Possibility of reducing cat stress by playing `` cat relaxing music '' at animal hospital



While it is very important to keep your cats in good health at a veterinary clinic, domestic cats are reluctant to consult a veterinary clinic. Research results have shown that it is effective to use 'cat-specific music' to reduce the stress of cats during medical treatment.

Effects of music on behavior and physiological stress response of domestic cats in a veterinary clinic-Amanda Hampton, Alexandra Ford, Roy E Cox, Chin-chi Liu, Ronald Koh, 2020

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098612X19828131

The 'purrfect' music for calming cats
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-purrfect-music-calming-cats.html



Music not only has the meaning of entertainment, but listening to and playing music affects human mind and body. In fact,

music therapy has shown the benefits of improving the motor and cognitive function of stroke patients and reducing anxiety about medical treatment and surgery.

In addition, it is reported that music affects not only humans but also dogs and cats, and research results have reported that cats under general anesthesia continue to respond physiologically to music. The study also found that cats responded differently depending on the genre of music, and that cats became more relaxed when listening to classical music compared to pop music and heavy metal. is.

In a new experiment conducted by a research team at Louisiana State University in the United States, what kind of effect `` cat-specific music '' created as comfortable music for cats will reduce cat stress is Was investigated.



For example, music that is considered pleasant to humans is said to have a beat similar to the pulse rate of a human at rest and contain many sounds of the same frequency as the human vocal range. 'Music with special effects for cats' composed on the same principle as this, it is said that it is composed of sounds similar to cats when they throat and sounds with frequencies similar to cats' cry.

The following movie is the 'cat-specific music' that the research team used in the experiment. When you actually listen to them, you can see that familiar sounds are used for cats, such as the sound of a cat's throat throat in a gentle melody.

Scooter Bere's Aria-YouTube


The research team targeted 20 cats during a physical examination at a veterinary clinic while performing music therapy called `` music special to cats '' or `` playing classical music '', and `` during physical examination An experiment was conducted to measure cat stress using a total of three patterns when music is not played. Before and after the physical examination, a stress score based on the behavior and response of the videotaped cat and a physiological stress score based on the neutrophil / lymphocyte ratio in the blood were measured. Experienced the pattern.

As a result of analyzing the stress score of each cat, cats who heard `` music that has a special effect on cats '' compared to those who heard classical music or did not listen to music during physical examination and after physical examination Based on a low stress score. On the other hand, the physiological stress score did not seem to be significantly different for each pattern, but the length of the experiment was about 20 minutes, so the music had enough time to trigger a physiological response. The research team claimed that it may not have been.

According to the research team, not only can cats 'welfare be improved by reducing cat stress, but also veterinarians can more accurately detect cats' pathologies and abnormalities, and the veterinary clinical environment Can improve the quality of care.



in Science,   Creature,   Video, Posted by log1h_ik