Evaluation of Characteristics Associated with Self-Identified Cat or Dog Preference in Pet Owners and Correlation of Preference with Pet Interactions and Care: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Dog and cat preference has been associated with a few factors, like owner personality traits, but data regarding other aspects of preference ontogeny and the impact of preferences on pet wellbeing have yet to be examined. In this exploratory study, several of these characteristics, such as exposure to pets when young and as adults and current pet interactions and diet were analyzed from internet survey data. We found that more people identified as dog people (63.3%) versus cat people (36.7%) and preference for dogs remained consistent from childhood to adulthood compared with cats. In individuals who changed species preference, a lack of childhood exposure to cats (47.2%) was significantly associated with the group that changed preferences from dogs to cats from childhood to adulthood, compared with dog ownership as a child in the group that changed preferences from cats to dogs (24.4%). The number of cats and dogs in the home directly correlated with species preference (p < 0.001). Dwelling location was also significantly associated with species preference, with cat people being more likely to live in an urban area and dog people in a rural area (p = 0.002). More time was spent in both active and passive interactions with pets of the preferred species. Cats owned by cat people were more likely to be fed prescription diets compared with cats owned by dog people (p < 0.001). Interestingly, dog people were more likely to feed both their cats (p = 0.012) and dogs (p < 0.001) a raw diet compared with cat people. Additional research is needed to understand the development and impact of owner species preferences on pets to identify risks of suboptimal wellbeing.