Archive · 8 Dec 2025
Popular Pet Videos Often Cause Stress, Study Finds
A new study looked at lots of popular videos of cats and dogs on the internet.
These videos are often funny or cute, but the study found that many of them actually make the animals stressed or even hurt them.
The researchers saw that more than half of the videos could hurt the pets, and most of them showed signs that the animals were stressed.
For example, dogs might have wide eyes or try to get away, and cats might have big eyes.
The study also found that some videos show pets with health problems because of how they were bred.
The researchers say it's important for people to know when pets are stressed and to not watch or share videos that might hurt them.
Study analyzed 162 popular pet videos from Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
53% of videos put animals at risk of injury, 82% showed signs of stress.
Common stress signs in dogs: wide eyes, ears pulled back, avoidance behaviors.
Common stress signs in cats: wide eyes, dilated pupils.
Researchers urge viewers to recognize stress signals and avoid harmful challenges.
- Who
- Researchers from the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
- What
- Analyzed 162 popular pet videos for signs of stress and harm
- When
- Study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
- Where
- Videos from Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
- Why
- To assess the welfare of pets in popular online videos
- Study Source
- Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
- Platforms Analyzed
- Instagram, TikTok, YouTube
- Videos Analyzed
- 162
- Percentage of Videos with Injury Risk
- 53%
- Percentage of Videos Showing Stress
- 82%
- Types of Videos
- Challenges, Anthropomorphic, Fun, Targeting Sensitive Pets
- Common Stress Signs in Dogs
- Wide eyes, ears pulled back, avoidance behaviors
- Common Stress Signs in Cats
- Wide eyes, dilated pupils