Nobody’s declared it the official song of summer yet, but “Leeloo and Fur-ends” is making some noise.Purring noises, to be specific. “Leeloo and Fur-ends” is the first track on “Power of the Purr,” a 10-song playlist that dropped last month on YouTube. It’s a made-in-Toronto collab between Grammy-award-winning producer Nineteen85 (a.k.a. Paul Jefferies), Purina’s Fancy Feast and some real cool local cats, including Leeloo, a brown male tabby whose purrs are woven into the songs on the playlist. “My ultimate goal is to make music that makes people feel something and transports them,” said Nineteen85. “I’m very excited for Canadian cats and their families to move, groove and experience this unique collection of music, made with the goal of creating calming moments of connection.” Laugh if you will about sampling purrs, but one specific album, “Music for Cats,” has been shown to help cats deal with stressful situations. It was recorded by David Teie — a cellist with Washington D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra and almost certainly the world’s most prominent cat composer — who worked with animal scientists to create music with “ecologically appropriate” features for cats.“When I first heard about this, I thought ‘That’s a bunch of malarkey,’” recalled Jacklyn Ellis, the director of behaviour at the Toronto Humane Society. “And then I read the papers and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s actually some clear evidence.’”“Music for Cats” is the only cat music that’s been properly studied to measure its effect on cats. It’s been the subject of at least three clinical trials, one of which observed cats at a routine visit to the vet. “They had three groups of cats, one that was played classical music, a group of cats that were played cat-specific music and a group of cats that had the exam with no music,” said Ellis. “They found that the cats that heard the music designed specifically for cats had lower ‘cat stress scores’ and it was much easier for the veterinarians to examine them.”At the Toronto Humane Society, Teie’s cat music plays in the background all day where cats are housed. The humans don’t seem to mind, either. Ellis said it sounds like “spa music, but with purrs.”Should pet parents try this at home? Ellis says it might be a useful tool, especially for people with anxious cats.“It’s not going to hurt, and there is reason to believe it’s going to help,” she said. “It’s not a bad idea to have it playing whenever you’re leaving the house for a long time or if you feel like there’s a chance that something might come up that they could be frightened by.”I played “Power of the Purr” for my own cats, Sophia and Rocco, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if they noticed. So, I bought two more of Teie’s albums and made a cat-music playlist. The results were mixed. Soph seemed interested at first but then wandered away. Rocco came out to play after I switched it to a human playlist. It was a nice afternoon, which made me think that, even if their reactions to the music were minimal, maybe it had fostered connection. “’Music for Cats’ appears to have more impact on reducing stress than human music or than silence,” said Ellis. “But there is some reason to believe that human music is still better than silence.”Anyone who sings to their cats (a surprising number of people according to my informal social media poll) probably already knows that. “Our cats will gather around the piano if one of us is playing,” said Andrea Ledwell, a Toronto graphic designer. “Boy Cat especially loves Bach and will sometimes lean into me and purr while I play. He’s the old soul of the two cats.”Girl Cat likes any old tune Ledwell plays. Toronto resident Piper MacFadyen says that her cat, Ash, 13, has, since kittenhood, calmed down when he hears M. Ward’s “Transistor Radio,” while Toronto actuary Rob Corkum said his cats, Dipper and Mabel, don’t seem to have any favourite albums, but there are certainly a few they clearly dislike.“Sun Ra clears the room every time,” said Corkum. “They also do not appreciate Tool.”
Nobody’s declared it the official song of summer yet, but “Leeloo and Fur-ends” is making some noise.
Purring noises, to be specific. “Leeloo and Fur-ends” is the first track on “Power of the Purr,” a 10-song playlist that dropped last month on YouTube. It’s a made-in-Toronto collab between Grammy-award-winning producer Nineteen85 (a.k.a. Paul Jefferies), Purina’s Fancy Feast and some real cool local cats, including Leeloo, a brown male tabby whose purrs are woven into the songs on the playlist.
“My ultimate goal is to make music that makes people feel something and transports them,” said Nineteen85. “I’m very excited for Canadian cats and their families to move, groove and experience this unique collection of music, made with the goal of creating calming moments of connection.”
Laugh if you will about sampling purrs, but one specific album, “Music for Cats,” has been shown to help cats deal with stressful situations. It was recorded by David Teie — a cellist with Washington D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra and almost certainly the world’s most prominent cat composer — who worked with animal scientists to create music with “ecologically appropriate” features for cats.
“When I first heard about this, I thought ‘That’s a bunch of malarkey,’” recalled Jacklyn Ellis, the director of behaviour at the Toronto Humane Society. “And then I read the papers and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s actually some clear evidence.’”
“Music for Cats” is the only cat music that’s been properly studied to measure its effect on cats. It’s been the subject of at least three clinical trials, one of which observed cats at a routine visit to the vet.
“They had three groups of cats, one that was played classical music, a group of cats that were played cat-specific music and a group of cats that had the exam with no music,” said Ellis. “They found that the cats that heard the music designed specifically for cats had lower ‘cat stress scores’ and it was much easier for the veterinarians to examine them.”
At the Toronto Humane Society, Teie’s cat music plays in the background all day where cats are housed. The humans don’t seem to mind, either. Ellis said it sounds like “spa music, but with purrs.”
Should pet parents try this at home? Ellis says it might be a useful tool, especially for people with anxious cats.
“It’s not going to hurt, and there is reason to believe it’s going to help,” she said. “It’s not a bad idea to have it playing whenever you’re leaving the house for a long time or if you feel like there’s a chance that something might come up that they could be frightened by.”
I played “Power of the Purr” for my own cats, Sophia and Rocco, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if they noticed. So, I bought two more of Teie’s albums and made a cat-music playlist. The results were mixed. Soph seemed interested at first but then wandered away. Rocco came out to play after I switched it to a human playlist. It was a nice afternoon, which made me think that, even if their reactions to the music were minimal, maybe it had fostered connection.
“’Music for Cats’ appears to have more impact on reducing stress than human music or than silence,” said Ellis. “But there is some reason to believe that human music is still better than silence.”
Anyone who sings to their cats (a surprising number of people according to my informal social media poll) probably already knows that.
“Our cats will gather around the piano if one of us is playing,” said Andrea Ledwell, a Toronto graphic designer. “Boy Cat especially loves Bach and will sometimes lean into me and purr while I play. He’s the old soul of the two cats.”
Girl Cat likes any old tune Ledwell plays.
Toronto resident Piper MacFadyen says that her cat, Ash, 13, has, since kittenhood, calmed down when he hears M. Ward’s “Transistor Radio,” while Toronto actuary Rob Corkum said his cats, Dipper and Mabel, don’t seem to have any favourite albums, but there are certainly a few they clearly dislike.
“Sun Ra clears the room every time,” said Corkum. “They also do not appreciate Tool.”
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