Cat study finds the purrfect music to relax your feline friends

2 March 2020, 17:03 | Updated: 5 February 2024, 17:41

Forget classical music, ‘cat music’ is the purrrfect thing to help your furry friend feel less stressed.

The science behind the calming effect of classical music on both humans and their pets has long been praised.

But instead of Bach or Debussy, it’s now ‘cat music’ which seems to be more effective for calming your feline friend, according to a study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

‘Cat music’ adopts cat vocalisations into its composition, mimicking the sounds of purring or suckling, as well as using frequencies similar to the vocal range of cats – which is two octaves higher than our own.

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To put the theory to the test, 20 furry candidates took part in a study by Louisiana State University.

Each animal was played 20 minutes of music composed for cats (David Teie’s ‘Scooter Bere’s Aria’ – listen below), classical music (Fauré’s ‘Elégie’) or nothing at all.

The cats heard the music in a random order during three physical examinations, which all took place two weeks apart at a veterinary clinic.

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To determine which piece of music was the most beneficial, the kitties were scored on stress levels, handling scale scores, and blood samples, which were taken to measure their physiological stress response.

Scooter Bere's Aria

The outcome was as expected, with cat stress scores “significantly decreased” in all the felines who listened to ‘cat music’.

The handling scale score reflected similar results, as the cats listening to ‘cat music’ had significantly lower results.

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While the blood samples didn’t reflect this result as much, researchers reason that the 20-minute examination might not have been long enough to allow music to affect this measure.

On the whole, a furry enlightening study.

Click here to listen to the Classic FM Music for Pets playlist via Global Player.