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Turns out, “crazy cat ladies” may not be so crazy after all.
Researchers from the University of Lucerne in Switzerland surveyed more than 2,300 Swiss adults about their relationships with animals, finding that gender was one of several factors linked to how closely people connected with their pets.
But the findings were not entirely warm and fuzzy.
Despite the stronger bonds, researchers found no evidence that owning a pet automatically makes people healthier or happier. Pet owners reported poorer overall health and were more likely to smoke cigarettes than those without animals.
Participants who said they received greater emotional support from their pets also tended to report more loneliness and lower psychological well-being.
However, researchers stressed that the findings do not mean pets are causing those struggles. People who already feel lonely or distressed may instead be more likely to rely on an animal for comfort and companionship.
“Two people may both own a dog, but their relationships with that dog can be very different,” the researchers explained.
The strongest bonds were reported among women, people who spent more time with their animals and those who interacted with dogs, all of whom tended to feel more attached to their pets and more emotionally supported by them.
The findings suggest that the strength and nature of the human-pet bond reveal more than ownership alone.
For many pet owners, building that bond means learning an animal’s habits, preferences and boundaries. As one X user put it, “getting to know a new fur friend is guaranteed to present you with something new that will absolutely stump you.”
However, previous research pushed back against the idea that a close relationship with a cat is a sign of poor mental health or difficulty forming human connections.
A 2019 study of more than 500 pet owners found no evidence that cat owners experienced greater depression, anxiety or difficulty forming close relationships than people without cats, suggesting that a stronger bond with an animal does not necessarily signal poor mental health or loneliness.
Other research has found that many childless pet owners report greater financial freedom, higher savings and little regret about not becoming parents, further challenging the image of the lonely, dissatisfied “cat lady.”
The findings paint a more complicated picture than the stereotype suggests. Women may form especially close bonds with their pets, but that attachment does not automatically mean they are isolated, unhappy or unable to build meaningful relationships with other people.
The “crazy cat lady” label may be easy to repeat, but the science suggests the reality is far less simple.
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