Are Men Who Own Cats Less Likely to Get a Date? Study Finds Women Don't Swipe Right as Often on 'Cat-chelors'

Men with feline friends are less likely to get a date with the opposite sex, a new study finds.

“A cat person is just not in the cards for me,” Yanna Bekelja, 24, said. “I’m definitely not swiping on a guy with a cat, for sure.”

Bekelja isn’t alone. Women are less likely to “swipe right,” or pursue, a man who includes a cat in his online dating profile picture, according to the study conducted by Dr. Lori Kogan and Dr. Shelly Volsche. 

“The results seem to suggest that women view men, particularly those that are going to put their cat in their dating profile picture, as less masculine, less dateable and maybe even a little bit more neurotic,” Volsche said.

Actor Nathan Kehn has four cats and is known by his 250 million Instagram followers as “Nathan the Cat Lady.”

“It's so weird how it's become such a negative stigma,” he said. “It's definitely hindered me. I've had a couple of girls say, ‘I don't know if this is gonna work.’”

He says women should be more open minded. 

“If a girl is looking for someone who one day will be a good dad, you want someone who's gonna be patient and can love cats, because that is a full time job right there,” he said. 

Kogan has advice for single men with cats, otherwise known as “cat-chelors.”

“Guys pictured with a cat are not gonna get that swipe right, so if that's what you're looking for, maybe leave the cat out of the picture,” she said.

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