Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,
As you may already know, my little one went through two operations last November. While going through recovery, we noticed he was still very agitated and started looking up the different ways we could ensure he stayed calm and got the sleep he desperately needed. Along the way, I found articles about the effect calming music (specifically piano and other softer melodic instruments) have on cats and started to play music for Beau. We noticed almost immediately, that Beau started calming down more, slowing his breathing and getting more hours of sleep in. So, when I got tired of some of the playlists I found, I decided, why not do some research in what makes “cat music” work, and took a crack at writing some of my own.
You may not know this, but I’m actually a musician who primarily writes soundtracks for live theatre and film. So, writing for Beau wasn’t too far out of my reach or comfort zone. I spent a lot of his recovery sitting by him playing my piano and doodling about the instruments I had in my folio, trying to find a perfect match for him. Excited by the progress Beau was making, I continued to write, letting my vet know about Beau’s recovery and asking her if she would be interested in sampling some of the songs I was writing. To my surprise, she said YES and started playing the music to recovering kitties in the hospital, giving me updates on how the cats were doing with the music and letting me know which ones they liked best.
It’s been a few months of me working to perfect the music, but it’s all done now! I’m so excited to be sharing it with you. This music is geared to cats who are going through recovery, are anxiety filled, or have high-stress levels. All the music is very calm, and while geared towards cats, I hope that pet owners also enjoy it. It’s quite calm and uses a variety of instruments including an acoustic guitar, piano, bells, a harp, rodes, a vibraphone and many more.
I did my best to make this album simple, as I didn’t want to make it hectic for the kitties as they do better with simpler and semi-repetitive phrases. Although, my research shows that there are other forms of music that have proven to work for cats, and I’m slowly trying to learn how to create music but that might takes some more time! I’m excited to be learning how to create cat specific music, especially because it hits so close to home, and feel so lucky to have a vet who supports the endeavour.
The album is now FREE to listen to through Spotify! If you absolutely love the album and want to use it while you don’t have internet, or on your journey to work, I have published it to a number of online stores which you can find here.
Furthermore, I would love to know if you try any of the music with your cats and hear how they’ve reacted to it. All feedback is important to this new adventure and I actually can’t wait to see what sounds and music can help my cat and others around the world. I do hope to continue writing music to help cats destress and will collect all of it on a new site I started called Catnip Chorus.
And I’d love to take the time to thank you again for supporting my blog and hope that this helps those of you struggling with stressed out kitties. Let me know if you have any questions, and hope this wasn’t “sales pitchy.” I’m just super happy to have this done and be able to share it with all of you <3