There has been a lot of research done on animals to understand the impact of music on them. To humans, music has various effects; it can calm, relax, excite and even make someone sad. But, does music have any effect on cats? Some animals, especially dogs, find music, mostly classical, to be soothing. The latest study shows that cats do not listen to human music. This has prompted scientists and some musicians to create music for cats.

What does music for cats sound like?

Unlike dogs that will relax when they hear classical music, cats respond to music that is within a certain frequency range with a similar tempo to the sounds used by felines to communicate. This means that the music should mimic the rhythmic and tonal properties of a kitten suckling at its mother’s teat or a purr. This kind of music is known as “species-specific”.

Types of tunes

Research published in Applied Animal Behavior science journal states that very simple classical music seemed to provide a calming effect on kittens. The music played seemed to have a soothing effect especially on new arrivals to the shelter where the research was being carried out. This helped the kitties to adjust to the new environment.

Yoga meditation music is yet another type of music that relaxes cats. The Telegraph notes that a veterinary student nurse discovered that yoga meditation music appeared to calm and lower the stress levels for cats. According to the research, kittens appeared to relax and breathe slowly when the music was played, unlike the other kittens that were not exposed to the music.

But simply playing music to your cat will not necessarily calm him or her down, especially if the kind of music you are playing is fast-paced and loud. Instead, a cat will walk away since the music might be irritating or might be increasing the stress levels of the cat. It is known that classical and yoga meditation type of music helps in relieving stress in humans. This can have an impact on your cat as well, especially if you listen to this kind of music with your feline friend. In other words, if you want your cat to listen to a certain type of music, choose classical or yoga meditation music and listen together with your cat. You will notice that the cat also relaxes just like you do.

To conclude, since cats are instinctively sensitive to noise, they respond differently to certain types of music. Cats can respond to certain melodies simply because they heard and enjoyed that particular tune when they were kittens.

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