What’s on your playlist? Cat Stevens? The Stray Cats? The Pussycat Dolls? And have you ever wondered if your cat appreciates your taste in music, or would they prefer music created especially for them? Yes, it’s a thing!
2nd January 2025
Tunes for cats? Whatever next – say non-cat people who don’t share the same desire as dedicated ailurophiles (cat lovers) to do whatever it takes to enrich the lives of their favourite felines. If cats enjoy melodic sounds with a hook and a beat, a true feline devotee will cheerfully play Music Sounds Better with You (Stardust), Thank You for the Music (Abba), or surely the pinnacle of all cat lip-licking choices – Music for a Sushi Restaurant (Harry Styles) – on a loop if they believe it makes their cat happier.
And they could be on to something. In fact, scientists have been researching the effect that music has on cats for some time.
“Scientific studies show that in certain contexts cats can behave in ways that suggest they do like music,” says Daniel Warren-Cummings, a clinical animal behaviourist and Cat Behaviour Officer at Cats Protection. “Like humans have differing tastes in music, all cats are different. They will each have their own preferences.”
Cats may not appreciate their human’s playlists
Despite their much-cherished presence in our lives, independently spirited felines are renowned for marching to the beat of their own drum. So, can our furry best friends really dig our taste in music?
“Cats do ‘like’ music, but not in the traditional sense that humans do,” states Shallowford Animal Hospital. “Our feline companions have hearing that is much more advanced than that of humans, which means that they can hear sounds of much higher and lower frequencies. Unfortunately, this also means that many favourite genres of music like rock and pop can be quite harsh on a cat’s ears.”
They’re also likely to have a strict listening schedule. Daniel Warren-Cummings observes: “Many cats will prefer quiet, especially when they’re sleeping or hiding.”
Human music typically features a tempo (beats per minute) that’s similar to the beat of a human heart. It also has a frequency range that human ears have the capacity to process, whereas highly tuned cat ears hear on a whole different sound spectrum. This has spurred on a group of scientists to develop special cat music, with some rather interesting results.
“Cats have more sensitive hearing than we do. Cat music features higher frequency ranges, as well as specific cat sounds, such as purring, that cats will recognise,” explains Daniel Warren-Cummings.
Cats tune in to music made just for them
Cats Protection reveals: “One study tested the response of cats to two types of music; music made for humans and music made specifically for cats. By studying cats’ behaviour and responses, scientists found that cats showed a significant preference for and interest in species-appropriate music compared with human music.”
The music made especially for cats was created by David Teie, a cat-loving cellist and composer. The tunesfeature sound frequences similar to cat vocal ranges, which are two octaves higher than a human’s.
Cats Protection says: “The study found that cat stress scores were significantly decreased in cats listening to cat music vs silence and in cats listening to cat music vs classical music.”
“Although music is not likely to evoke feelings of happiness in cats in the same way that it does for humans, music composed for cats will likely make them feel calm and relaxed,” suggests Shallowford Animal Hospital. “This is because cat specific music will remind cats of times when they were relaxing and being cared for by their mother.”
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Music that’s on your cat’s wavelength
Reported in Petplan’s Pethood blog, when played David Teie’s cat tunes, an amazing thing happened – the cats headed straight to the speakers, rubbing up against them, purring and turning their heads towards where the sound was coming from. “The cats were far more interested in the cat music than the human variety,” reveals Professor Charles Snowdon, lead author of the study.
And it’s a phenomenon that’s cat-ching on! Sales of David Teie’s album Music for Cats have reached 25,000, with plenty more people downloading and streaming the music via Spotify, YouTube and iTunes.
“There is other animal relaxation music out there, but it's all human music that has been repackaged,” says David. “Cats have had to listen to human music their whole life – but this music is something that is finally on their wavelength.”
Listen with kitty
If you want to play music for, or around, your adult cat, follow these steps from Cats Protection to ensure it strikes the right chord:
1. Make sure your cat is happy and relaxed. If they are already stressed, the music may make them more stressed. Find out how to read your cat’s body language to tell if they are happy and relaxed. You could also use a pheromone diffuser, like Feliway, to help keep them calm.
2. Provide an escape route. Make sure your cat will be able to get away from the noise of the music if they want to. Keep the door to the room open and provide them with some quiet hiding places in other rooms of the home. Hiding helps cats to reduce their stress.
3. Start on a low volume. Keep the music very quiet at first. Avoid any sudden, loud bursts of noise that could startle your cat.
4. Gradually increase the volume. If your cat remains happy and relaxed around the music, you can slowly turn the volume up to a comfortable volume. Avoid turning it up too loud as this could still scare your cat.
5. Watch their reaction. If your cat is still happy and relaxed around the music, they may be enjoying it. But they could be ignoring it completely! If at any point they appear startled, show stressed body language or leave the room, they don’t like the music and would prefer some peace and quiet instead!
Yowls, growls and miaows? Explore our cat communication guide >>
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