Does Music Calm Cats?

Question

Do cats or kittens respond or is angered, calmed, or has a reaction to music?

Answer 1

I used to think so. When I would go out, I would leave classical music on for my cat, because I thought he would find that soothing. I had heard about this from other cat owners, and just assumed it was true, because when I would return, the classical music would be playing and the cat (or if I has fosters, cats) would look totally peaceful.

But in recent months I have come to know a little brown sparrow of a bodega cat here in NYC, who has come to spend her days in the tiniest of little shops, where they sell hip-hop gear and DVD's. She used to spend her days largely ignored, and was fairly thin (though neither neglected nor starved). And then this man brought this tiniest of little brown sparrow of a cat into his tiniest of little nooks shop where the walls and the caps and the pit of your stomach when you go in there, vibrates with the bombast of his hip-hop DVD;s, And there is that little cat, stretched out on top of the display DVD's, (with "Yo, mutha fu--a! Ya think I'ma sucka? trembling the rafters), and that little brown sparrow of a cat is totally at peace.

And so I have come to think that cats respond to certain sounds, certain types of music, or to music, as they do to any other auditory cue. If this sound is in the room, it means I can relax. And so they do.

Cats do hear music, and my cat loved when I sang to him, perhaps because they love higher register sounds, and I sang a high soprano. But to the best of my knowledge, he did not distinguish one song from another, though I tried to train him to hear one particular melody as my 'coming home' song. He who learned cues quickly and was highly trained in some very unusual ways, didn't even begin to pick up on that song. It never even entered his radar screen

So I think cats, who have different ears than we, adapted to different survival schemes than we, hear music differently than we do, and I am not sure we have cared enough to do the research to find out how they hear, what hearing is to them, what the differences are between their heard thing and our heard thing, when the objective sound is the same for both. They do respond to music. But with respect to a preference for what we would term "soothing" music, I think that certain responses to certain specific kinds of music are conditioned.

Answer 2

Calming Music For Cats

Answer 3

I've had cats over the years and I don't think that they are angered, calmed or have any other kind of reaction to it. They generally ignore it. However, this is in surburbia. I do think it has a calming effect if you live in the city where there is a lot of sudden, unseen sounds. It acts sortof like a white noise. It also depends maybe on what you listen to. I mostly listen to country or classical or beeboppy music from the 70s-90s.

We even played Mozart for our kittens while they were growing. Yeah, help their little baby brains. While there is no certainty here, at least we don't have any dumb cats.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Does Music Calm Cats?
Do cats or kittens respond or is angered, calmed, or has a reaction to music?

Answer 5

I have never read anything about kittens/cats responding to music but I can tell you mine get really wild when I play certain types...I have a boy and a girl - if I'm playing Eminem or something with a beat - they get really wild. My boy loves Elvis. He likes to sit on my lap when I play Elvis and let me pet him.

I don't know of any specific scientific evidence but if they don't at least respond to the music itself they do respond to your moods and attitudes.

Answer 6

Yes, cats respond to music. Their reaction depends upon the music, the same way it affects people. Some music is soothing; some invigorating; some agitating. Think about how it affects you.

Answer 7

Cats typically enjoy the soothing vocals/guitar of Cat Stevens.

Answer 8

No dog. No cat allowed. Bye bye Blackbird ..... very nice. Very calming indeed. My birds seem to like it. wink! Time ....... so lovely. Great stuff. Time, hein got all the time. Sweet hein. He's probably needing earphones soon. lol

Answer 9

I think so but not when trying to get some rest but it all depends on your cat

Answer 10

i think it depends on your cat. my cat walks out the room and goes somewhere else when i play music. i dont know. maybe he doesn't like josh groban that much :P