Classical Music Is Soothing For Cats Going Under The Knife

Just when we thought we had the music tastes of our feline friends all figured out, new research comes out that makes us rethink our notions.

According to research conducted by veterinary clinicians at the University of Lisbon in Portugal, cats prefer classical music when they are undergoing surgery. Given that the other choices were pop and hard rock music, the option of classical music sounds logical, doesn’t it? When given a stressful situation, we think classical music — in this case, Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” (Opus 11) — can be comforting.

According to Time.com: “The results showed that the cats were in a more relaxed state (as determined by their lower values for respiratory rate and pupil diameter) under the influence of classical music, with the pop music producing intermediate values. And perhaps unsurprisingly, listening to AC/DC while being spayed induced “a more stressful situation.”

What we find a bit confusing is that we recently learned that cats actually do not prefer human music. They prefer their own brand of music that is more aligned with their heartbeats and shrilling vocal range. Oh well, perhaps there is still hope for humans and cats to share their musical tastes with each other!

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