# Is there a psychological difference between a Cat person and a Dog person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069 "2006-04-03T14:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/1 "2006-04-03T14:33:38Z")
Are there any stereotypes about people who prefer cats to dogs and vice-versa? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/2 "2006-04-03T14:37:19Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > Are there any stereotypes about people who prefer cats to dogs and vice-versa? One that occurs to me, (possibly based on stereotypes about cats and dogs themselves.) cat person - independent, bit of a loner. dog person - gregarious, social, loves being around others. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/3 "2006-04-03T14:42:57Z")
The administrative assistant or irritating relative that’s always emailing you forwarded glurge and urban legends they claim to be true? Cat person, most definitely. Not saying that all cat people are like that, but the glurge n’ kountry folks I know are almost all cat fanatics. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/4 "2006-04-03T14:47:09Z")
I go both ways. I have a dog and a cat. and fish. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/5 "2006-04-03T14:54:47Z")
huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhhuhhhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhh bark! huhuhuhhhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh _lick_ mreowr!! :mad: hsssssssss _scratch_ Arr arrarrarrrrr _runs away_ So pretty much I can say that it is unwise to lick a cat person when you come upon them. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/6 "2006-04-03T14:57:28Z")
Well, in comparison with cats, dogs tend to be attention-seekers and attention-givers w/regards to humanfolk, very much tuned in to what we’re doing and wanting us tuned into them as well. The kitty cat is going to pay attention to a person far less often, and demand attention less often as well. That is, of course, a generalization. Drawing on it, you could say that the “dog person” is more likely to respond favorably to a pet that perpetually interacting with them: affectionately, playfully, demandingly, obediently, needfully, whatever. The “cat person” is more likely to want a pet that is a colleague, a creature as self-sufficient as a typical human adult, with its own interests and priorities. In my experience, dog owners are much more likely to refer to themselves as the doggy’s “Daddy” or “Mama” and/or refer to the pooch as “my baby”. Dog-only people (i.e., dog people who would never have a cat) may tend to see cats as cold, unfriendly, and uninterested in what people want or expect from them, and perhaps smouldering with a scheming hostility towards that alien human species. Cat-only people may see dogs as whiny needy things that take up an unreasonable amount of energy and attention, and even short-tempered & w/ propensity to violence to boot. The companionship of a dog is the companionship of a pack animal towards you as another of its pack, to whom it may owe total allegiance. The companionship of a cat is the companionship of a solitary animal towards another mutually-respected solitary animal for which it may develop a great fondness. I’m a “both” kind of person myself. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/7 "2006-04-03T15:09:47Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I go both ways. > I have a dog and a cat. and fish. I like both cats and dogs too. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/8 "2006-04-03T15:28:16Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Dog-only people (i.e., dog people who would never have a cat) may tend to see cats as cold, unfriendly, and uninterested in what people want or expect from them, and perhaps smouldering with a scheming hostility towards that alien human species. Particuarlaly so after reading this Staff Reports column by **Hawk** from a few years ago: [Will cats eat their owners?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdepradation.html) > [@Hawk](#): > > I was attending the 1992 American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in New Orleans and a forensic pathologist related the following story (paraphrased as best as memory will serve): “Sometimes, when an individual living alone dies unexpectedly, several days may pass before anyone takes notice. Some of these individuals may own a dog or a cat, which will go unfed. In my experience, **a dog may go for several days before finally resorting to eating the owner’s body. A cat, on the other hand, will only wait a day or two. Just goes to show you which is more loyal.** So, the next time you’re falling asleep on the couch with the football game on, take a look at your cat. He’s not watching you because he’s enamored of you; he’s checking to see if your chest is still moving.” Oh, those wacky pathologists. > > I can’t explain why a cat may be so quick to turn on the hand that fed it. I can only tell you that yes, it does happen. As a single guy living alone with three cats, I can tell you that I keep plenty of kibble about, because you never know. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/9 "2006-04-03T15:40:04Z")
Cats rule, dogs drool. Duh! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/10 "2006-04-03T15:53:15Z")
Dogs are social animals, and the groups they form in the wild are hierarchical. When you bring a dog into your house, you’re in effect bringing him into your “pack,” one in which the dog recognizes its human caregivers as dominant. Being naturally inclined to function communally, dogs adapt very well to families and are very “social.” Being hierarchical, dog packs will have one or more “alpha” members who lead the pack and for whose favor the other members compete. Thus you have the typical friendly, subservient house dog. I think this is what people who really love dogs are responding to. You are indubitably the A-Number One in that animal’s life; he goes nuts when you come home, can’t wait to jump up on your lap, etc. If you want to feel needed and loved, a dog is the way to go; that’s why you now hear so many stories of urban DINKs lavishing crazy amounts of time and money on their dogs. Cats, while they can form loose groups if enough animals are sharing the same territory, are loners; they don’t form hierarchies and don’t have the same dominant/submissive paradigm as dogs. Hence your house cat will recognize you as its caregiver and will bond with you, but it doesn’t have the kind of social instincts that a dog does, and it won’t show submissiveness toward you. That seeming aloofness is what attracts people to cats. Cat owners don’t want a surrogate child so much as a good friend or a roommate, someone who is still there to love but who seems to have his own life apart from you. (Hell, they even attend to their own bathroom issues, just like a good roommate should.) Because a cat doesn’t have a dog’s social instincts, they seem more reserved and mysterious, even exotic. To a cat owner, dogs can seem absurdly gregarious and eager to please, and dog owners rather too demanding of affection from their animals. I’ll leave it to a dog owner to suggest what we cat owners seem like. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@New\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/11 "2006-04-03T16:09:23Z")
