Many parents worry about their children having too much screen time, but it looks like pet owners may also face the same issue.
A video of a cat watching a film has recently gone viral on TikTok, but that isn’t the only thing that has caught 4.5 million viewers’ attention. The tabby is not only engrossed but also sitting on a small plastic chair like a human, with a toy fish perched on his chest.
Captioned in Portuguese, “Assistindo rei leão pela milésima vez!” “Essas crianças….” it translates to, “Watching The Lion King for the thousandth time! These kids….”
The clip, shared by @douglasrobertoogato, on February 22 has over 560,000 likes and has left many in hysterics.
One user pointed out how he is “not paying bills but watching” television like he does.
Another said: “he[‘s] got [a] VIP seat,” and a third chimed in: “They deserve[d] the best in life, so give to them[,] it’s worth it.”
A 2008 study published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science highlighted how cats respond to visual stimulation such as moving images.
The study, led by researchers from the Canine Behaviour Centre, School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, examined how different types of visual stimulation (including no visuals, a blank TV screen, and TV programs showing people, moving objects, or animals) affected the behavior of 125 shelter cats.
Each cat was assigned to one of these conditions for three hours a day over three days, and their behavior was recorded every five minutes. The main findings include:
- Cats didn’t spend much time (only about 6% of the total observation period) watching the TV.
- They were more interested in videos showing movement (both animate and inanimate) than in videos of humans or a blank screen.
- Over time, they lost interest, watching less as the hours passed.
- Cats that watched videos of animals moving spent less time sleeping and more time resting or exploring their space.
Overall, the study suggests that videos, particularly those featuring prey-like movement, can serve as enrichment for shelter cats. This could explain why the cat in the viral video is captivated by the 2019 The Lion King movie, which contains numerous visually engaging scenes, such as swift gazelle chases, prowling lions, and flocks of birds taking flight.
It turns out this cat isn’t the only feline with a love for TV. Newsweek previously spoke to a cat owner whose senior feline is equally captivated by the screen, with The Grinch being her all-time favorite movie.
Newsweek reached out to @douglasrobertoogato for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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