# "Crazy Cat Ladies"-- Explain the Phenomenon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940 "2000-03-01T15:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/1 "2000-03-01T15:43:00Z")
How come we have so-called “crazy cat ladies”? (You know – lady lives alone except for her 42 cats…) How come there is no apparent male equivalent? (“Crazy dog guy”, e.g.) Why so _many_ cats? Wouldn’t one or two do the trick? By the way, I personally make no judgment as to whether someone who has a lot of animals is “crazy”. I am only using the phrase “crazy cat lady” because that is the commonly-used expression for the phenomenon. (Anyone seen the Simpsons episode where Lisa is attacked by a crazy cat lady? Pure gold…) ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/2 "2000-03-01T16:09:00Z")
Who says there aren’t “crazy dog guys?” I think the difference is that when the cat lady starts out not so crazy it’s normal for the cats to crap indoors in a litterbox. Eventually things get out of hand and it becomes a problem. As soon as you let your dogs crap in the house things are seriously out of control. During a recent stretch in Phoenix it seemed that every one or two weeks there was a news report about a house owned by a hermit/crazy cat/dog lady/guy that got serious enough for the health department to raid the place and send in a crew wearing contamination suits to shovel out the mountain of poop. Eegh! I have to go wash my hands. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/3 "2000-03-01T17:04:00Z")
Krazy Kat peeking through a lace bandana like a one-eyed Cheshire like a diamond-eye Jack A leaf of all colors plays a golden string fiddle to a double-e waterfall over my back ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/4 "2000-03-01T17:45:00Z")
Well, I think first you have the litterbox factor, which enables you to own many more cats since you don’t have to walk them, then you have the cats’ physical size (small)–you can pack 'em in unlike any dog but toys, and finally, you have the love factor. Cats are full of love (despite what cat-haters would lead you to believe), and for lonely old widow-types, I suspect that nothing (abominable pun ahead) scratches the old itch like a million cats purring and rubbing your legs. Personally, two cats are not enough and I’m lobbying for a third. I’m told by my friends that three is not the number that constitutes “crazy cat lady” status. That number is seven. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/5 "2000-03-01T17:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by spoke-: > How come we have so-called “crazy cat ladies”? (You know – lady lives alone except for her 42 cats…) > > How come there is no apparent male equivalent? (“Crazy dog guy”, e.g.) There is. Remember the falsely accused Ed Burke? [http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/na/na0424\_1.htm](http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/na/na0424_1.htm) > [@](#): > > Eddie Burke, a 48-year-old handyman, lived with his mother and 32 cats. He was practically a textbook match for police profilers: a loner who knew the victim and was clearly eccentric. Cats in his home scampered over microwaves, televisions and bedding stacked floor to ceiling—except, that is, for the five dead ones stashed in refrigerators.a ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/6 "2000-03-02T06:24:00Z")
I’ve always considered the equivalent to be the “crazy trash guy”–you know the one who still has every newspaper and magazine he’s received in the last ten years, not to mention all the pizza boxes. We had one in our building years ago. He came by to borrow something one day, took a look at our place (which had an identical layout to his) and said, “Wow, these apartments are really big!” ---
**Author:** ![kirsten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kirsten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirsten)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/7 "2000-03-01T19:12:00Z")
[QUOTE] Originally posted by spoke-: \*\*How come we have so-called “crazy cat ladies”? (You know – lady lives alone except for her 42 cats…) I’ve seen a few of these in my medical practice, and my theory is that any unmarried woman over 35 who has more than three cats has sexual problems, ie, cats are easier to live with (for them) than men are. These are always childless, by the way. I have three cats, a husband, two kids, and two stepkids. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/8 "2000-03-01T19:26:00Z")
**cher:** You mean like _these_ fellers? [http://www.nydailynews.com/manual/news/bigtown/chap106.htm](http://www.nydailynews.com/manual/news/bigtown/chap106.htm) * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/9 "2000-03-01T20:11:00Z")
Ike: Yikes. I’ve heard of hoarding papers and string, but pianos and mannequins? Woo. At least the cat ladies don’t have to worry about rat-rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![kirsten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kirsten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirsten)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/10 "2000-03-01T20:50:00Z")
[QUOTE] Originally posted by spoke-: \*\*How come we have so-called “crazy cat ladies”? (You know – lady lives alone except for her 42 cats…) I’ve seen a few of these in my medical practice, and my theory is that any unmarried woman over 35 who has more than three cats has sexual problems, ie, cats are easier to live with (for them) than men are. These are always childless, by the way. I have three cats, a husband, two kids, and two stepkids. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/11 "2000-03-01T20:53:00Z")
We have four. There are now as many of them as there are of us. I personally plan to keep this ratio EXACTLY as it is. They only ACT stupid… Cartooniverse * * * If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel. ---
**Author:** ![snowball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@snowball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowball)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cat-ladies-explain-the-phenomenon/7940/12 "2000-03-01T21:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by spoke-: > \*\*How come we have so-called “crazy cat ladies”? (You know – lady lives alone except for her 42 cats…) > > How come there is no apparent male equivalent? (“Crazy dog guy”, e.g.) > > Why so _many_ cats? Wouldn’t one or two do the trick? \*\* I remember one of the Dateline sorts of shows did a story about “animal collectors” (apparently the politically correct term for “crazy cat ladies” 🙂 ) a while back. The story pushed the idea that these people really _mean well_. They see stray animals and think that it’s better for the animals to live with them, even if it’s in horribly trashy conditions, rather than to have the animals die out there in the streets. This might be why they take in so many. They figure that the more cats they can “save”, the better. I would venture to guess that “crazy cat/dog guys” exist but aren’t as common as the crazy cat women. In addition to the previous remarks about how it’s harder to keep so many dogs in a house, and the fact that cats are considered “feminine”, there’s the fact there just are more “lonely old widows” than “lonely old widowers” to begin with. Men, dying younger as they do, don’t get as much chance to become lonely, develop senility, or whatever it is that causes this love of animals gone horribly awry to take root.