It's a long-held division often dismissed as a lazy stereotype: dog people are friendly, outgoing and popular, while cat-owners tend to prefer their own company.

But the image of the singleton who is content with some feline companionship is not far from the truth, at least according to Facebook users.

Researchers at the social network, who studied 160,000 profiles in the US, found that 30 per cent of those who shared cat photos were single, against 24 per cent of those who posted photographs of dogs.