The Crazy Cat Lady

"Negative characterizations for those with an affinity for cats are not a recent phenomenon. One New York Times editorial from 1872, headlined ‘Cats and Craziness’, lays out a portrait of an infatuated cat-lover, differentiated from the more rationally behaved dog-lover." (Parsons et al., 2019)



Cat owners are regarded as more emotional, lonely and depressed than dog-owners (Parsons et al., 2019). According to a survey conducted by PetSmart (n = 1.000, USA, 2015), the stereotype of the "cat lady" is the most pervasive one when it comes to cats. Almost 50% of the survey participants bought into the idea that "most cat lovers are female, often spinsters, and that their homes are crawling with felines" although most cats live with families (via).

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- Pasons, C. E., LeBeau, R. T., Kringelbach, M. L. & Young, K. S. (2019). Pawsitively sad: pet-owners are more sensitive to negative emotion in animal distress vocalizations. The Royal Society Publishing, LINK
- photograph by Bruce Davidson via