Scientists in California are looking for US volunteers who live with cats. The study will ask owners about their pets training methods. The team has a bigger goal of helping cats and humans form healthy relationships.
Scientists from the Animal Welfare Epidemiology Lab are working on the project. The team recruited people who owned cats to look at cat videos on the internet as part of a project to study how well owners read feline body language. They wanted to know if owners could tell when cats were going to start fighting.
The lab is currently working on a new study. They want to look at the way cats are socialized through the eyes of their owners, as well as the importance owners place on different aspects of cat socializing.
The introduction of the animal to new people, places, and objects is referred to as socialization here. This includes everything from kitten socialization programs to adult cats going on adventures with their owner.
Newly adopted dogs and their owners often take part in specialized programs to socialize. It is not possible for cat-owning families to be the same. Some of the reasons for the discrepancy could be that cat owners aren't interested in these programs, that they can't afford or access them, or that they don't know they exist. The project will try to figure out why so few families attend kitten kindergarten.
Once we collect all the responses, we can share our findings with shelters, cat behaviorists, and the public, so as to hopefully make cat and kitten socializing more accessible to all of them.
It is difficult to study cats and their interactions with people as compared to dogs. Cats can get very anxious when outside of their normal environment, which means that their behavior in a lab is likely to be different from how they act normally. There are surveys and citizen-science projects that can be done at home. Link might be able to find the best ways to improve cat-human bonds from an early age.
A well-socialized kitten becomes a well-adjusted adult and we want to do everything we can to ensure the creation of more well-socialized kittens. Link said that they hoped the study would be a good first step.
The team wants to have something to show to the public within the next year or two. The survey should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and eligible volunteers can sign up here.
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