Are Millenials changing Our relationship With Cats?
According to data released by research firm GfK during global Pet Expo 2015, millennials have supplanted baby boomers as the largest us pet-owning population. That implies 35.2% of the US’ 75 million Millennials, defined by GfK as people age 18 to 34, own a pet, compared to 32.8% of Boomers. According to a study conducted by Purina, nearly half of pet owning millenials share their lives with cats.
According to Purina’s study,
3 in 5 millennial cat guardians identify themselves as a “cat lady” or a “cat man,”
88 percent say they share personality traits with their cat, and nearly the same number say they’re “in sync” with their cat,
57 percent consider their feline friends as essential as the humans in their lives, and 2 in 5 say that sharing life with a cat implies they have a new best friend, and
86 percent consider their cats to be a faithful companion, and 1 in 2 say they confide in them.
Additionally, the survey found that millennials, whether cat guardians or not, are filling up their friends’ newsfeeds with everything feline:
Nearly 60 percent view cat videos online,
50 percent admit to having shared cat memes online, and
2 in 5 cat owners talk about their cat(s) often on social media.
Do Millenials relate differently to cats than baby Boomers?
This trend was discussed during one of the panels at the recent better with animals Summit. The panel, featuring Hal Herzog, a psychologist and anthrozoologist, Ragen McGowen, a Purina behaviorist, Christina Ha, the co-founder of new York City’s first cat café, Meow Parlour, and Mikel Delgado, a cat behaviorist and researcher, highlighted some interesting differences in how millenials relate to cats instead of baby boomers (and I confess that as a member of the baby boomer generation, I cringed a little each time the panel referred to us as “older people.”)
One aspect of the research they presented that I found particularly fascinating as well as gratifying was that older cat guardians are less anxious about their relationship with their cats. They are much more trusting than younger generations that their cats really do love them. Older cat guardians tend to be much more client with cats and let the cats come to them whereas younger cat guardians expect the cat to come to them. Not surprisingly, research shows that interaction between cats and humans last longer and is better when the human lets the cat initiate interaction.
Whatever fuels the growth in cat ownership (or ought to I say, being owned by cats) for millenials, whether it’s the fact that they tend to live in smaller living spaces, or whether cats are just better suited to their lifestyle, I find it encouraging that this generation is embracing sharing their lives with cats.
Then again, I’m always a little leery of generalizations, because quite frankly, I do all of the things the study revealed – and I’m much closer to being a baby boomer than I am to being a millenial!
Ingrid King
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8 comments on Are Millenials changing Our relationship With Cats?
Peyton says:
February 16, 2016 at 6:29 pm
I agree with the comment by Eastside Cats about the declawing of cats.
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Eastside Cats says:
February 16, 2016 at 9:33 am
Just as long as the word about the horrors of declawing is getting broadcast to ALL generations!
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Shawna says:
June 8, 2016 at 5:15 pm
Why this cruel and painful practice is legal is beyond my understanding. If people are inconvenienced by offering an outlet for their cat’s scratching needs, then possibly they ought to stick to having a stuffed animal (um, toy).
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Janine says:
February 16, 2016 at 7:44 am
So I’m sitting here thinking of which personality traits I share with one of my cats and I guess I would say we both frighten easily (though I’m still trying to figure out how to poof up like Kiki does) and we are obsessed with things. My husband and his closest cat both get grumpy pretty easily.
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Nancy Faulkner says:
February 16, 2016 at 6:11 am
To me, it is not the age, but…. how your cat loves, feels about you. and how, you feel, love your cat. and age is not a element when cats are abused and abandoned.
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Kelley says:
February 16, 2016 at 2:18 am
I’d be interested to know why they jumped from Boomers to Millenials without including GenXers. I know you don’t control the research, Ingrid, I’m just curious:)
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Ingrid says:
February 16, 2016 at 5:56 am
That’s a good question, Kelley – I’ll see what I can find out.
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fuqua says:
February 22, 2016 at 11:31 pm
I was wondering the same thing.
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