Dear cat owner,

Winter is around the corner, which means that the second data collection period is about to start, which will be from June till the end of August.

What to expect this time?

This second data collection phase is no different from the first, with up to 6 days of getting your cat used to wearing the collar with monitor again and 7 days of data collection. During my visit, I will refit the collar to your cat(s) and weigh your cat(s) again.

Make an appointment.

The same online schedule will be available for you to book in an appointment with me for a data and time that is most convenient for you. The activity monitors will be charged and set up prior to the appointment. Because they have a limited battery life, please schedule in the appointment no more than 2 days before you can start getting your cat used to the activity monitor.

You can schedule in the appointment by clicking on the following link: Schedule for Study Cat Behaviour.

Because I will need fit the collar and weigh your cat(s) again, please try to make sure that the cat is inside for the appointment.

What about the results from the first data collection period?

I have some very first and very basic results from the first collection period. I am in the process of finetuning the model I use to identify the behaviour of each cat, so the results will change a bit once the new model is finished. However, I will bring a printout profile of your cat(s) to the appointment, so you can have a first look at what your cat has been doing when we collected the first data.

After this second data collection period, and after I have analysed all the data, I will share a digital document with everyone. This digital document will be personalised and will include: a summary of the overall results and a personalised profile of your cat(s). It will take some time to analyse all the data and get a personalised document ready for everyone when all the data is collected. It will therefore take some time before you might receive the final results and the personalised profile(s).

You can always find more information here, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

A selection of owners and cats that will participate in the study, has been made. You will be contacted today (15/12) or tomorrow (16/12) with more information and to schedule in an appointment.

If selected owners and cats withdraw, others will be selected.

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Dear cat owner,

This is an email to inform you that you and your cat(s) have been selected to participate in the cat behaviour study. If you enrolled more than one cat, all cats you have enrolled are selected.

In this email, you will also find information on what to expect and what to do next. This email contains some important information, so please read the entire message.

Holidays

With the Holidays approaching, I know a lot of you are home celebrating with friends and family or go away on a trip. Because owner presence has an influence on cat behaviour, I would like to avoid collecting behavioural data during the Holidays. 

Training and collecting data

Before we collect the data, the cat has to get used to wearing the activity monitor. We have made training schedule with which you can gradually get your cat(s) used to wearing an activity monitor over the span of 6 days. After these 6 days, your cat will wear the activity monitor for 7 consecutive days.

To get your cat(s) used to wearing an activity monitor, you will need an activity monitor. For this, I will visit you and your cat(s) at your home address. During this visit I will also:

• Weigh your cat

• Fit the collar to your cat or attach the activity monitor to the harness of your cat

• Give you an information guide that contains all the info that you need

• Answer any questions you may have.

You can browse through the information guide online already, by clicking on the following link: Study Cat Behaviour - Information Guid (https://sites.google.com/view/study-cat-behaviour/information-guide)

I will bring a printed version with me during our appointment.

Make an appointment

I have created an online schedule where you can schedule in the appointment at a time that is most convenient for you. The activity monitors will be charged and set up prior to this first visit, but they have a limited battery life. Because they have a limited battery life, please schedule in the first appointment no more than 2 days before you can start getting your cat used to the activity monitor.

Because I will need to weigh your cat(s) and fit the collar and make sure the harness fits properly, your cat will need to be inside during the appointment.

If you enrolled more than one cat for this study, you only have to schedule in one appointment for all the cats.

You can schedule in the first appointment by clicking on the following link (no login needed): Online Schedule for Study Cat Behaviour (https://www.supersaas.com/schedule/Study_Cat_Behaviour/Study_Cat_Behaviour).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Are you curious about what your cat does all day?

Read more about this study and enrol your cat!