Study finds cat videos are good for your health

And now researchers are saying that the warm fuzzy feelings you get from viewing a cat in action can actually have a positive effect on your life.

Scientists from Indiana University of Bloomington found that cat videos received about 26 billion total views, and more views-per-videos than any other category of YouTube content in 2014.

Lead study author Jessica Gall Myrick tells Yahoo Health that nearly 7,000 participants were asked: How often do you view cat videos and/or photos online?

“They responded on an eight-point scale with the following labels: Never; less than once a month; two to three times a month; once a week; two to three times a week; daily; and multiple times a day,” she says.

According to Myrick many of the volunteers, who found their favorite videos on Facebook, YouTube and Buzzfeed, were animal lovers.

“It’s reported that about 30 per cent of the sample identified as a cat person, but a majority of the respondents in my survey said they liked both cats and dogs,” she explains.

The findings showed that 72 per cent of the study participants “reported more positive emotions after viewing than before.”

They also claimed to have fewer negative emotions, such as anxiety, annoyance and sadness, as well as feeling more pleasure than guilt, despite the fact that most people indulged either while on the job or during study time.

“Even if they are watching cat videos on YouTube to procrastinate or while they should be working, the emotional payoff may actually help people take on tough tasks afterward,” she says.

“I think the appeal of cat videos is many people —including myself — are allergic to cats and don’t necessarily want them as a pet, but we can still get a kick out of watching the video,” says Myrick.

“Watching these funny or cute pet videos is also a social phenomenon in that we want to share our favorite videos with others, as well as ask our colleagues if they’ve seen the latest viral pet video.”