I originally joined Reddit in 2011, and in the beginning it was dominated by cat content. It was rare to see a post about dogs. Sometime in the mid 20-teens this phenomenon reversed. It’s always been a “pet theory” of mine that this reversal was due to Reddit becoming mainstream, and that it’s initial nerdy/techie user base preferred cats to dogs.
I think my theory is further supported by Lemmy. It’s pretty clear that most of Lemmy’s user base are techies, and currently it’s dominated by cat content. Just a shower thought. May be wrong.
NOTE: I love dogs and cats. This post isn’t arguing favoritism.
It might also be a socioeconomic type thing too. Dogs are more expensive and usually requires property that is owned and not rented, at least where I live.
That might be a regional thing. I’ve rented apartments and duplexes. Some allowed dogs, some didn’t. I also recall seeing a lot of breed restrictions in apartment listings that did allow dogs.
Pet rent and/or deposits are also common in those, IIRC which does reinforce your point about the expense.
Even if apartments in your area allow dogs, it’s just so much easier to care for them in a house.
Most people don’t let their cat leave the house, or just let it roam whenever it wants. So with them it doesn’t matter as much if you have a house.
I mean, everything is easier when you have your own house tbh