I think cat people are more picky and high-maintenance, and dog people are more openly affectionate and touchy-feely. For a person to love dogs they can’t mind being jumped on, nuzzled and licked. Me, I’d rather stick with an animal that knows how to mind its business and show some manners. The only person that’s allowed to do those things I listed previously is my SO. Period. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/12 "2006-04-03T16:42:57Z")
We cat people are just lazy. Cats are self-cleaning, don’t need to be walked, and best of all, they shit in one convenient location. There are even cats which have been taught to use the toilet! Whereas dogs are akin to toddlers in their constant need for care and maintenance. Also, almost all of the English majors I’ve been acquainted with are cat people. Whereas dog people major in what, P.E.? Clearly, cats are superior. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/13 "2006-04-03T16:48:43Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > (Hell, they even attend to their own bathroom issues, just like a good roommate should.) :dubious: Maybe I’m a minority here, but I’ve never had to clean my roommate’s poop out of a sandbox in the corner… ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/14 "2006-04-03T19:00:11Z")
I own both dogs and cats, but am basically a dog person at heart. And the cats that I enjoy most are actually more dog-like in personality. I admit it, I am a touchy-feely kinda gal, and I like having my pets near me, on my lap or at my feet. The dogs are most definitely more touchy. I am a nurturer, too, and like taking care of my pets (read that… spoiling them :D). The dogs defintely seem to appreciate that more. It is obvious to me that cats are a little bit closer to wild. They don’t really NEED us in the same way that dogs do. It’s nice to be needed. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/15 "2006-04-03T19:10:34Z")
> [@The New Hacker's Dictionary by Eric S. Raymond](#): > > Hackers are more likely to have cats than dogs (in fact, it is widely > grokked that cats have the hacker nature). I’ve certainly observed this, too; those who come even close to the hacker’s definition of a hacker (someone who rocks well in all things computing and coding) tend to prefer cats. Dogs are happy just to get attention, while cats (although often attention-lovers themselves) have a fundamental need to explore and play with new and interesting things. They’re little scientists, and I think mathematicians, scientists, and computer people can generally identify with them more. Now that I think about it, insane people probably identify more with cats, who are deeper thinkers than dogs. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/16 "2006-04-03T19:50:03Z")
Love both cats and dogs. …and I’m a big loner, and highly independent. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/17 "2006-04-03T20:32:18Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Maybe I’m a minority here, but I’ve never had to clean my roommate’s poop out of a sandbox in the corner… Lucky. Actually, now that I’ve read **PapSett** ’s post I realize that part of the reason I’m a cat person is because cats are wild. I know that if I set my cat free, or he happens to escape, that he could do just as well without me. The same is true of my old cat, who was very dog-like–neither one of them needed me. Yet, they stick around, and consent to being cared for. It’s like the cat makes an independent decision to stay with you (well, except for when you have to halt their escape… but my old cat escaped a few times and always came back in a few hours). So whenever my cat shows affection or does a trick just for me, it means more because I know he’s doing it because he wants to, or because he’s “well, I’ll throw the human a bone, it might be her birthday.” I like having that kind of relationship with a pet. I also like thinking about what my cat’s thinking about whenever he’s “meditating” in the sunny spot or just does something inexplicable. Dogs are not as spontaneous and just plain WTF as cats. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/18 "2006-04-03T21:00:52Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > :dubious: > > Maybe I’m a minority here, but I’ve never had to clean my roommate’s poop out of a sandbox in the corner… Ah, so you had _good_ roommates… ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/19 "2006-04-03T22:02:30Z")
I’m with **PapSett** ; I like dogs and dog-like felines. I like regular cats alright, mostly just 'cause they’re furry and sometimes do cute things, but they’re not my ideal companion. I donno about the psychology of it, but I’ve definitely noticed some behavioral differences between me and my cat-loving friends. I’m loud, rambunctious, playful, animated, easily excitable, and very physical. Cat lovers don’t seem to like when I bite or play-hit, they tend to be more soft-spoken and less excitable, a bit more mysterious and harder to get to know, and many do seem a little fussy or overly organized. Lots of them also sleep a lot more than I do (I have FMS-- Fear of Missing Something). I crave attention and interaction from my pets. There are exceptions (I like lizards and snakes, just because they’re freaking cool), but for the most part, I want my pet to acknowledge, obey, and adore me. And not mind when I snuggle them to death, which unfortunately is hard to come by in a cat. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069/20 "2006-04-03T23:44:27Z")
I once had a friend who, upon knowing me for a few weeks, pegged me as a “dog” person. Later, when I told her that I have cats, she was like, “You are SOOO a cat person!” So…I don’t know. I know quiet reserved people who have multiple dogs and no cats, and I know boisterous, sociable people who have cats. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-psychological-difference-between-a-cat-person-and-a-dog-person/351069.md?page=2)