Yes, domestic cats hate loud music and shouting. These loud sounds are torture to the cat’s delicate hearing apparatus. A cat’s ears are much more sensitive to sound than the ears of his or her owner. They hate noisy homes. Most cat owners who are switched on realize this. They try and keep their home calm and quiet. They stick to routines too because cats like routines. But noise? This is something to be avoided if at all possible in a household where there are domestic cats. I’m sure that there are many slightly anxious or greatly anxious domestic cats in households because there is a high level of background noise.
I hope that somebody somewhere will read this article and understand this important factor in the welfare of domestic cats. One of the first pages I wrote 10 years ago was about a video of a guy yelling at his cat. It was horrible. He did it for notoriety.
The domestic cat’s improved hearing has evolved out of its specialist hunting behavior. Cats prefer to ambush prey, listening very carefully for the tiniest sound. They are able to locate the source of sound very accurately. Therefore their hearing have to be far more sensitive than ours. Laboratory tests have confirmed this.
At the lower level (low frequencies) of sounds there is little difference between humans, cats and dogs. This is because the ideal prey of domestic cats are small rodents which make high-pitched sounds. At the higher levels, therefore, cats can hear sounds up to an astonishing 100,000 cps (this corresponds to the high-pitched sounds made by mice). Humans in contrast, in the prime of their life, can hear noises up to about 20,000 cps. Dogs manage up to 35,000-40,000 cps.
I’m sure that very many cat owners have noticed the sensitivity of their cat’s hearing. On many occasions, my cat has been lying next to me and picked up a sound which I have not noticed. You may also have noticed how a cat’s ears swivel around and are almost in constant motion while the cat is snoozing. A cat can awaken and respond to an interesting sound in a split second.
It is suggested that a reason why cats sleep so much is because the sleep is very shallow as they are constantly on the alert. One last point: the cat’s field of hearing is very wide. Check it out.
