No More Crazy Cat Lady, Feline Fanciers Are "In" on Dating Apps
Rebecca West
A recent poll suggests that cat owners are not wasting away in a barren dating landscape full of people with negative impressions of cat owners. If anything, they appear to be doing just fine, if not better.
In a review of 1,000 American cat owners versus 1,000 individuals who don't have any, data assembled found that marriage rates among either group were, for all intents and purposes, essentially the same at 79 percent. In fact, if anything, cat owners' love lives are doing slightly better, as they are more likely to be involved in relationships (92 percent) than non-cat owners (89 percent).
To take it a step further, half of the feline-free respondents involved in the poll claimed to be disinterested in dating, period, in comparison to just one out of three cat fanciers.
Who's More Datable?
This may or may not come as a relief to women who fear getting tagged with "the crazy cat lady" moniker, as it appears to be more of a misnomer.
Conducted by OnePoll for pet supply brand World's Best Cat Litter, the results also showed that 72 percent of respondents considered pet ownership to be “attractive," regardless of their own relationship status or whether they owned a pet.
When prompted to imagine a scenario where a potential dating match is pictured with a cat among their profile images, the majority said they'd be "more interested" as a result of the animal's inclusion. Not surprisingly, this held true with 75 percent of cat owners, but 61 percent of people without cats agreed.
Feline Fanciers
In the interest of putting it all out there, seven in 10 people believe dating app users should have to disclose whether or not they own pets on their profiles – which, interestingly enough, appears to be the same number who feel parents on dating apps should acknowledge whether or not they have kids.
"Even if you're not the type to treat your pets like they're your children, they're still an important part of the family and can wield a lot of influence," Director of Marketing for World's Best Cat Litter, Jean Broders, concluded. "Cat owners clearly seem to know this, as our findings indicate they're more likely to worry about making a good first impression on a partner's pet."
Speaking of which, four in 10 folks have even visited a potential date's home specifically to meet their pet, according to survey results.
Pet Deal Breakers
Among those polled, 40 percent of cat owners said they'd still consider dating someone who didn't like cats with one caveat regarding the open hatred of cats, which was understandably a deal breaker among the group.
Allergies to felines can make dating a cat owner a hard no for some – with 41 percent of cat parents citing it as a problem as well as 32 percent of cat-free people. But here's the best part of all the info gathered: cat owners were slightly more willing to entertain the notion of dating a romantic prospect who didn't have a job as compared to non-cat owners.
"Perhaps they figure there'll be someone at home to do all the feeding and cleaning," Broders suggested. "After all, almost 77 percent said they worry that guests will be able to smell odors from their cat's litter box, so it's clearly a pressing concern!"
To view the rest of the deal breakers listed by percentages, you can read them in the New York Post.
