The first thing Lu Yan did after returning to Beijing over the weekend from a two-week Spring Festival visit to her hometown was to collect her "furry baby" and take the feline back to her apartment.

She had placed her 3-year-old cat, a British shorthair breed with white and gray fur, in a pet hotel before she left for Zibo in East China's Shandong province.

"Most of the time, I arrange pet boarding for my cat if I have to leave Beijing for long business trips or vacations," said Lu, who works at a publishing house.

If she has to leave Beijing for only a few days, she has someone come to her place at least twice a day to check on her feline friend. "It's less of a hassle this way, but for any absence longer than that I will definitely opt for a boarding service," Lu said.

She spent about 2,000 yuan ($278) during Spring Festival to have her cat — named "Seventeen "after Lu's birth date — well taken care of while she was away. Lu was pleased that there was someone at the pet hotel all the time to monitor the cat's condition, ensure it was safe, and play with it so it wouldn't get bored.

Lu has a membership with the company that runs the hotel and always books her cat a bigger room intended for two felines, which costs twice as much as a single room, so her pet has more space.

She was concerned the cat would be lonely on its own at home, and wouldn't receive speedy medical attention if it became sick.

Lu, aged in her 40s, adopted the feline for company in 2021 when pandemic control measures meant people's movements were restricted.

Spring Festival is a tricky time for pet owners like Lu who must find someone they trust to take care of their animals.

The number of pets in China was projected to increase to nearly 200 million in 2023, with dogs, cats and aquarium pets the most popular, according to the 2023 China Pet Industry Annual Report jointly released by the market researcher Euromonitor International and the Asia Pet Alliance.

The pet market was estimated to reach nearly 250 billion yuan in the same year, with pet services and related sectors to keep growing, the report said.