Garfield or Max? It's an age-old debate that always manages to ruffle fur. Are you a cat person or a dog person?
Whether you love felines or adore pooches can say a lot about your personality. Or so science believes. Tails are wagging over an article published in the journal Anthrozoos that assessed the characteristics or around 4,500 pet lovers and found that some common ideas about cat versus dog owners may be true.
Results suggest that dog people are higher on extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, but lower on neuroticism and openness than cat people. A separate study in the same journal hinted that the reasoning behind dog people wanting dogs in the first place is partly due to their sociable and somewhat dominant nature (insert eye roll emoji on behalf of dog owners around the globe).
Other studies have shown that dog owners also spend an estimated 33% more on clothes or accessories for their pets, as well as 26% more on entertainment when compared to feline lovers. The good news is that dog owners are “able to handle the expenses and plan their spending”, because they're twice as likely to work in finance, according to the survey.
On the subject of cat owners (and beds), well, they’re on the opposite spectrum of dog owners – aloof, independent, and generally introverted (time to bring out those claws, cat lovers). Just like their pets, cat people are famously “low-maintenance”. They don't need to be bathed or taken for walks either! In fact, cat people are very happy sitting in bed watching Netflix.
“The whole debate is so old that it looks like something the cat dragged in. We know the relationship between cats and humans has always been quite different than the relationship between dogs and people. This reflects the behaviors that both species have kept from their heritage prior to domestication,” said David Barritt of Network for Animals (NFA).
“At Network for Animals, we believe cats and dogs are both equally delightful, albeit in different ways. So love your dog or cat, and just enjoy them for their unique set of traits.”
