Music for cats? Whoever in the world would ever dream up such a unique idea and then go on to create special music in order to tickle a feline’s fancy? But to be more accurate, I think the word should actually be spelled “mewsic”.
There have been many cat loving classical composers who wrote music in honor of the feline species. Frederic Chopin was so inspired by the melody that his kitten created when he ran across his piano keys that he incorporated the notes into an entire piece he named “The Cat Waltz.”
Pulcinella, a cat that owned Domenico Scarlatti, actually co-composed a fugue in pawtnership with her beloved guardian. His cat loved dancing on his harpsichord keys and set the tone for the first three measures of the “Fugue in G Minor”.
But these mewsical compositions were written a very long time ago. Today, we must give credit for adding new dulcet tones to the cat-a-logue of mewsical offerings. According to a recent article in the Huffington Post, Dr. Charles Snowdon, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin- Madison (surely a felineophile) has set out on a rather unique scientific mission to “create music for cats”. Ahem – again, that should be spelled, “Mewsic” or “Meowsic” whichever word you think more appropriate.
In an email to the Huffington Post, Dr. Snowdon wrote,
“We were motivated to make music for cats for two reasons. First, many pet owners told us that they play radio music for their pets while they are at work and we wondered if this had any value. Second, we have developed a theory that suggests that species other than humans can enjoy music but that the music has to be in the frequency range that the species uses to communicate and with tempos that they would normally use.”
First, Dr. Snowdon and his colleagues attempted to imitate sounds that are natural to cats. They used high pitches and sliding notes since cat calls generally tend to exceed an octave higher than the human voice. They also predicated the tempo of the songs they were “composing” by utilizing the sounds of feline suckling and purring.
To discover how the cats would react to the music, the researchers tested their compositions on 47 male and female domestic cats in their home environment. The music they played for the feline test group was “Rusty’s Ballad and “Cozmo’s Air”. For comparison they played two pieces of music written for humans, Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air on a G String” and Gabriel Faure’s “Elegie”.
The bottom line of this mewsical research was that the scientists’ test results were actually truly amazing. Who would have thought that the cats would demonstrate far more interest in the researchers’ “musique-de-chat”? But they certainly responded and displayed their interest in it by turning their heads in the music’s direction, walking closer to it, and in typical feline – claiming behavior – rubbing up against the speaker.
In his email to the “Huffington Post” Snowdon added,
“We interpret this as indicating that the cats showed a preference.”
To sum up the researchers’ results, testing what kind of mewsic cats prefer, Dr. Snowdon told Discovery News, [that]
“We think of cats as highly independent of their human servants, but there is some research showing that cats experience separation anxiety, which is greater in human-raised cats than in feral cats.”
The word will soon be out concerning the incredible work this group of researchers has accomplished. Already accepted for publication in the journal, Applied Animal Behavioral Science is an article describing their research.
Check out whether your cats also agree with the results of this scientific research by exposing them to a few samples. How did they react? Share your results in a comment.
Monty prefers Mozart. He also prefers orchestral to piano music. Sometimes we compromise and hear a piano concerto.
I recently tried some music that is supposed to help your DNA heal of you meditate while listening to it. Monty definitely reacted to it. I’d need to try it again to see if it was just a fluke– perhaps I played it during a time he would have been active anyway.
Jo, I love your idea of playing music in shelters/ACCs for cats! And I agree — they absolutely do not like rock or any other kind of discordant, loud, aggressive-sounding music. By nature, cats love beauty, harmony, and serenity, making them great afficionados of such music as western Classical, international music which meets the above standards, reggae, etc., all of which we love and listen to on a daily basis. I’ve always been upset by the fact that many ACCs, shelters, and even veterinary practices have horrible music, usually rock, playing in the areas where the cats are; I’ve voiced objection to it at times where it is so loud and offensive that I could hardly endure it, and I invariably get moronic looks from the people I talk to about it. *sigh*
So I just played the samples for my three, they just listened. The one that sounds like a momma cat purring, my kitten was looking for momma!! I will order this when it is available so the kitties can have their own music 🙂 The article is amazing and the research gone into figuring this out is fascinating.
I decided to try the “mewsic” on our kitties.
They both became afraid with the first two pieces but they really seemed to enjoy the last one “Rocky’s” with their ears pointed in the direction of the sound, and they did start purring a little.
Our cats truly prefer Bach and Debussy, but are not particularly fond of Mozart. (Go figure). They absolutely do not like hard rock or rap- but they do enjoy reggae.
I think that cats can definitely hear music and it does make an impact on them. But I don’t think, according to our kitties that at least the first two pieces would be great to play for shelter cats. (Speaking for Dr. Hush Puppy and Sir Hubble Pinkerton- that is)
I think this is really interesting. Wasn’t there a touching story a few years back about an American tabby Nora, who accompanied her music teacher carer when the children came to their piano practice with her? They filmed the cat playing along to certain classic favourites. A truly talented kitty.
I recognised early on that TigerLily liked rock music. She would come to listen and sit on a high stool, gripping the edge of the seat with her outstretched claws. Calmly and patiently seeming to enjoy the beat or whatever it is she liked. She was raised by a man for her first 6-7 years I found out recently and so it’s possible he was a heavy rock fan. Queen it seems lol.
Anyhow I also wanted to say that having just been away for a ŵeek and leaving TigerLily at my fantastic local cattery she definitely had anxiety about me being absent. She was sitting up high on a perch, looking out of her pen with big scared saucer eyes until she realised I was calling her into the run. She came bounding in and threw herself into a dive on the floor rolling over and over smiling and purring at me. Amazing. It had made me tearful the last time when I’d left her and she welcomed me back in the same way. So I was chuffed when she did the same this time too. Since being home she hasn’t left my side, being all loving and snuggling up for cuddles. She seems in delirious ectasy to be back with me.
So I absolutely think there is a strong bond and trust between certain animals and humans and they in turn miss us or possibly pine for us.
I like the idea of music for cats. But is music a human concept? I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. If music is pleasant sounds then perhaps wild cats derive some pleasure from the sounds of nature which they find pleasant. It is just trying to figure out a cat’s taste in music 😉 . Perhaps the researchers are generalising too much. If cats like music then it is likely that individual cats have individual tastes.