How Does Music Influence Your Pets?

There has been more and more work done with animals to understand the impact of music on them. Of course, for humans, we know that music can be a calming relaxing influence. But just how true is that saying "music calms the savage beast" when applied to a true animal?

Veterinarians, zoo keepers and other animal lovers that work with them day in and day out have come to the opinion that music has the same impact of animals as it does on humans. Certainly it can be at a different level but still there does appear to be an impact between animals and the music they hear.

Cats have been known to be drawn to the piano. This could be partially because of the vibrations that they feel but still they are absolutely drawn to the music and it does tend to calm them. Even other animals are impacted by the piping in of music.

Horse stables pipe in music to keep their horses calmer. It is a course of action that occurs more often than you would think. Cows also have been known to be impacted by music. It relaxes them while they are being milked as well as in general.

Veterinarians use music when they are operating on a dog to get them to relax and again when they come out of the anesthesia to keep them calm. Music is also is piped throughout the kennels to keep the animals as calm as they can be considering the pack like atmosphere in the kennels. Anything to work on their calmness is a bonus.

So what type of music do animals like? It is a pretty interesting question and is answered differently depending on the animal. As mentioned before, cats and kittens tend to really like piano and piano music as well as the vibrations that the piano gives off.

For the healing process such as before and after operations, soft soothing music tends to work and the type of instrument is not really that important but in a few different scenarios one instrument has risen above all the rest, and you probably would never guess it. The instrument animals tend to listen to and enjoys the most is the harp.

Harp music tends to be extremely soothing and for animals it appears it touches a core that allows them to be even more calming than other times. It works for stress, trauma, illness and abandonment issues. And it appears to work very well.

Harp is so popular with animal enthusiasts now that there are actually harp collections out on CD specifically for the listening pleasure of your animals. Not just one or two harp cd's either, a least a half dozen. And considering the topic, that's not too shabby.

There are also collections of music for birds, dogs, horses and other animals. If you look you will find a number of different collections specifically for the calming and relaxation of your animal. It might seem a little strange, but it works and your animal will thank you for it.

The author is a former guitar teacher and life long musician who believes in the power of music and the senses. For more about music-body-soul and mind and their interactions go to http://www.AcousticPleasure.com