Yes, it’s time for another Caturday Felid post, the feature hanging on with its front claws.
First, BuzzFeed has 28 animal tweets, but of course I’ll reproduce only the ones featuring cats. Here are a few.
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This Washington Post article (click to read, or find it archived here) shows that, relatively, cat ownership is outstripping dg ownership in America, mainly because cats are holding steady while dog ownership is declining. Nevertheless, pet stores and other “mech” places offer far more goodies for dgs than for cats.
The author is Robert Granadar.
Excerpts:
According to statistics from my research firm Packaged Facts, for the first time since the data began being tracked, more U.S. households own kittens than puppies. In 2014, there were 1.8 households with a dog under 1 year old for every one household with a cat the same age. That ratio reached parity in 2025, and this year, it declined to 0.94 to 1. Fewer puppies today means fewer dogs in the future.
This isn’t a story of cat ownership booming, however. It’s one of dog ownership declining. The number of American households with dogs has dropped 5 percent since 2019, while cat ownership has held relatively steady. Dogs still dominate America — roughly 71 million households have dogs compared with 53 million that own cats — but that is changing quickly.
Here’s a graph of popularity of the two mammals, with fish a distant third:
. . . . roughly half of cat owners feel as though pet product marketers and retailers aren’t catering to cats.
Meanwhile, in most pet stores, dog owners are greeted with a wide assortment of food and treat options, toys, enrichment products, travel accessories, apparel, training equipment and seasonal merchandise. Grooming, boarding, training and other pet services remain overwhelmingly dog-centric. There are dog parks, dog beaches, dog-friendly hotels, dog-friendly restaurants, dog bakeries and even dog airlines. Cats are largely left out. They get leftover boxes from Amazon deliveries.
Pet companies treat cats like the Ken to dogs’ Barbie. So, what’s behind Americans’ move away from dogs?
Mostly, practicality. Cats are quieter, easier to leave by themselves and better at living in smaller spaces. A dog can turn your Saturday into a logistical exercise. A cat barely notices you’ve left the house.
But the trend reflects the state of the economy, too. Home buying, a traditional trigger for adding a dog to the family, has been stifled by a combination of elevated real estate prices, sluggish real wage growth and higher mortgage rates. The homeownership decline has taken some of the steam out of the dog market, as homeowners are almost twice as likely as renters to own a dog, according to our data.
Here are the data from the article, state by state, on the relative popularity of cats vs. d*gs. Note that the five states with more households having cats than dogs are nearly all in the NE, with the exception of Idaho (?): Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Illinois and Louisiana, in stark contrast show fewer than 20% of the households with cats:
And look! Cats cost almost half of what dogs do!
Demographic shifts are also putting downward pressure on overall pet ownership. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies projects that household growth will be concentrated among older adults and minorities — groups that historically have lower pet ownership rates.
The decline in dog ownership is also a product of the way people live and work post-pandemic. Americans have smaller households, are more likely toown apartments, travel more and incur higher costs. With the U.S. facing tighter economic conditions, dogs can be prohibitive. Packaged Facts estimates that owners spend an average of $1,300 annually on dogs, compared with roughly $750 on cats.
. . . This isn’t a story about cats replacing dogs. It’s about Americans becoming more like cats: living in smaller spaces, valuing independence and preferring to be left alone.
Go cats! This article neglects to explain one fact that baffles me: why the Internet is far more dominated by cats than by d*gs. You’d expect that because d*gs are more expressive and active, as well as more popular, they’d dominate the Web. But they don’t. Any explanations?
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Do you know about the Cat Festival held every year in Tokyo? It celebrates the Bakeneko, a supernatural demon cat. Here’s a bit about it from Wikipedia:
The bakeneko (ばけ猫, “changed cat”) is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural entity; more specifically, it is a kaibyō, or supernatural cat.[2] It is often confused with the nekomata, another cat-like yōkai.[3] The distinction between them is often ambiguous, but the largest difference is that the nekomata has two tails, while the bakeneko has only one.
There are legends of bakeneko in various parts of Japan, but the tale of the Nabeshima Bakeneko Disturbance in Saga Prefecture is especially famous.
The reason that cats are seen as yōkai in Japanese mythology is attributed to many of their characteristics: for example, the pupils of their eyes change shape depending on the time of day, their fur can seem to cause sparks when they are petted (due to static electricity), they sometimes lick blood, they can walk without making a sound, their wild nature that remains despite the gentleness they can show, they are difficult to control, their sharp claws and teeth, nocturnal habits, and their speed and agility.
Here’s a picture of a demon-cat from the Wikipedia article, with the caption, “Ume no Haru Gojūsantsugi (駅) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. A kabuki play that was performed in 1835 (Tenpo 6) in Ichimura-za. It depicts a cat that has shapeshifted into an old woman, a cat wearing a napkin and dancing, and the shadow of a cat licking a lamp.”
Part of the legends of the bakeneko is that they like to lick lamp oil!
