Sometimes, before we leave our apartment in the morning, we'll pick a Pandora station for our cats, a musical selection they might enjoy: Meredith Brooks or the Frozen soundtrack, perhaps.
Turns out, there's a reason our feline friends are still grumpy by the time we come home: They're not into human music. New research suggests that they prefer a custom blend made specifically for their delicate, finicky ears.
A team of psychologists at the University of Wisconsin conducted a study with a test group of 47 house-broken cats, creating custom music in an attempt to enrich the animals' lives. According to a website by researcher David Teie, the songs were "recorded on traditional instruments and the human voice," then broken down to three mood-inducing categories: Kitty Ditties (slightly frenetic, "like sonic catnip"); Cat Ballads (providing "the sound of suckling"); and Feline Airs (emo-like and resembling the pulses of a purr).
The results? "Whenever the researchers played their specially-made songs, some of the cats would rub against the music speakers rather than stand by idly — as they did when Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Air on a G String' and Gabriel Fauré's 'Elegie' were played," reports The Atlantic.
To which we say: of course. Can someone test out Carly Rae Jepsen's new song on these cats? We'd really, really, really, really, really like that. (The Atlantic)
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT