A pet expert explains the personality differences between dog and cat owners

Business Insider spoke with John Bradshaw, anthrozoologist and author of The Animals Among Us, about the differences in personalities between dog owners and cat owners.

Mr Bradshaw said; "People refer to themselves as dog people or cat people and I think that the temptation is to think that means that that’s the kind of pet that they have but when people have studied this, they found that actually there isn’t really any great relationship between them."

"I think what some people mean when they say they’re a dog person is it means they are masculine and decisive whereas when people say they’re a cat person maybe they’re more independent and perhaps a bit more feminine. So they’re not necessarily talking about the animals themselves, they’re talking about the way they project their own personalities on the ideal cat or the ideal dog."

"There is a small difference in personality between the average personality between dog owners and cat owners but it’s comparatively small."

"Cat owners are supposed to be a little bit more neurotic than dog owners are, for example."

"But there is an enormous amount of overlap and I think that’s really the key point, is that the choice of animal is much more to do with a lifestyle choice than a personality thing, that any kind of person can bond with either species. It just may be easier for somebody who lives in the country to have a dog or somebody who lives in the city to have a cat."

You can find out more about Dr John Bradshaw's book here.

Produced and filmed by Jasper Pickering. Research by Fraser Moore.

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