The faculty of veterinary medicine at Utrecht University is to carry out research into how contented pets in the Netherlands are, television show EditieNL said on Wednesday.

There are over 33 million pets in the Netherlands and assistant professor Nienke Endenburg, who specialises in the relationships between animals and humans, says the research will be extremely useful.

In particular a lack of knowledge about pets’ specific needs means owners make mistakes about how they treat their animals, she told EditieNL.

Owners do not deliberately cause dogs to become overweight or leave cats alone all day, she said. ‘It is mostly about lifestyle,’ she said. ‘People have busy jobs and small houses. But this can stop a pet living as it should and this can lead to behavioural issues.’

While it is easy to see if a dog is too heavy, it is much harder to determine if an animal is content, she said. ‘Some people try to project human emotions on their pets… but you cannot look into a cat’s eyes to find out what they are thinking.’