This study needs your cat videos

Darina Schweizer

7/8/2025

Translation: machine translated

Ruhr University Bochum wants to get to the bottom of previously unexplained cat behaviour. Why they need videos of cat owners and what it's all about.

Nothing fills the smartphone memory of cat parents as quickly as videos of their pets. «Look at Lucky chasing a fly», «Have you ever heard Feli meow like that?», «Look, Jeffrey is fidgeting in his sleep»: Everything has to be captured - I know what I'm talking about.

What can be especially tiring for catless (or cat-free?) friends and Family members is of burning interest to researchers: Ruhr-Universität Bochum - together with partners from Italy, Turkey and Canada - is calling on cat owners to submit videos for a research project.

Tails, paws and sleeping positions

The question is not about random everyday situations, but about the following:

• How the cat holds its tail when greeting you
• Which side the cat sleeps on.
• Which paw it prefers to use to fish treats out of a hiding place (right or left paw).

Cat owners are asked to record short video clips on five consecutive days. These and other information about the cats will be treated confidentially and anonymised. The researchers want to use the material to analyse the animals' body language and draw conclusions about brain processes. In contrast to dogs, there is currently only limited knowledge about tail posture in particular.

However, the initial findings are already intriguing: after analysing the first YouTube videos, the researchers discovered that most cats sleep on their left side. Could this be because they are better able to process everything they perceive on the left in the right, faster hemisphere of the brain? The study aims to investigate these questions.

Not keen on the lab

But why don't the researchers just bring the cats into the lab? Research leader Patrick Reinhardt from the Ruhr University says in an interview with Der Spiegel: «Dogs and their owners can be invited into a lab under controlled conditions, most cats wouldn't go along with something like that.»

The researchers hope that their appeal, which is aimed at cat owners in various countries, will result in a broad and diverse sample and thus a solid basis for research. In Germany alone, more than 500 cat owners have already signed up for the project. Videos have also been received from Turkey, Italy and Canada. So we can look forward to seeing what comes to light about the behaviour of our mysterious four-legged friends.

If you also want to take part, you can find more information here.

Darina Schweizer

Senior Editor

Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.ch

I like anything that has four legs or roots. The books I enjoy let me peer into the abyss of the human psyche. Unlike those wretched mountains that are forever blocking the view – especially of the sea. Lighthouses are a great place for getting some fresh air too, you know? more

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