When it comes to pets, cats are the new dogs

Apparently men love cats in greater numbers than ever before – which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of dogs.

But in one way, you can see why; you don’t have to take them for walks, they fend for themselves when you’re away all day or even on holidays, and very few of them have been known to make shreds of your shoes or your couch.

Cats don’t terrorise sheep but they do keep the mouse population under control – they also target birds, but that’s a different story.

They don’t keep the neighbours awake all night with their meowing, and even if they leave their little bits of business on the footpath, it still doesn’t require pedestrians to veer into the middle of the road to avoid it.

Dogs, on the other hand, require more minding than a small child – and if you have to go away for a few days, having them minded in kennels will probably cost you more than your flight and hotel.

You can’t leave them outside at night for fear of bothering animals and neighbours – for vastly different reasons – and their sudden need for toilet breaks means you end up carrying a plastic bag so you can scoop their deposits into your pocket.

So it may not be that men love cats more than dogs; it’s just that they’re a much easier option – particularly if you live in a flat without a garden.

Celebrity cat lovers may also be partly responsible for this phenomenon; Ed Sheeran – a man who is close to a ginger cat himself – adopted a kitten, David Cameron had a house cat when he resided in Downing Street (and Larry the cat was kept on by the new regime) while Russel Brand, another human feline, is also a cat lover too.

Even through time there was something about cats that dogs could only dream of; think of the movies and you think of Catwoman, but nobody ever suggested a leather jumpsuit-clad Halle Berry would make a great Dogwoman.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.