Growing up in Iran, Ashkan Teymouri was surrounded by cats, but never had one of his own until migrating to Australia over a decade ago.
asserted
Teymouri → grow → Australia
First there was Mamoosh, a beautiful Persian who offered companionship and familiarity in his early, often lonely, years in Melbourne.
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who → be → Melbourne
During the pandemic, he adopted three British Shorthair kittens – Mini, Circe and Jay Jay.
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he → adopt → kittens
The trio has, in no uncertain terms, changed his life and emotional world, teaching him patience and responsibility.
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trio → change → patience
“They don’t like to be approached very harshly.
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They → like → ?
You have to be so slow with them and take your time to get their trust.
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You → have → trust
But it’s rewarding,” says Teymouri, 36.
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Teymouri → ’ → ?
So devoted is the tradesman to his cats that his last relationship ended in part because of them.
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relationship → end → them
Jay Jay escaped – and eventually died – last year.
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Jay → escape → ?
His partner at the time, who never liked his cats, showed a lack of sympathy to Jay Jay’s loss, which Teymouri considered the final straw for their relationship.
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Teymouri → like → relationship
“When I lost him, I went through an absolute mental crash.
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I → lose → crash
I can’t tell you.
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I → tell → you
I couldn’t go to work because I was crying, and she [his ex] said, ‘Just be strong’.”
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she → go → work
While some cat lovers like Teymouri are born that way, others, like Greg Beazley, are made.
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others → bear → Beazley
When Beazley’s wife Haejin Yoo first told him she was adopting a kitten, he wasn’t enthused.
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he → tell → kitten
“I grew up with a dog, so I always assumed I was a dog person,” he says.
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he → grow → dog
But it didn’t take long for said kitten – Pom Pom – to win his heart.
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kitten → take → heart
There are so many pros to a cat as opposed to a dog – they’re toilet trained, they show the right amount of affection and not overly so, like they’re not always in your face, they don’t have to get washed, and they can fend for themselves
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they → be → themselves
,” says Beazley, 42.
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Beazley → say → ?
“I really treat them as little babies – I always say goodnight and good morning and that sort of thing.”
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I → treat → thing
In the past year, Yoo and Beazley’s family has quickly expanded to include rescues Bewty (named by their five-year-old daughter) and Skipper, the latter of whom started as a foster cat but has engendered particularly strong emotions in his dad.
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latter → expand → dad
“He was covered in ringworm, and we treated him very carefully over the coming months.
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we → cover → months
But what really sold me on him was that he came in very skittish and shy, and as soon as we showed him some love, it was like he never felt that before,” says Beazley.
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Beazley → sell → that
“The way he looked up at me was with gratefulness.
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he → look → gratefulness
From Zsa Zsa Gabor to Sade, Emily Brontë to Taylor Swift, pop culture is full of cat ladies (often with adjectives like “crazy” or “single” tacked on).
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culture → tack → crazy
Such women have long attracted a certain stigma – of loneliness, introversion, witchiness.
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women → attract → loneliness
As have their male counterparts – historically seen as weak, effeminate or antisocial
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counterparts → have → ?
According to a 2020 study, heterosexual American women found men pictured holding cats to be less dateable than those without.
uncertain
men → accord → those
Its authors hypothesised this due to ingrained cultural perceptions linking male feminity and homosexuality.
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authors → hypothesise → feminity
But while the feline has long been associated with the feminine, “cat dads” like Teymouri and Beazely are moving into the limelight as outdated gender stereotypes fall to the wayside.
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stereotypes → associate → wayside
Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco and Macklemore (alongside the late Sam Neill and Hollywood veteran Anthony Hopkins) are among a number of Hollywood men declaring their love for their feline companions.
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Ruffalo → declare → companions
Last year, Franco was crowned People Magazine’s inaugural “sexiest cat dad”, while a growing number of pet food brands and rescue shelters – like Sydney’s Cat Protection Society – are rolling out dedicated marketing campaigns for Father’s Day.
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number → crown → Day
Meanwhile, the subreddit r/cuteguyswithcats, as the name suggests, abounds with photos of men (sometimes topless) with their feline companions.
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name → suggest → companions
On TikTok, heterosexual women post videos of boyfriends and husbands with cats, declaring them “green flags”.
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them → post → cats
“Cat dads are now considered hot.
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dads → consider → ?
Every time you see a video of a cat dad, there are always comments like ‘protect this man at all costs’,” affirms Yoo.
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Yoo → see → costs
While dogs remain Australians’ favourite pet, cats are a close second with 33.6 per cent of households owning at least one, according to Animal Medicines’ latest report.
uncertain
cent → remain → report
A 2015 Roy Morgan survey found 1.3 million Australian women owned cats, compared to 1 million men, while more recent research from the UK and US suggests a similar parity.
uncertain
research → find → parity
According to dating app Hinge, 31.8 per cent of men with pets on their profile have cat listed compared to 41.5 per cent of women
uncertain
cent → accord → women
Tanya Koens, a clinical therapist and sexologist, connects the zeitgeist’s affection for cat dads to a growing uneasiness among heterosexual women about dating men.
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Koens → connect → men
…and 32 more, not listed.
The Aporia
