If you had to guess, who do you think is more likely to own cats: men or women? The 'crazy cat lady' stereotype would probably lead you to veer toward the latter. However, statistics paint a different picture. According to the 2024 Mars Incorporated global pet parent study, 52% of men are cat owners compared to 48% of women.
While the gap isn't that huge, it can still be interpreted as a shift in how we view cat owners. Historically, people associate cat owners with females and femininity. This has even translated into the dating world. A 2020 study, for example, found that women were more likely to swipe left on profiles where a man was holding a cat. In another study, women saw male dog owners as better prospects than cat owners.
Interestingly, men don't seem to care that much about the 'crazy cat lady' phenomenon. That same study found that men don't express any particular preference or strong opinions about women who own pets, whether dogs or cats.
Women, on the other hand, would make a lot of assumptions about men based on what pet they were holding in their photos. "Men holding cats were viewed as less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less dateable," according to the study. "These results varied slightly depending whether the women self-identified as a 'dog person' or a 'cat person.'"
Cat owners aren't all that old, either. A 2021 Pet Food Manufacturers' Association (PFMA) study showed that cat owners between the ages of 16 and 34 are the fastest-growing demographic. People between 35 and 44 were just one percent behind them.
Pet ownership trends are also quite interesting in the generational department. If cats were just some animals roaming around the yard or house for our parents and grandparents, we are putting much more significance on our felines. The Mars global pet parent study found that 45% of Gen Z and 40% of Millennials think of their pets as the most important things in their lives.
In which countries are cats the most popular pets? It turns out that Americans are the biggest cat lovers, with around 95.6 million house cats being kept as pets in the U.S. China comes in second with over 53 million pet cats. Yet, neither of the two have the biggest percentage of households with at least one cat. That honor goes to Russia, where over half of the households own a cat.
One American owner of around 200 feral cats might surprise you. That's Disneyland, and it uses these cats to control the rodent population in the park. As employees have told the LA Times, no one really knows when the cats started showing up in the shrubs and trees of the park, but at night, most of them go on the prowl to rid the resort of unwanted pests.
The cats are looked after by the employees at the Circle D ranch, who already take care of the park's horses and goats. To control the cat population, the park's animal wranglers have the adult cats spayed and neutered. And if any babies pop up, they always find them a home outside the park. For those interested, an Instagram page shares the rare sightings of Disneyland cats.
