What’s Your Cattism Count? Our 20 Favorites in the Ultimate Reference Guide for Cat Lovers

My love of leopard and cats knows no bounds…

Considering I wear cat ears at nearly any occasion that will allow it, even being reprimanded by a fellow cat lover at one event where I could have worn cats ears and didn’t (she indignantly claimed she didn’t recognize me), and considering I’m officially known as the leopard lady (hence every leopard item on earth being forwarded to me to see via email and social media) it’s clearly not a secret I’m a bonafide cat lover.

Notwithstanding the obvious, there are many other subtle and not so subtle signs I’m a cat lover. I call these indicators “cattisms” and in view of the 2017-2018 statistics from the American Pets Product Association (APPA), that 47.1 million U.S. households own a combined 94.2 million cats, clearly, I’m not alone in my adoration. And by the way, who owns a cat? Don’t they own us?

Cattisms are those habits, behaviors, or things humans do because of their love of cats, sometimes to the point of obsession. I refer to the term in plural, because if you’re a cat lover, cattisms are like potato chips…you can’t have just one! Take a peek at the handy reference guide to follow. Just how many cat-loving cattisms are you guilty of? Since you’re reading a cat blog, you’re already guilty of at least one…

Since you’re reading a cat blog, you’re already guilty of one cattism.

1. Your computer screen, iPhone, or any other digital device has a background picture of one or more cats, more than likely your own, and the thumbnail icon for any login or social profile is a cat. Bonus points if you work a day job and your computer background picture is still a picture of a cat, and you don’t have a job related to cats. And despite being advised otherwise, any password where it is remotely possible to do so, you create it with a cat reference, regardless of how obscure the reference is. Likewise, any time you pick a security question for any reason, you pick the first name of a pet, which, of course, is a cat.

2. When you go to bed, your cats rule the bed. Meaning, if you have to sleep nearly on the edge of the bed and contort your body in the shape of a pretzel to accommodate where they decide to sleep very comfortably for the night, you will. And if your cats are sleeping on your bed after you get up, rather than move them to make it, you will keep the bed unmade all day if need be.

When you have cats, you always have a great excuse not to make the bed!

3. Your car has at least one, some, or all of the following:

a. a steering wheel cover, seat cover, or floor mats in a cat paw pad or animal print pattern.
b. a license plate holder related to cats and/or a vanity license plate related to cats, either personalized to incorporate something feline related, or the plate itself has a cat on it.
c. a bumper sticker that says I ♥ CATS or any other cat-related phrase.
d. your keyring has a picture of your cat or has cat-related charms and items dangling from it.

Two points for me – a proud cat lady frame, and a cat on the plate!

4. You have a cat blog and you create Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts for your cat, all of which have more followers than your own personal accounts.

5. You celebrate your cat’s birthday with cake and presents. You also make them wear a pointy birthday hat (or Photoshop your cat to look like it’s wearing a birthday hat) and you have a birthday party on your cat blog and social media sites to celebrate the day with the entire cat-loving universe.

What a wonderful coincidence! The day of this special post is also Zee’s 14th birthday! Happy birthday, Zee!

6. For Halloween your costume is a cat, you carve your pumpkin with a cat face, and for bonus points, you dress your cat in a costume. When holiday decorating, nearly everything is cat-themed and if you celebrate Christmas, you will put up a stocking with the cat’s name embroidered on it, and of course, will buy them presents. And all holiday cards, whether mailed or emailed, will have a picture of a cat wearing something such as a Santa hat, reindeer antlers, or a holiday sweater.

It must be Christmas – stockings for the cats are hung, I’m holding a cat, and I’m wearing a leopard Santa hat.

7. You might not always be up on current events, but you do know what’s going on in the lives of the cats you follow on blogs and social media. You also not only know what Talk Like a Pirate Day is, you know when it is.

Talk Like a Pirate Day… You mean Meow Like a Pirate Day…

8. When choosing a team to win at a sporting event, it’s determined by which team is related to cats, whether jungle cats or otherwise. If no cat teams are playing there is no point in watching the game and you turn the TV off to watch cat videos on your computer. If it’s football season, you don’t watch the Super Bowl, you watch the Kitten Bowl. And if you dabble in friendly gambling, such as horse racing, you always pick the horse with a name that is feline related. To the chagrin of serious sports aficionados who diligently study stats and records, this is particularly irksome if your horse wins.

9. You don’t remember the names of all your friends and acquaintances, but you do remember the names of their cats. You will also show strangers pictures of your cats from your iPhone, letting them know in no uncertain terms, that whatever common behavior your cat is exhibiting is cuter and more unique than any other cat.

There’s a reason I designed this cat t-shirt…because the sentiment is true!

10. Your house looks more like it belongs to your cats than it does to you. Not only is it filled with numerous feline enriching items such as cat condos, cat mats, and cat toys, but your personal library is primarily cat books, and your house is decorated with cat-themed bedspreads, blankets, rugs, and more.

This is just one of many cat condos that can be found in our house.

11. You communicate in cat speak – i.e., you understand what MOL is, your email signature might be “Purrs,” and words such as cattitude, Caturday, and concatulations are used on a frequent basis. You also anthropomorphize your cats, having regular conversations with them, and they talk back to you.

How can I not say hello to these little faces every time I see them? And how can they not meow back at me if I do?

12. Cat hair is your favorite color, you wear cat-themed clothes and jewelry as much as humanly possible, and bonus points for a cat tattoo.

13. If you are on the couch watching TV and a cat is on your lap, even if your bladder is screaming at you to get up, you won’t, lest you disturb the cat. The same holds true if the cat is on your lap and the TV remote is not within reaching distance. You will thus be forced to watch an infomercial for a product not related to cats.