But every year about this time the demon cats are celebrated in a Tokyo Festival, and people dress up in cat outfits and do catlike things. The video below shows the festival from last year. The description:
Step into the whimsical world of Tokyo’s Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival (化け猫フェスティバル) where the streets come alive with cat-themed costumes, traditional dance, music, and joy! 🐾✨ Every year, cat lovers from across Japan gather in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, to celebrate the mysterious Bakeneko (化け猫) the legendary “ghost cat” of Japanese folklore. From adorable feline cosplay and creative makeup to lively parades and local treats, it’s a must-see event that blends Japanese tradition, folklore, and kawaii culture!
Location: Kagurazaka, Tokyo
The time stamps for part of the Cat Festival:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Start
00:34 Costume highlights
07:18 Parade march
09:17 Close-ups & reactions
10:45 Grand finale
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Lagniappe: Jen, the Good News Girl, describes Powell Cat, a beloved cat that was popular at UCLA, where she went to school:
Here’s a brief remembrance of Powell Cat at a student website at UCLA; click to read:
Wow! I usually don’t get up early enough to be the first commentor on a post. I don’t currently have a cat to slap me awake in the morning.
I’d like to investigate that cat who uses static electricity to deliver shocks. Not that I doubt a cat being capable of doing that. Mine would wait till I was watching before he knocked something off the table.
I like the cat “shorts” in today’s Caturday feature, particularly the thin, hungry one. Captures the moment perfectly.
The upcoming decline in d*g ownership was inevitable. The lovers of such beasts are getting tired of dealing with the poop. I see people everywhere with their poopers (AKA dogs) on leashes, and bags of poop in their hands. Sometimes they tuck the poop bags under the dog’s collar. How embarrassing. It’s poop everywhere! Even on our hiking trails, there are bags of poop that owners “forgot” to pick up. And, it’s getting tiresome. Our beloved moggies are sophisticated. They ”go” inside the house. Much better.
Cool for Powell Cat! He has his own commemorative t-shirt.
Cats do better in small spaces than dogs do and greater numbers of the human population are in condos or apartments in North America now explaining why cats are so popular. As also pointed out, they’re less expensive by far to maintain than a dog, but it’s still an animal you can have a relationship with. I’d almost bet money that if we examined the dog population closely, we’d find that the greatest drop is with the largest dogs. My cat went for the big sleep 3 1/2 years ago and I still miss her. I enjoy these special posts on Saturdays and will surely miss them when you think the time has come to stop them.
I also would have thought that cat ownership increases, relative to dog ownership, in places with more apartments relative to free-standing homes. But if you look at that map, the states where cat owners exceed dog owners are all rather rural states–e.g., Idaho and Maine. I would have expected the reverse.
Perhaps it reflects the cold winters in those states. My cats were like hot water bottles under the covers on chilly nights.
“why the Internet is far more dominated by cats than by dgs…*…
A dog pulling little Timmy from a well? That’s what dogs are supposed to do. But in 2014, tabby cat Tara saw her 4yo human Jeremy outside on his tricycle, being viciously attacked. Family cat Tara body-slammed the large dog, made it lose his grip on the kid’s leg, chased it away, then immediately returned to check on her human.
All caught on security footage. For this she was honored by SPCA Los Angeles National Hero Dog Award, their first award to a cat. If it had been a dog, well, it, it’s their job, they’re bred for that. But a cat? Extraordinary!
In January 2007, the “I Can Has Cheezeburer” site debuted, and almost immediately went viral. One month later, they ran an ad asking for two assistants to apply for jobs to help keep up with demand. Subscribers and contributors knew a cat site would be successful. They were on to something. As did the investors who bought the Cheezeburger site later that year for $2 million.
You’d expect that because d*gs are more expressive and active, as well as more popular, they’d dominate the Web. But they don’t. Any explanations?
Because no-one likes a toadying sycophant, and you can always count on a cat to dispense the appropriate amount of contempt for any situation.
Advertisers aren’t catering to cats?! Tell that to my Youtube, which for a while showed me nothing BUT commercials for cat food, cat toys, cat everything. (Btw: the reason I don’t get ads for cats anymore is because I stopped getting any ads at all. That’s thanks to Ublock Origin, which I can’t recommend highly enough.)
Those cat tweets made me laugh out loud. I needed that. Thanks!
Great video of the Tokyo cat parade. I watched the whole thing.
Why are cats more common than dogs on the internet? Not sure. But the King of the Beasts was always a big cat.
Enjoyed the post today. Love all the personalities expressed in the BuzzFeed posts. Amused by the faux-giacometti sculpture. All praise for Japan’s appreciation for cats-
Cats probably make more entertaining posts than d*gs, as others have noted, due to their willingness to cause trouble and lack of concern if we approve of their behavior.
When I was growing up, and my mom was taking me to the supermarket, there was a very long aisle with shelves full of different brands and tastes of cat food, as well as different bags of dried food. That aisle was no less long than the dog food aisle opposite. My mom would buy many cans of cat foods of varying flavor, including, to everyone in the family except the cat, the worst-smelling one of the bunch. And believe you me, it was no easy contest!
So it seems to me that American consumerism does not cater to cats any less than dogs.
The stars of the cat parade seem to be the real cats brought out for the day.