News release

From: Adelaide University

The internet can't get enough of cats… but cats might have had enough of the internet.

Viewers trivialise and misinterpret cat distress in "play" videos, potentially normalising harmful human-cat interactions and risking cat welfare, study finds

According to new research, viewers often dismiss, trivialise or even romanticise signs of cat distress during “play” interactions, raising concerns for cat welfare.

How humans perceive cat behaviours, preferences, and needs has major consequences for cat welfare, especially in contexts such as play, where misconceptions can quickly lead to physical and mental harm. Understanding these misconceptions and how they arise can help to inform more effective strategies to protect cats from harmful, if well-intentioned, human interactions.

Researchers from Adelaide University’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences analysed 1,100 comments on 11 online videos depicting harmful “play” interactions. The videos, which had been labelled as “play” by their uploaders and were publicly hosted on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, included clear signs of cat distress such as hissing, biting, attempting escape and visibly injuring a human. In some cases, videos included footage of cats being physically harmed during the interaction.

The study, published in Anthrozoös, found that despite these visible indicators of cat distress, 75-93% of comments on all videos were positive towards the interaction.

Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study identified nine themes in how viewers interpreted and justified harmful interactions, despite visible signs of cat distress. These themes highlight patterns of misinterpretation and rationalisation in viewer comments that highlight broader issues in human conceptualisation of human-cat relationships and may function to allow viewers to maintain positive interpretations of potentially problematic interactions.

Viewers in the study often misinterpreted basic cat body language cues; believed “real” distress was more obvious — if cats didn’t leave an interaction or draw blood, they must be playing; reframed clear signs of distress such as biting and scratching as cat affection and human tolerance of them as “part of what it means to love a cat”; and believed that persisting through a cat's discomfort was a necessary step to "win them over", or was harmless if the cat trusted the human. Some viewers overlooked stress because a cat, human, or the interaction itself was "cute" or “funny”, while others openly admitted to finding cat distress enjoyable to watch. When viewers raised concerns about the interaction, they were frequently mocked or dismissed as "Karens" by other commenters.

Beyond a simple case of misinterpretation, in many cases, comments were indicative of deeper cognitive processes such as cognitive dissonance and common coping mechanisms humans use to reduce feelings of dissonance, such as denial, dismissal, or becoming defensive.

The study also noted troubling parallels between patterns in viewer comments and broader societal narratives, including misogynistic comments directed towards cats (regardless of cat gender), and language commonly used to dismiss or blame victims of intimate violence such as "why didn't she just leave?" or “fight back?”.

Play has been increasingly promoted by advocates and practitioners as a tool for bonding and enrichment. However, the authors say these findings highlight a critical need for educating the public about recognising signs of cat stress, and, crucially, respecting cat autonomy during play interactions. They warn that unless interventions address the underlying human beliefs, biases and dynamics that contribute to positive perceptions of harmful interactions, they are unlikely to succeed in changing human behaviour.

Positively, most viewers seemed to genuinely care about cat welfare, indicating that harmful interactions are not always caused by a lack of empathy. Instead, the authors highlight the role of social media in influencing viewer perceptions of animal behaviour and emotions. Many online videos of cats feature unwanted interactions and cat distress that is often overlooked or reframed as humorous. The considerable number and popularity of these videos may itself influence human perceptions of what is ‘okay’ or enjoyable for a cat and contribute to normalising harmful interactions.