Do cats catch yawns from their owners?
Researchers at the University of Sussex are recruiting cat and owner duos to take part in a study which looks at whether cats 'catch' yawns from their owners.
It's part of a study to establish whether cats feel empathy with their owners.
In human psychology, it is well established that yawns are contagious between people who see each other as part of the same social group.
Previous research has shown that dogs can 'catch' yawns from their owners, and evidence of contagious yawning has been found between other social animals such as budgerigars, rats and chimpanzees.
Recent research has also shown that lions communicate with each other by yawning.
Cat owners keen to participate need to first fill out a short online survey.
Then, following guidance, owners can try the experiment at home with their own cat, in their own time. Participants should send video recordings of the experiment to the researchers for behaviour analysis. Find out more via the website.
The researchers are looking to recruit 100 cat and owner pairings between now and May 31 2021.