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Research Shows Cats Prefer A Tune Of Their Own Rather Than Classical Music

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Pet owners might have their own ideas about their animals interests, which can include types of music. But there's actually a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on what felines really consider easy listening.

"The reason they're looking into this is not just for cats, but for other animals that are held in captivity like in zoos or in veterinary hospitals and in our case, shelters," said Dr. Jennifer Scarlett from the San Francisco SPCA. "We always thought that classical music was calming to cats, but what this study showed is that they actually just ignore it."

Scarlett said that researchers have set out to see if elements that communicate emotional sense, like music does for us, could apply to other species.

Researchers also set out to create music specifically for cats and took some interesting facts into consideration.

"Cats vocalize at about an octave higher than humans. Low pitches are considered to be growls and are seen as threatening. What the researchers did was set [music] to a tempo of purring or nursing."

The "cat music" was then compared to classical music. According to the research, a vast majority of the cats responded much faster in a positive way; by purring and approaching the speakers of the cat music rather than the classical tunes.

The SF SPCA shelter is looking forward to implementing music for cats as a way to keep them calm and to reduce stress.

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