--- title: 8 Things Your Pet Says About Your Personality description: 1) Researchers have established some general conclusions about pets and their owners personalities: Fish owners are happiest. Dog owners are the most fun to be... canonical: https://time.com/3652226/pet-animal-your-personality/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-06T05:01:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:20.206Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 8 Things Your Pet Says About Your Personality og:description: 1) Researchers have established some general conclusions about pets and their owners personalities: Fish owners are happiest. Dog owners are the most fun to be... og:url: https://time.com/3652226/pet-animal-your-personality/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteca5c8a286638c6e/698777e08e060125c645980a/dog-cat-pets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5100 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: dog and cat og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 8 Things Your Pet Says About Your Personality twitter:description: 1) Researchers have established some general conclusions about pets and their owners personalities: Fish owners are happiest. Dog owners are the most fun to be... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteca5c8a286638c6e/698777e08e060125c645980a/dog-cat-pets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 8 Things Your Pet Says About Your Personality > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=a824e55e-76da-4b76-95ec-96d83913696b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside New York's First Cat Cafe [Watch (HLS stream): Inside New York's First Cat Cafe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0MiiFeak.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2014-12-12. Meet the cats of NYC's first cat cafe, Meow Parlour, and hear more about the growing trend of paying to play with cats from the cafe's two owners._ by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 6, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Golden retriever dog with ginger tabby cat resting on sofa (focus on foreground) Golden retriever dog with ginger tabby cat resting on sofa (focus on foreground) Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 6, 2015 5:01 AM UTC 1) Researchers have established some [general conclusions](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-does-your-pet-say-about-you) about pets and their owners personalities: * **Fish owners are happiest.** * **Dog owners are the most fun to be with.** * **Cat owners are the most dependable and emotionally sensitive.** * **Reptile owners are the most independent.** 2) Yes, there are [differences between cat people and dog people](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-there-personality-differences-between-dog): * **Dog people were generally about 15 percent more extraverted, 13 percent more agreeable and 11 percent more conscientious than cat people.** * **Cat people were generally about 12 percent more neurotic and 11 percent more open than dog people.** 3) According to [research](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-does-your-pet-say-about-you) by [Richard Wiseman,](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307474860/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0307474860) people often see their pets’ personality as a reflection of their own. So, more often than not, **a quick way to find out what someone is like it to ask them to describe their animal friend’s temperament.** 4) You can [tell a liberal from a conservative](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-tell-a-liberal-from-a-conservative-by) by the breed of dog they own. Via [The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307377903/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307377903): --- > “” --- 5) That guy with the pit bull [might be just as scary as his dog](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120522084326.htm): --- > “” --- 6) Dog owners [are healthier](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-dogs-mans-best-friend). Via [59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307474860/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0307474860): --- > “” --- Dogs provided more health benefits than a cat — or a spouse for that matter. Further research showed that at least some of these effects were **causal, not correlative**. You don’t even need to own a dog to get some of the stress-relieving benefits: watching a video of a cute animal can [reduce heart rate and blood pressure in under a minute](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-you-quickly-relieve-stress). Stuffed animals can [improve your immune system](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-stuffed-animals-stop-you-from-getting-sic). 7) Researchers know [the type of person who doesn’t clean up after their dog](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kind-of-person-doesnt-clean-up-after-the): --- > “” --- 8) A few other fun facts about pets: * Your cat may be manipulating you with [mind control powers](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-your-cat-manipulating-you-with-mind-contro). * People buy [healthier food for their dogs](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-people-buy-healthier-food-for-themselves-o) than for themselves. * Scientists have (nearly) turned [wild foxes into puppy dogs](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-turn-foxes-into-puppy-dogs-yes-video). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/8-things-your-choice-of-pet-says-about-your-p/)**_._** **Join over 151,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [6 Hostage Negotiation Techniques That Will Get You What You Want](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) _Read next:_ [_How to Read People Like Sherlock Holmes: 4 Insights From Research_](http://time.com/3650136/how-to-read-people/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I'm Christina Ha. And I'm one of the founders of Meow Parlour. And I'm Emilie Legrand and I'm one of the founders of Meow Parlour. I had visited cat cafes in France and in Japan before. And so, because we both love cats. And we were sad we couldn't get to a cat cafe in New York, so if you're sad you just build it. [ LAUGH ] We partnered with a rescue group called kitty kind they're based out of the union square pet co. They're a non profit all volunteer no kill shelter [ MUSIC ] Kitty Kind handles all of our adoptions for us. So they're the ones who know the cats best and understand their personalities. Through the exposure we really hope they get adopted. And if it urns out for some reason they don't like you know, other cats. They don't like people. Then, we're already home, then, into the proper situation. For the moment, we have seven cats, and we're planning on having a dozen cats. Gillian, Sqwinkles, Spot, Liza, Luck Eleven, Kirsten and Marley. Marley. We're cat ladies. [ LAUGH ] Yeah. I mean we love cats and. I've had cats all my life so I'm really trying to make sure they are really comfortable here. Our residential super cat lady. [ LAUGH ] So we have these cats that have like really different quirks to them. And they're all very, very unique and super individual and I think it's so interesting to get to. Interact with them and get to know them better. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3652226/pet-animal-your-personality/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3652226/pet-animal-your-personality/"},"headline":"8 Things Your Pet Says About Your Personality","datePublished":"2015-01-06T05:01:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:20.206Z","description":"1) Researchers have established some general conclusions about pets and their owners personalities: Fish owners are happiest. 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