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A study published in the Veterinary Record Journal by researchers at the University of Bristol in Britain reveals that people who own cats are more likely to have university degrees than people with dogs! Interesting, huh? Clearly, exposure to intelligent, cunning and perhaps self-centered felines seems to rub off on the owner in an intellectual way :-). All kidding aside, it is perhaps likely that the more educated people may have more demanding jobs, and work longer hours, and so choose a pet that better fits their lifestyles. Being more independent than dogs, cats can stay home alone more easily, require no walking, are less noisy, and are simply an easier pet to maintain if the owner has a busy and demanding life. Dr Jane Murray, Cats Protection Lecturer in Feline Epidemiology, who led the study, said: "We don't think it is associated with income because that was one of the variables we looked at, and there was little difference. The study showed that households containing at least one person with a university degree were 1.36 times more likely to have a cat than homes where no members had an advanced education. Similarly, homes with persons with a higher education were less likely to have a dog than those where no member went to university. The study also found that cat owners were more likely to be older and female, something most people would have confirmed by simple observation. Interestingly, there was a study published showing that cats performed more poorly than dogs at a simple reasoning task. In the test, cats and dogs were presented with two pieces of string, only one of which was attached to a food reward. While dogs could tell which string to pull for their treat, cats failed to figure it out. Perhaps the felines were just bored because the test was too simple?
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