“Dogs have owners, cats have staff.” It’s one of countless aphorisms describing the perceived differences between two of the world’s most popular pets — and the people who love them.
The oppositional nature of this relationship has enormous cultural resonance. It’s the premise for comic strips and films. It makes its way into dating profiles. And it’s the subject of both joking and earnest disparagement, largely directed at the feline contingent: While it’s not uncommon to hear that people who dislike dogs aren’t to be trusted, women who own multiple cats are “crazy cat ladies.”
More than a third of American households own dogs and about a quarter own cats, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, suggesting that dogs have the edge in terms of real-world popularity. (Paradoxically, cats are the algorithmic darlings of the day.) Most other surveys find that dogs are the preferred pet too, though it’s worth noting that percentages vary widely. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for example, suggests that while more households own dogs than cats, there are about eight million more pet cats in the U.S. And, of course, many households include both species.
A wide variety of studies, employing an array of different methodologies, have attempted to elucidate the reasons that people prefer one species over the other. Some support commonly held stereotypes — dog owners are extroverts and cat owners are introverts, for example — and others call them into question.
