Nation's cats dissatisfied with food, toys, sleeping arrangements

Owner approval ratings hit all-time low

Dec. 21, 2011

For Immediate release

By Frank Comment

TRENTON, NJ – A majority of America's cats* are disappointed with their quality of life, with 57 percent expressing displeasure with their food, 53 percent describing themselves as “bored” or “very bored” with their current collection of kitty toys, and 51 percent indicating that they are currently looking for a better place to sleep.

The key satisfaction numbers continued a downward trend in the annual Wall Street Journal/Cat Fancy Feline Opinion Survey, conducted Dec. 16-19 by Cat Dynamics Research Associates Inc. and funded by the I Can Haz Cheezburgers Charitable Trust.

The trend correlates to continuing declines in Cat Owner Approval Ratings, which have been in retreat since the Clinton Administration. Those ratings dipped to an historic low in the 2011 survey.

Next we have some questions about your relationship to your human staff. [RANDOM ORDER]

C. In general, how would you rate your human(s)'s overall job performance over the past 12 months?

This result renders a Composite Approval Index (CAI) of 40 percent, the worst CAI recorded in the 57 years since Cat Dynamics Research Associates added the question to its annual survey. The response was also the most negative ever recorded in the Waking Respondent Segment Measure (WRSM), with 89 percent of cats who happened to be awake at the time of the survey offering a negative assessment of their owner(s).

“America's cats are not amused,” said Isabelle C. Francis, President and CEO of Cat Dynamics Research. “To be more accurate about it, those who are awake are not amused. So far as we can tell.”

The poll was conducted by bothering 1,634 adult American cats between Dec. 16 and Dec. 19, 2011. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 50 percent.

Complete poll results here.

*Based on responses from cats that were able to wake up for or stay awake through survey interviews.