Sixth Grader from Tennessee Shows Gross Science Experiment at School Fair, Cat Owners Horrified

This sixth grader just changed the way cat owners look at their household surfaces.

Are you sitting down? We hope so -- and maybe not on the sofa where your kitty likes to sit, because Tennessee sixth grader, Kaeden Griffin, did a pretty thorough research project for school on all the varied surfaces cats manage to touch with their butts. He conducted this research with his own two cats, documented the findings, and left the local Tennessee residents and internet users everywhere in a state of shock.

Kaeden with his science experimentfacebook.com/Utopiakerri

Kaeden's Gatlinburg mom proudly shared the experiment on Facebook saying, "“Get ready for a good laugh! Kaeden completed his 6th-grade science fair project this past week and tackled the challenging task of answering the internet’s most burning question, drum roll, please.”

And she's not wrong. You're about to laugh.

The methodsfacebook.com/Utopiakerri

The posting by Kaeden's mom continues, "Does your cat’s butthole really touch all the surfaces in your home?’ We had a lot of fun with this! As a disclaimer, no cats were harmed in the process of this science project. Non-toxic lipstick was applied to their bum-bums, they were then given a series of commands (sit, wait, lie down, and jump up."

You can clearly see Maya, one of Kaeden's cats, getting ready to make her mark in the name of science here.

Maya the cat participating in sciencefacebook.com/Utopiakerri

"Side note: Both cats have been trained since kittenhood with a variety of commands, they also know how to high-five, spin around, and speak.) They were compensated with lots of praise, pets, and their favorite treats, and the lipstick was removed with a baby wipe once we collected our data in just under 10 minutes.”

The hypothesis alone is enough to keep the Internet cracking up for days.

The hypothesisfacebook.com/Utopiakerri

Kaeden used his two household cats for his extremely-scientific experiment. Taco, a short-haried kitty, and Maya, a long-haired cat were part of the research team. They were not harmed at all in this fruitful pursuit of science, and seemed to be good sports about the entire process. Nice kitties, eh?

Does it, though?facebook.com/Utopiakerri

He applied non-toxic lipstick on their buttholes for the experiment to indicate clear markings anywhere they might've landed.

Now, obviously Kaeden had loads of research to do to study just how many surfaces his cats tushies were touching at home. Some of the posterboard results were downright impossible not to giggle or at least smirk at.

LOLZfacebook.com/Utopiakerri

“His results and general findings," continued mom, "Long and medium-haired cats made no actual contact with soft or hard surfaces at all.Short-haired cats made no contact on hard surfaces, but we did see evidence of a slight smear on the soft bedding surface. In conclusion, if you have a short-haired cat and they may be lying on a pile of laundry, an unmade bed, or another soft, uneven surface, then their butthole may touch those surfaces!”

What Kaeden learned from this important and much-needed research was simple: long-haired cats don't really make a lot of direct butthole-to-surface contact, whereas short-haired cats do make some degree of direct butt contact with the surfaces they frequent. The message is clear -- if you have a short-haired cat, you probably need to shampoo your carpets and wipe down your furniture if you don't love the idea of sitting in fecal matter.

Maya making money movesfacebook.com/Utopiakerri

But seriously, the best part? Mom. She's obviously a happy, encouraging parent in all this, and that's got to be pretty cool for Kaeden (and the entire scientific process, really), and we love how incredibly proud she is of her son's will to discover.

What do you think of this obviously university-level research? Is Kaeden the future? We'd love to hear your furry thoughts in the comments section below.