every year.

Long hours and hard work

During the holiday, Huan left home at 3 am and worked until 10 or 11 pm, getting only three to four hours of sleep each night. As reported by the South China Morning Post, on his busiest day, he completed as many as 55 visits.

Each visit lasts 10 to 15 minutes. Huan cleans litter boxes, refills food and water, checks the cat’s health, inspects windows and appliances, and takes out the trash. Extra services like giving medication or trimming nails are provided free if the requests are reasonable.

Pricing stayed the same for nine years

Huan charges mid-to-high-end rates. In Jiading District, he charges 60 to 80 yuan per visit. In other parts of Shanghai, he charges 100 yuan. For long distances or homes with multiple cats, he charges 200 yuan, as mentioned in the report. He has not raised his prices in nine years.

As quoted by the South China Morning Post, Huan said, “Last Spring Festival, we served 270 households, but this year the number has increased to 320 households, an 18 percent rise. By the end of the holiday, we expect growth of around 25 percent, with revenue from cat-feeding services alone estimated to reach 160,000 yuan.”
Thumb image: Canva (for representative purposes only)