The end of the Crazy Cat Lady?

Is Gen Z replacing us middle aged women (and men) as the biggest group of cat lovers?

Move over Crazy Cat Ladies, Gen Z is in town…

I have been called a crazy cat lady on a number of occasions. We have all heard the definition of a crazy cat lady - an ‘older’ woman who lives alone with a number of cats who she is obsessively devoted to. Personally having only one cat - who yes I am obsessively devoted to - and a son - who I am equally devoted to - and not being a fan of thinking of myself as ‘older’ then I can only dream of being a crazy cat lady in reality. However, apparently it’s a thing of the past in any case.

Note that it gets thrown about as an insult but us cat lovers - whatever age, sex, and number of cats - actually think it’s a huge compliment.

However we are being pushed aside by, drumroll please, young people. Welcome to the Gen Z, cat lovers who are now taking our place. Not only are cats increasingly popular among the younger generation, they are also being recognised as what all of us ‘crazy cat ladies’ always knew and that is cool. Cats are amazing, cats are cool and cats are now increasingly popular. It’s just as it always should have been.

It was reported this week in newspaper The Times that cats become ‘Britain’s favourite pet as Gen Z copy Taylor Swift.’ It went on to report that as many as 41% of Gen Z share their home with at least one cat. Basically, it’s as if young people are realising what us crazy cat ‘oldies’ knew all along, that cats are just the best. In fact they are apparently about to overtake dogs as the UK’s most popular pets.

So where does that leave crazy cat ladies or aspiring ones? Or me anyway. Well I shall applaud anyone who loves animals full stop, no matter which but having such a soft spot for cats I can’t help feeling a bit pleased that youngsters are realising what I knew all along - and by the way I’ve always had cats from when I was born.

Digging deeper though, The Teen Magazine published an article entitled ‘Why Every Teenager Needs a cat.’ It goes on to say how calming cats can be, how they make teens less anxious amidst all the pressure they are under and can help with feelings of loneliness. Basically these are the benefits of having a cat no matter what age you are.

Taylor Swift has three cats herself, and she has become a huge positive advocate for cat parenting. Her cats are named after fictional characters and enjoy a level of fame of their own. There is Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button - all three are utterly gorgeous.

I think crazy cat ladies, crazy cat men, crazy cat youngsters, it doesn’t matter. Because at the end of the day all that matters is the cats. And we love them so much!