Cat-Specific Music Found to Calm Pets

Scientists at Louisiana State University recently published research measuring the effect music composed specifically for cats has on them, according to IFLScience.com.

 

The researchers measured the stress indicators of 20 cats who were exposed to different soundscapes in three fortnightly trips to the vet. Prior to, and during physical examinations, the felines either listened to silence Gabriel Fauré’s Élégie, or a feline-specific piece, Scooter Bere’s Aria by David Teie. 

 

Similar to music that humans find pleasing – those that have a similar beat to the human resting pulse and contain frequencies from the human vocal range – this piece by Teie “contains purrs and suckling sounds made to sound like real cats and frequencies similar to cat vocal ranges, which are two octaves higher than human vocal ranges (55-200 Hz) and were found to be pleasing to cats,” the authors wrote. 

 

In addition to observing stress indicators including a cat stress store based on the behavior and body posture, and a handling score based on the cats’ reaction to the handler, the researchers also measure the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio – a biological marker of stress – in blood samples from the cat.

 

Ultimately, they found that while the stress scores and handling scale scores were significantly lower when the cats were exposed to cat-specific music over silence or Fauré’s Élégie, the neutrophil-lymphocyte didn’t echo this trend. The authors suggested that the exposure time wasn’t long enough to affect this measure.

 

“The study has shown that cat-specific music can significantly lower stress-related behaviors in cats visiting the veterinary clinic for wellness examinations,” the authors concluded. “Adding cat-specific music to veterinary offices as environmental enrichment could provide great value to the cat’s welfare in the clinic, to the client’s comfort and confidence in the veterinary team and the veterinary team’s ability to accurately assess the patient.”