Calming soundscape and listening for cats: how to play

Play cat-specific music built from purring tempos and feline vocal ranges. Studies found cats showed positive responses to it and lower stress scores, which makes it a simple layer of calming auditory enrichment.

Time: 20 min
Energy: Low
Space: Small room

You'll need

phone, speaker or audio player
cat-specific music or a soft, quiet track
cardboard box or cat bed with a blanket inside

Set up

Check your cat first: they should already be happy and relaxed before any music starts. Then put a small speaker on a shelf or table a few metres from where your cat usually rests. Give your cat a soft bed or a cardboard box with a blanket inside, and leave the door to the room open so they can walk away whenever they want.

How to play

Set up a resting spot first: a cardboard box with a blanket inside, or a cat bed, in a quiet room.
Only start once your cat is happy and relaxed. Cat-specific music is not cat sounds but music with the pitch, tempo and timbre cats find appealing, such as the tempo of purring and frequencies in the feline vocal range, which is two octaves higher than for humans.
Watch from a distance. Purring and rubbing against the speakers count as positive responses. If your cat ignores the music completely, that is fine too.
Keep it at a comfortable background level for about 20 minutes, the length of music used in a study before vet exams. Then turn it off and let the room go quiet again.

House rules

Make sure your cat is happy and relaxed first. If they are already stressed, the music may make them more stressed.
Start on a low volume and only turn it up if your cat stays happy and relaxed.
Leave the door open and keep quiet hiding places in other rooms so your cat can get away from the sound.
If your cat appears startled, shows stressed body language or leaves the room, they do not like the music. Turn it off.

Make it easier: Play for just a few minutes at the quietest volume, in a room where your cat is already settled and relaxed.
Make it harder: Use the soundscape during noisy events such as fireworks, house parties or building work, to help keep your cat calm through sudden sounds.

Signs it's having fun

Your cat purrs, rubs against the speakers, or simply stays relaxed and settled in the room while the music plays.

Stop if you see

Hissing, an arched back, erect fur (piloerection), being startled, or leaving the room. If your cat leaves, they do not like the music and would prefer some peace and quiet, so turn it off.

Safety

Never play music loudly. Cats have more sensitive hearing than we do, and if it is too loud it could make them stressed.
Avoid sudden, loud bursts of noise. Skip heavy metal and other intense music: in one study it increased respiratory rate and pupil diameter, indicating a stress response.
Check tracks for sounds of other cats. Some cats may find sounds of other, unfamiliar cats stressful.

Sources

Written from these sources and checked against vet and trainer guidance. General guidance, not veterinary advice.

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