Single men are discovering what single women have known since ancient Egyptian times: Cats are worthy of worship.
At least unmarried British men say so, in a recent survey conducted by Cats Protection, a leading animal welfare society in the United Kingdom.
The survey showed that 85 percent of men, and 94 percent of women, don't think it's wimpy or needy for a man to love his cat. In addition, just as many single men as single women said they enjoy "lavishing care" on their cat.
And yet there are still gender differences in how we view the often puzzling feline species. Men saw their cat as a good friend(aww), while women said they considered their cats either a child or a baby. And men chose a cat's "independent spirit" as the animal's most desirable trait, while women thought that trait was a cat's least desirable trait (wrong with that one Bendigo..though I like my cats' independent spirit).
It's long been said by women that cats are excellent guy-o-meters -- capable of spotting a bad one with a sniff. I always found the converse to be true: Men who were good to my cats -- and not in a manipulative, let's- impress-her-with-my-sensitivity kind of way -- were going to be good to me. (That's spot on Bendigo).
There is a moral to this story. Men, if you want many good things in life, get a cat. Why? So many reasons. There is the unconditional-love thing, the way science has proved that stress levels come down drastically when one is stroking a pet, etc. But here's additional incentive: They are babe magnets.
Yes, according to this same British survey, women love men with cats. Ninety percent of single women surveyed thought men who like cats are "nicer" -- i.e., more caring and sensitive -- than those who don't. A quick poll of my cat-loving single girlfriends bears this out.
Additional points were awarded to those who adopted mature felines from shelters, rather than adorable kittens that have a much easier time finding homes. I suspect I shall find myself doing that very thing quite soon.
More than anything, I'm pleased to find that single men might just be warming to the notion of single-with-cat as a worthy lifestyle. It might help deflect the endless guff single women with cats have taken over the centuries. And it will certainly be good for cats.
