According to Forbes, two-thirds of U.S. households currently have pets. Most Americans say their pets are as much family members as the humans (and in some cases even more beloved). Dogs remain America’s favorite pet, followed by their archrivals — cats.
I can hardly look out my front window without seeing my neighbors walking dogs, often more than one — and often overweight. People are always tempted to spoil pets. My mother used to feed her dog cheese crackers as a snack and we recall that she occasionally provided ice cream as well. It’s estimated that half of all dogs and cats are overweight. Our daughter is married to a veterinarian and they have always had numerous pets. I think they presently have three dogs and several cats. Their children have grown up with animals everywhere and they can’t imagine not having a dog to sleep with at home. At one point several years ago, my wife Diane and I let our cat Hobbes sleep curled up at the foot of our bed, until the night I moved my legs around slightly and he bit me on the toe.
Despite the affection people hold for their pets, they can still be a handful. Our last cat didn’t like when we were away from home. When we returned, he always complained loudly and continuously about his abandonment.
While America is politically divided, it is also pet-polarized. Social scientists have been studying the differences between self-professed cat people and dog aficionados for many years. I suppose my wife Diane and I fall somewhere in the middle, having had a long series of both cats and dogs. We are currently childless and petless.
Gender is often considered a characteristic that discriminates between dog and cat people. In our culture, dogs are generally seen as masculine, while cats are viewed as feminine. In contemporary children’s literature, representations of dogs are significantly biased toward males, while those of cats are more balanced.
Cats are usually perceived as independent, graceful and mysterious — traits traditionally associated with femininity. Dogs, are typically described with masculine features such as being loyal, protective and faithful. Such differences are reflected in our language, as in the terms “dogfight and catfight.”
The newspaper comic strip Pickles depicts this gender difference through retirees Opal and Earl Pickles, their 6-year-old grandson Nelson, their cat Muffin and their dog Roscoe. Opal is attached to Muffin, while Earl and Nelson are close to Roscoe. Roscoe is sweet and loyal, but clueless, whereas Muffin is cunning and narcissistic.
The “cat lady” is a stereotype usually depicted as an older, single, socially-isolated, woman who tends to several cats. Eleanor Abernathy, a character known as the Crazy Cat Lady on the Simpson’s television program, is a classic example. This misogynistic image may stem from witch persecutions and the medieval association of witches with cats serving as their familiars.
In a study of European animal shelters, it was found that women routinely adopted more dogs than men. In the United Kingdom study, it was found that over three-fourths of all adoptions of cats from animal shelters were made by women, illustrating a strong gender preferences in western society. While most of our friends and relatives seemed to be successful in training their dogs, Diane and I never had much luck. Our golden retriever Newman would not stay away from the busy road in front of our house. We had to install an invisible fence to try to contain him. Newman was a fitting name and we pronounced it the same way Jerry Seinfeld greeted his mailman neighbor on his television show. Although we had him several years, eventually Newman made his break when the batteries in his collar were low. He disappeared and a few weeks later we found him down the road living with another family that had a young boy who adored him. The boy changed his name to Leonard. We decided that Newman, alias Leonard, had chosen his own new family.
Our Carin terrier Tipper was also a problem. She had a high-pitched squeal that went through your head like an icepick and she wasn’t shy about using it when she was displeased. Diane took her to obedience school. The instructor said Tipper was smart and knew all the commands, but she just chose sometimes not to obey them.
Many people viewed the typical dog person as “extroverted and social, whereas cat people are seen as introverted and nerdy.” Psychologists have found some evidence to support this notion. Facebook analyzed 160,000 users who had posted pictures of cats or dogs. They discovered that cat people were more likely to be single than dog people, regardless of gender or age. Cat people were fans of science fiction, while dog people preferred love stories.
Political scientists have analyzed pet preferences to determine if they were associated with political beliefs. They found a significant correlation between authoritarianism and dog ownership. Because cats are less obedient than dogs, they may routinely frustrate an individual who values this trait. Cats embody qualities of the ungovernable. As Australian psychologists Nick Haslam and Beatrice Alba put it, “Fido is faithful, but Felix is fickled.”
In my opinion, our best pet was definitely Hobbes. We thought of him as being a “gentleman cat.” He was formal and reserved, and he never resorted to gratuitous whining or complaining. When he wanted to go outside, he would give his order once and wait for you to open the door. He never put up with nonsense from us or other animals and he always did his business outdoors, bless his heart.
Overall, cat people appear creative, non-conforming and unconventional, due to their imagination, intelligence and willingness to violate social norms. Dog people, on the other hand are more practical, down to earth and interested in relationships. The research suggests that dog ownership may be both physically and mentally more beneficial than cat ownership for most people, but my vote is still with Hobbes, the gentleman cat.