Moments like this are treasured and I wouldn’t dream of disturbing them.

14. If your cat is sitting in your office chair, rather than move him, you will sit on the edge of the chair, precariously perched, so as not to disturb him. Likewise, if company visits and your cat is sitting on a chair they could be sitting in, they know enough not to move the cat and will find somewhere else to sit.

A typical family get together. Peanut, rightly so, has her own chair.

15. No matter how hard it is to type on your computer with your cat draped over your arm, you will not move the cat because you appreciate the special bonding moment you are sharing.

It matters not one bit that I can barely type due to a cat draped over my arm. If he’s happy, I’m happy.

16. You will spend inordinate amounts of money on fancy toys and gadgets for your cat but they will always prefer the box it came in or a wadded up piece of scrap paper you toss on the floor. Your friends and family will also spend money on gifts for your cats because they know your cat is part of the family. Likewise, any gift ever bought personally for you for any reason will be cat-themed.

We received a scratching post, but the box was far more intriguing and the perfect hideout for a freshly caught plush toy mouse.

17. You perform a “cat count” each and every time you leave the house, not only to say goodbye to your feline companions, but to make sure they are not somehow locked in a room, or in trouble. You also leave Animal Planet on the TV so they have something to watch, such as Jackson Galaxy’s My Cat From Hell, while you’re gone.

18. You decline invitations to go somewhere because you’d rather be at home with your cats.

Sorry, I have plans tonight. I’ll be with my cats, writing a blog post about cats.

19. Even though your innards can be completely re-arranged, you let your cat make biscuits on your stomach because you know how much joy it gives them.

20. You are allergic to cats, but you still find a way to keep them in your life because your love outweighs the sneezes, red-eyes, and runny nose.

Even if it might mean a sniffle or two (I’m actually allergic to cats) it’s worth it to feel the love from my precious Kizmet. Thankfully I’ve built up I high tolerance to cat dander, so my allergy attacks are few and far between.

This is but a mere tip of the catnip iceberg. How many of these cattisms are you guilty of? Just a couple, preferring to keep your cat-loving tendencies to yourself, or nearly all of them, letting the world know in an instant that you wear your cat-loving paw on your sleeve (perhaps literally) What are some that are not on this list?

hearts

Love the I Might Not Remember Your Name After We Met, But I Will Remember the Name of Your Cat T-Shirt? For that and other great T-Shirts, such as I’m Busy, How About You Catch That Red Dot?; Unless You’re Talking About Cats, I’ve Already Lost Interest; Cat Lover From Meow to Eternity; and Cats Are the Sunshine of My Heart check out Zee & Zoey’s Cat Creations here to order yours!

Want a fun read about cat behaviors? Check out our three-time award-winning book, Makin’ Biscuits – Weird Cat Habits and the Even Weirder Habits of the Humans Who Love Them here.

Allergic to cats but can’t live without them? Read our article sharing 10 tips and tricks to manage cat allergies.

CWA 2019 Certificate of Excellence Winning Article

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  1. I do just about all of these (and more!) LOL!!

    When people see my apartment for the first time, I say, “you can tell who owns this place – the cats, not me!” 🙂

  2. Most of these used to apply to me.When we go shopping we pass a parked car near us that has a huge sticker of a ginger cat in the back window. There is a striped cat tail sticker over the rear wiper so every time they use it it looks like the cat is waving his tail.

  3. Ellen Pilch says:

    Guilty of all 20. Do I get extra points because I dress all 13 cats in Halloween costumes? And my hubby dresses as Santa every year so they can all have photos with Santa. 🙂

  4. jmuhj says:

    I am (PURRoudly) guilty of almost all of these except for the holiday ones (because I don’t celebrate those), the car ones (because I don’t have one) and the sports ones (not into sports at all). Most of my business contacts know my family includes felines, and inquire after them. My cat jewelry NEVER comes off. I have a fairly large wardrobe of cat socks, cat tops, and cat-themed scarves and leggings. And our main hall has a forest — of cat trees.

  5. These cracked me up. Especially the one about not knowing the human’s name but knowing the cat’s name(s). When I mention bloggers to Lenny I ALWAYS refer to them by the names of their cat(s)…always…it is fair to say that myself and everyone reading this post does A LOT of these! Fun post!

    • Deb says:

      Dan does that to me, too. He’ll name someone and I won’t know who he’s talking about. It has to be the cat for me to connect the dots!

  6. When my office implemented photos that appear on our emails, I used a photo of Chucky. Every day, I email all of the top executives in my company, and there is Chucky! Everyone else used a photo of themselves…boring! I am amazed that they haven’t made me change it.

    • Deb says:

      That is so pawsome!! I find that sometimes I start typing an email using words like purr-fect, realizing that’s not how the non-cat loving world spells perfect!

  7. Charles Huss says:

    That is a great list. I would add that you choose the cat when playing Monopoly.

  8. Andrea Dorn says:

    These are great and so appropriate. I’d have to add that if you ask for cat litter on your Christmas list. I used to do that. My family just didn’t understand.

    • Deb says:

      MOL!! Yes, I’ve done that! And how wonderful when your litter goes on a “buy one, get one free” sale!! I take multiple trips to the store when that happens! And Chewy.com gift certificates, too!

  9. Mary McNeil says:

    Happy Purrthday Zee – and many more !

  10. The mom definitely does most of these things. She thinks “cat” 24/7!

  11. Guilty of 15 of them (Claire is not allergic, and we don’t celebrate Halloween), MOL ! Purrs

  12. Catwoods says:

    LOL guilty on so-many counts! Many cat-themed art pieces and knick-knacks around the house. Keeping old outgrown clothing picturing cats just in case one day I can remove the pictures and sew them onto new blank clothing that fits.