If you’ve ever scrolled past a video of an owner play fighting with their cat and thought nothing of it, you’re not alone.
Most of us watch these clips and assume that a bit of manic wriggling and light nipping is just harmless, energetic fun. However, new behavioural research suggests that most viewers are completely misreading the room. Experts warn that casual scrollers routinely miss the clear body language signals showing that a cat is stressed or defensive rather than having a good time, with viral likes only encouraging worse habits.
Here’s why so many of us get feline behaviour wrong, and the key signs that play has crossed the line into real distress.
Researchers spent a lot of time online to come to their determination.
A team from Adelaide University studied 11 human-cat interaction videos across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, all labelled as “play” by the people who posted them. Every single video showed visible signs that the cat was uncomfortable, things like hissing or trying to get away. The researchers then worked through over 1,100 comments left underneath these videos to see how viewers were actually responding.
The results weren’t encouraging. Despite the clear distress on show, somewhere between 75 and 93% of comments across the videos were positive about the interaction, praising the bond between the cat and its owner rather than raising any concern.
This is more important (and potentially dangerous) than you might think.
Cats rely on us to notice when they’ve had enough, since unlike a lot of other pets, they often can’t simply remove themselves from a situation they don’t like. The researchers point out that when these early signs of dissent go unnoticed, or worse, get ignored entirely, the cat experiences real stress in the moment. If the same kind of unwanted interaction keeps happening, that stress can build into something more chronic over time.
It’s important to pay attention to this, given how often play is talked about as something good for cats. Plenty of vets and behaviourists promote play as a way to strengthen the bond between a cat and its owner, which makes it all the more important that the play in question is actually something the cat wants, rather than something it’s simply putting up with.
The excuses people make when a cat is clearly unhappy are numerous—and simply untrue.
The team sorted the comments into nine different categories based on how viewers explained away what they were seeing. Some assumed that if the cat really hated it, it would simply leave, missing the fact that cats often can’t escape the situation they’re in. Others reframed the cat’s body language entirely, convincing themselves the animal was actually enjoying the rough handling rather than tolerating it.
Plenty of comments leaned on the idea that cats “just get it” when a human is only playing, or that persistence would eventually win the cat over. Others romanticised the distress as a form of affection, chalked it up to the cat needing to work out its predatory instincts, or simply found the whole thing funny. Anyone in the comments who raised a concern was often brushed off as not understanding cats properly.
It’s not just the cats getting hurt.
Seven out of the eleven videos studied showed a visible injury to the person involved, usually a bite or scratch from the cat trying to defend itself. These injuries were mostly treated as minor or even funny in the comments, but the researchers point out that any cat bite or scratch carries a risk of infection if it isn’t looked after.
The researchers also raised concerns about how social media itself might be feeding the problem. Platforms tend to reward whatever gets the most engagement, regardless of whether the content behind it is actually good for the animal involved, which can end up normalising these kinds of interactions rather than discouraging them.
Simply teaching people to read cat body language isn’t enough.
You might assume the fix here is straightforward: teach people what cat distress actually looks like, and the problem sorts itself out. But the researchers argue this alone probably won’t change behaviour over the long run. Even when people can technically recognise signs like flattened ears or a swishing tail, the study found that social pressure and existing beliefs about cats often override that knowledge anyway.
Instead, the team is calling for a wider approach that includes improving media literacy generally, encouraging people to think more critically about the content they’re watching and sharing, rather than assuming a video is harmless just because it’s popular or framed as cute.
What this means if you have a cat of your own
For anyone who spends time playing with their own cat, the takeaway is a simple one. If your cat is hissing, trying to move away, or showing any other sign of not wanting the interaction to continue, it’s important to listen rather than pushing through for the sake of a good video.
You should also be a bit more critical of what you’re watching and sharing online. A video getting lots of likes or being labelled as adorable doesn’t necessarily mean the cat in it is having a good time, and taking a moment to actually read its body language can make a real difference to how it experiences these interactions.
