# What's the male equivalent for "crazy cat lady"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236 "2012-03-19T16:30:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/41 "2012-03-20T12:50:40Z")
Maybe one could be called a “Harrison Withers”, after the guy like this in Louise Fitzhugh’s book _Harriet the Spy._ ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/42 "2012-03-20T14:20:29Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > > [@Maastricht](#): > > > > Cat hoarder. > > This made me laugh. I like it! 😛 I suspect it wasn’t particularly intended as humor. [Animal hoarding](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_hoarding) is a recognized problem, and so a person - male or female - who has more cats than they can realistically take care of is rightly called a cat hoarder. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/43 "2012-03-21T00:43:38Z")
Felix Dementis ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/44 "2012-03-21T04:57:40Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I suspect it wasn’t particularly intended as humor. [Animal hoarding](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_hoarding) is a recognized problem, and so a person - male or female - who has more cats than they can realistically take care of is rightly called a cat hoarder. Like [this guy](http://tinyurl.com/777rxk6)? ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/45 "2012-03-21T05:29:01Z")
I immediately thought, “Engineer” ---
**Author:** ![pdunderhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pdunderhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdunderhill)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/46 "2012-03-21T13:47:18Z")
This may be apposite, try googling ‘Steve Bowen and Bob the Cat’ homeless busker who has adopted a Cat who he takes with him while busking in London. Quite a heart warming story but rather un-catlike behaviour, Peter ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/47 "2012-03-21T13:53:20Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Kittyman! Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/48 "2012-03-21T13:57:26Z")
> [@morlamweb](#): > > The exact requirements for “cat lady” are subject to debate, By the by, the definition I read here at SDMB once for crazy cat lady was “having more cats than you have teeth in your head”. I thought that was quite good. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/49 "2012-03-21T14:51:38Z")
I call myself (a male) a crazy cat lady. The term’s meaning never seemed to particularly rely on the sex. No one looked at me strange—well, no stranger than anyone would look at someone who would willingly adopt a title of derision. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/50 "2012-03-21T15:33:12Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > The male equivalent, I think, is the socially-awkward guy who’s too nervous to talk to women, so ends up hanging out alone at home and playing computer games all night, possibly in his elderly parents’ basement. Basically: Comic Book Guy, from The Simpsons. I do _not_ live in my parents’ basement! Their RV doesn’t even _have_ a basement ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/51 "2012-03-21T16:16:28Z")
My first thought: Norwegian bachelor farmer (Prairie Home Companion). Not the cats bit, but the hermit/crazy part for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Neevil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Neevil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neevil)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/52 "2012-03-21T17:47:31Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Single old men with poor social skills are usually the 'Get off my lawn!" guys. They’d be ‘mad aul fellas’ here in Ireland as in ‘that mad aul fella from down the road was shouting at the kids again’. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/53 "2012-03-21T18:15:24Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Single old men with poor social skills are usually the 'Get off my lawn!" guys. I was thinking “Old Man [last name]” but it looks like the OP wants a feline-obsession-specific element in the title. Might have to go with “freak” in that case. The concept of Crazy Cat Lady exists because it’s an example of the stereotypical nurturing female taken to an extreme. Stereotype Man is not nurturing, he’s mechanically-inclined, stoic and independent. The extreme of that is the expressionless, antisocial guy who’s always hammering on his roof and controlling the chemical composition of his front yard with elaborate, scientific precision; bonus points if he’s a WWII European theater veteran. Such men don’t like cats. Based on that, an old recluse with a bunch of cats is a freak. At least that’s what Old Man Montoya’s gonna call 'em in 30 years. “Goddamn freak lettin his goddamned cat into my yard to diggup my goddamned tomato plants.” (muttered while synthesizing some kind of cat trap from Coke bottles, plastic coathangers, Vaseline and string). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/54 "2012-03-21T18:30:36Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I was thinking “Old Man [last name]” but it looks like the OP wants a feline-obsession-specific element in the title. > > Might have to go with “freak” in that case. The concept of Crazy Cat Lady exists because it’s an example of the stereotypical nurturing female taken to an extreme. Stereotype Man is not nurturing, he’s mechanically-inclined, stoic and independent. The extreme of that is the expressionless, antisocial guy who’s always hammering on his roof and controlling the chemical composition of his front yard with elaborate, scientific precision; bonus points if he’s a WWII European theater veteran. Such men don’t like cats. Based on that, an old recluse with a bunch of cats is a freak. At least that’s what Old Man Montoya’s gonna call 'em in 30 years. “Goddamn freak lettin his goddamned cat into my yard to diggup my goddamned tomato plants.” (muttered while synthesizing some kind of cat trap from Coke bottles, plastic coathangers, Vaseline and string). So basically Clint Eastwoood’s character from “Gran Torino?” 🙂 You might need some netting for your cat trap - I almost trapped an unwanted feline in my netting for my peas this morning! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/55 "2012-03-21T18:41:12Z")
Was the cat trying to take a pea? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/56 "2012-03-21T19:33:31Z")
**Artemis** beat me to it: Gun nut. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/57 "2012-03-21T19:40:25Z")
There is no debate on the number of cats that make you a crazy cat lady. The magic number is 2. More than 2…you are crazy cat lady. ---
**Author:** ![thewgill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@thewgill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thewgill)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/58 "2012-03-21T19:46:41Z")
I believe the answer is Adam West. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/59 "2012-03-21T20:51:22Z")
Before I saw that actual cats were required, I would have said “curmudgeon”. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236/60 "2012-03-21T21:03:37Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Before I saw that actual cats were required, I would have said “curmudgeon”. Difference: Dog hoarder (male variety) = curmudgeon Cat hoarder (male variety) = furmudgeon ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-male-equivalent-for-crazy-cat-lady/616236.md?page=4)