Are you a cat person? August 8 was International Cat Day, so we thought why not throw you with some fun facts about people who prefer cats. As an added bonus we added some cute cat pics, because even if you’re not a cat person we all love some cute cat pictures!

Cats may wake us up at 4 a.m. and barf at an alarming frequency, yet anywhere between 10 to 30 percent of us call ourselves “cat people” — not dog people, not even equal-opportunity cat, and dog lovers. So why do we choose to bring these fluffballs into our homes?

The answer is obvious to me — and probably to all cat lovers out there, who need no scientific research to justify their fierce love. But scientists have studied it anyway and found that, while our feline friends may not be good for our furniture, they might make some contribution to our physical and mental health.

According to one Australian study, cat owners do have better psychological health than people without pets. On questionnaires, they claim to feel happier, more confident, and less nervous, and to sleep, focus and face problems in their lives better.

In a study by Carroll University, Wisconsin, psychologists found that cat people were generally more educated and also scored higher on intelligence tests. So does this really mean that cat owners are smarter than their dog-loving counterparts? Not necessarily – it might just be that, like their pets, they have a tendency to be more curious.

All of these findings highlight that cat owners are often a mix of contradictory traits, making them more complex than their generally straightforward dog-loving friends. For example, while the research shows that cat owners are introverted and can even be prone to neuroticism, they were unexpectedly also found to be more open to new experiences.