Does music created specifically for the feline hearing range, using their natural pitch and tempo, actually help them feel happier? Science says it just might.

Actually, whether they’re happier or not is open to discussion, but they certainly reacted positively to such musical compositions in one recent study reported on by the Winn Feline Foundation:

The study was conducted in the homes of 47 cats, 27 males and 20 females.  Four pieces of music, interspersed with periods of silence, were played for the cats:  two composed for humans, the  “Air on the G String” (BWV 1068; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMkmQlfOJDk) by Johann Sebastian Bach, and Gabriel Fauré’s “Elegie” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhTqkl_RjTs), and two created by composer David Teie for cats (http://www.musicforcats.com).

Observations were made of the cat’s behavior while listening to the selections.  Responses evaluated as positive included purring, walking toward the speaker and rubbing the speaker, while responses considered negative included hissing, arching the back and piloerection.  The cat-specific music evoked significantly more and faster (median 110 seconds for the cat-specific music versus 171 seconds for the human music) positive responses from the cats than the two selections of human music.

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