Music for Cats

Music in their plethora of genres has something for everyone to suit every mood. However, pluck a few chords on your guitar to serenade your beloved pet cat, and you may elicit an indifferent twitch of an ear at most, before they hide beneath your bed. And if they're really interested, it would only be to maul your instrument, or play with your headphone cords. Cats are impossible to please; finicky, moody and demanding, they're known to be lazy, thankless creatures who have nonetheless won the hearts of millions.

It was therefore only a matter of time when the cat people of science dedicated their research on the cognitive faculties of the feline species. David Teie, an American cellist and music researcher teamed with the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to discover if music could tap into the emotional core of non-human species, and in 2015 published his findings in Applied Animal Behavior Science showing that cats prefer his music written for cats as opposed to human music. This began an online fundraising campaign on Kickstarter for the first music album made specifically for cats, aptly titled Music for Cats, and after raising hundreds of thousands of pounds as well as the independent sales for over 10,000 records, Universal Records signed Teie up and will officially release the album worldwide on October 28 this year.

Describing the music, Teie, who is allergic to cats, said: “The sound of suckling milk was a reward-related sound and then I layer in the lower register of human music to make it palatable to owners. Hopefully it will appeal to both. Not all cats respond; one will go right over to the speaker and one will just walk out of the room. I like the idea that critical taste applies to cats too. But I've been sent videos where cats nuzzle up to the speaker or even curl completely round it.” The composer also added the music has a calming effect on excitable and nervous cats, and is therefore a helpful cognitive behavioral therapy for formerly abused cats.