Do cats like music?


We have known it for centuries: music is an indispensable part of the overwhelming majority of cultures that inhabit the world. So much so that today it is an integral part of our daily life. At the same time, cats and humans also live in harmony today, if we forget a few scratches. Are cats receptive to music we can listen to? Are they more sensitive to certain genres or instruments? 


A question of perception

It is well known: cats have a different way of perceiving the world and the surrounding environment than humans. This is especially true of their sight, which is much more suited to the dark than ours. Cats also have less developed hearing than their eyesight, which is still finer than that of humans  ! Great for hunting at night, isn’t it?

But if your feline is not deaf, then it has hearing that picks up more sounds than the human ear. A healthy cat can indeed hear high-pitched tones up to 1,000,000 hertz – compared to 20,000 hertz for his or her owner.  Can this difference in perception affect their musical tastes?


Music for cats 

But with their usual phlegm, difficult to spot which melodies find thanks to their delicate ears. Yet scientists tried to find out more last year, thanks to a study that was published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science. And to put it simply, we can say that cats have nothing against music , but they still clearly prefer their music .

In other words, music that is within range of their hearing, whether in terms of vibrations, frequencies or vocalizations. This is precisely why a composer wrote pieces specially for cats a few years ago . This music therefore resumed sounds resembling the purring and meowing of cats.


Do cats have musical preferences? 

Metal, classical, pop, R’n’B, varieties, gospel… What genre is most appreciated by our furry friends? If we are to believe the results of scientific studies carried out in past years, it would seem that classical sounds are preferred, just ahead of pop music. On the other hand, rock and metal sounds sometimes increased nervous signals in cats (increased heart rate and dilation of the pupils).

If you want to leave a background music for your cat when you are not at home, you can choose from several options. The classical music are so perfect – the most peaceful of course, all the pieces of Mozart and Beethoven are not the most suitable for relaxation. The piano, the flute and the cello are for example instruments that you can privilege.

You can also put tracks of nature sounds , and of course pieces specially composed for cats  !


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