Cats Do Science

At Cats Do Science, we investigate pet cats — their behavior and their relationships with humans. To do this, we need your help! Well, you and your cat’s help. All you need is your cat and a video recording device. That’s it! Cats Do Science is entirely online and for cat owners who are 18 or older. This is an example of public participation in scientific research (PPSR) or citizen science.

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Project: Play With Your Cat

Our current project is called Project: Play With Your Cat. Millions of cats live as our companions or pets, yet we have much to learn about our interactions with them. With your help, we are exploring the ways cats and their people play together.

In Project: Play With Your Cat, you will make — and share — a short video of you and your cat playing together and then complete a short questionnaire. To participate, review the ‘How to participate’ page (currently not available) carefully. Then, participate on the ‘Participate here’ page (currently not available). Feel free to share this website with fellow cat lovers, and thank you for playing!

August 1, 2019 UPDATE: The deadline for submission has passed. Thanks to all those who participated in Project: Play With Your Cat! Stay in touch on Facebook or Twitter for project updates.

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The People

Julie Hecht is a PhD candidate at the Graduate Center, CUNY studying animal behavior. This project is supervised by Dr. Diana Reiss, Hunter College.