Why the 'crazy cat lady' stereotype endures

To support 700 cats you need roughly 1,350lbs of dry food a week, 1,000 cans of wet food, 600lbs of litter, 60 rolls of paper towels, nine gallons of laundry detergent, six gallons of dish detergent, 200 large trash bags and 400 kitchen trash bags. Lynea Lattanzio, who has helped care for 44,000 cats over 33 years and even sold her car and wedding ring for them, now runs The Cat House on the Kings and cares for 700 cats with good housing, unlimited food and free healthcare.

Cats have long been associated with women and suspicion toward those who fall outside social norms. Centuries ago they were linked to witchcraft; by the late 19th century women devoted to cats were increasingly portrayed as eccentric or unstable. The caricature — middle-aged, unmarried, childless, lonely and eccentric — persists, and Lattanzio, who once said “I would rather have 700 cats than another man,” meets many of the clichés.

Once sacred in ancient cultures, felines were later recast as sinister during the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages.

cat lady, lynea lattanzio, cat house, 700 cats, dry food, wet food, litter, witchcraft, witch hunts, middle aged