Scientists Want to See Videos of Your Cat for a New Study

Scientists successful California are looking for brave volunteers to acquisition a grueling endeavor: playing with their cats. The researchers are hoping to amended recognize however owners interact with their cats, arsenic good arsenic what makes for a bully play session. People participating successful the survey volition besides person a accidental to nab a $50 acquisition card.

Researchers astatine the Animal Welfare Epidemiology Lab astatine University of California, Davis, are conducting the study. In past projects, they’ve asked radical astir their cats’ appetite for bugs, whether their cats tin easy socialize with others, and whether they trim their foster kittens’ nails.

This new study volition travel successful 2 phases. In the first, radical volition simply beryllium asked to nonstop successful a two-minute video of them playing with their feline the mode they typically would (any videos shared with different researchers oregon the nationalist volition beryllium edited to lone amusement the feline and their artifact if needed). In the second, the participants volition beryllium sent the aforesaid “standard” artifact and they’ll beryllium asked to determination the artifact successful beforehand of their feline with a circumstantial motion.

Before and aft Cheddar “Chiz” Cara sees a toy. © Ed Cara

The explicit extremity of the task is to survey however feline owners interact with their feline portion playing normally, arsenic good arsenic to comparison however playful antithetic cats are with a circumstantial moving toy. But researcher Hee Lin Chung, a PhD pupil successful the lab, is besides hoping to dispel immoderate misconceptions astir cats with this work.

“One of the things that motivates maine the astir is knowing that cats are 1 of the astir misunderstood animals successful a home. I deliberation galore radical who are acrophobic of, oregon dislike cats, are that mode due to the fact that determination is simply a furniture of misunderstanding astir their behavior. For example, I person trained my feline Memi to leap done hoops, and galore radical are amazed to perceive that’s adjacent imaginable with cats! I deliberation expanding our cognition astir feline behaviour volition assistance wide those misunderstandings and assistance radical interact with cats and recognize their needs better,” she said. “So radical participating successful this probe volition cognize that they contributed to a tract of subject that yet volition beryllium applied to assistance cats, and assistance radical amended recognize cats!”

Any American implicit the property of 18 with astatine slightest 1 big feline is eligible for the study. Volunteers volition beryllium enrolled to triumph 1 of 3 $50 Amazon acquisition cards, and everyone volition get to support the survey toy. Interested radical tin motion up via the nexus here.