"Dogs have masters, cats have staff"

“Dogs have owners, cats have staff” (or “Dogs have masters, cats have staff”) is a saying that has been printed on many images.

“Dogs have masters, cats have staff” was posted on the newsgroup rec.crafts.textiles.quilting on May 6, 1997. “Spotted on a bumper sticker the other day ‘Dogs have Owners, Cats have Staff’” was posted on the newsgroup rec.pets.cats.anecdotes on May 28, 1998. Authorsip is unknown.

The saying implies that dogs serve people, but people serve cats. Dogs will do work, but cats will assign work for others to do. It is just a lighthearted saying and is not necessarily true.

Google Groups: rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
OT: Cats, again
John & Phebe Musselwhite
5/6/97
OT: Cats, again
>—
> ~Krysta Sutterfield / Lady Shandra
> Chaos Coordinator
> Dogs have masters; cats have staff.

“Dogs have masters, cats have staff.”

Google Groups: rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Cat sayings
Robo
5/28/98
Spotted on a bumper sticker the other day “Dogs have Owners, Cats have Staff”.

Newspapers.com
5 November 1998, Dayton (OH) Daily News, “Critter Corner,” homelife, pg. 6, col. 1:
The first two recipes, for cats, come from a Web site proclaiming itself the Kitty Kottage, where “dogs have masters and cats have staff”

Google Books
The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats:
A Journey Into the Feline Heart
By Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
New York, NY: Ballantine Books
2002
Pg. ?:
(Somebody once quipped that only dogs have masters; cats have staff!) I think it is because cats reserve their most intense reactions for other animals—other cats, birds, even insects.

Google Books
English from the Roots Up: Help for Reading, Writing, Spelling, and S.A.T. Scores
By Joegil K. Lundquist and Jeanne L. Lundquist
Medina, WA: Literacy Unlimited Publications
2003
Pg. ?:
After all as someone online pointed out, “Dogs have owners; cats have staff.”

OCLC WorldCat record
Dogs have owners, but cats have staff!
Author: Patricia B McConnell; Dog’s Best Friend (Firm)
Publisher: Meridian, ID : Tawzer Dog Videos, ©2003.
Edition/Format: DVD video : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
Provides instruction on various aspects of dogs and cats, taped at the Alfa Bitch Conference, Longmont CO, in March 2003

Google Books
Title Dogs Have Owners - Cats Have Staff: Funny Journal for Cat Lovers - 110 Lined and Numbered Pages - 8. 5 X 11
Author S. A. Maurer
Publisher Independently Published, 2018
ISBN 1790509793, 9781790509799
Length 110 pages

Google Books
Title Dogs Have Masters, Cats Have Staff: A Great Cat Training Guide Also Dealing with Cat Spraying, Cat Bed, Cat Litter, Clicker Training, Etc
Author Butch Spillman
Publisher Independently Published, 2018
ISBN 1976854458, 9781976854453
Length 105 pages

Twitter
Cathie Anderson
@Cathie1950
Replying to @BarneysNose and @lacadri34
Dogs have owners, cats have staff. Just accept it.
6:25 AM · Jul 9, 2020·Twitter for iPhone