I volunteer at a local cat shelter, and this subject has come up for debate amongst the volunteers on several occasions. We’ve heard of the term “cat lady” or sometimes “crazy cat lady” to refer to some female owners of cats. The exact requirements for “cat lady” are subject to debate, of course, but they generally include: owning at least one cat (owning more than one cat generally increases the likelyhood of “cat ladiness”), doting upon one’s cats as though they were one’s own children, and buying lots of cat artwork (wood sculptures, coffee mugs, wall art, etc.). My question is, what’s the equivalent term for a male? Speaking from my own experience at the shelter, and using the demographics of the volunteers as a guide (limited sample set, I know), the traits of “cat-ladiness” seem to be more numerous among women than men, but there are some men who exhibit “cat lady” characteristics. Unfortunately, our language seems to lack an effective term for this case. I’m not claiming that this is up there with the gender-neutral singular-pronoun-problem (covered in one of Cecil’s columns), but it’s definitely a hole. Can someone help fill this void?
Felinophile?
Crazy cat lady is the term for either gender.
If I knew a crazy cat guy, I’d call him “crazy cat guy”.
Sad Cat Guy would be more accurate. Pathetic Cat Guy would be painfully accurate.
Dumb Dog Man
Were I single, I’d absolutely be the crazy cat guy. Only have three, though. The wife wouldn’t accept more.
Joe
My husband.
Kittyman!
“Creepy neighbor, the one with all the cats”
The old retired guy who spends all day in his workshop building pornographic weathervanes.
We had one in my home town. People called him Cat Man or “Hey, Santa Fe” because he used to work for the railroad. I don’t think anyone knew what his real name was. It was pretty sad. He used to walk to the supermarket where I worked in high school every couple reeking of cat urine. He would spend most of his money on cans of cat food. When day he stopped coming in few a few days and they found him dead surrounded by starving cats.
Men don’t collect cats. They collect “project” cars.
Apparently its “that guy who has all those cats”.
As Catwoman is to Batman, Cat Lady is to Bat Gentleman.
I think the male equivalent is the guy who has dogs instead of relationships.
I think the proper term is “Cat Man”. Then when he does something odd, we can have the following exchange:
“Hey did you hear what the Cat Man did?”
“No, what did the Cat Man do?”
d&r
I don’t have my OED handy but I’m pretty sure it’s Crazy Cat Lady Guy
silenus
Exactly. One old hermit near me passed away and they found several cars broken down to parts and stacked in different rooms of his house. Generators behind the toilet, fuel pumps in the kitchen cabinets, stack of fenders in the living room.