The Groove That Soothes: Music Therapy for Pets
Music has long been known to affect our emotions. Whether we need energizing and happy sounds or soothing and relaxing ones, music has the power to change how we feel, emotionally and physically. This is also true for our cat and dog friends.
Pets with separation anxiety and phobia, as well as those with behavior issues have been benefited by this noteworthy form of therapy. If you have always wanted to know how music therapy can help your four-legged pal, you have come to the right place. Mobile Vet MD is here to explain.
Music Therapy for Pets 101
Music therapy works because sounds are processed by the brain, which in turn, elicits emotional response. It is an old form of therapy, first introduced a few hundred years ago in Europe. Since then, research conducted by Kogan, Schoenfeld-Tacher & Simon in 2012 showed that music had the power to calm animal shelter dogs that were selected for the study.
Joshua Leads, who has created musical arrangements specifically for dogs, noted that we hear up to 20,000 Hz, while dogs hear up to 45,000 Hz, and cats up to 64,000 Hz. The ways in which pets hear things are quite different from our own, which is why only certain arrangements can calm an anxious or fearful pet, and likewise other arrangements can energize them.
How Can Music Help My Pet?
Anxiety and depression are common among our furry friends. Many pets especially benefit from this therapy when they suffer from noise anxiety. Music calms your pet by lowering blood pressure and pulse, regulating breathing, and reducing chronic pain.
This form of therapy is used in the following settings:
- Shelters and rescues
- Veterinary hospitals
- Boarding facilities and daycares
- During surgeries
- While your pet is being groomed
- During thunderstorms, fireworks, and other loud events
- During travel by car or plane
As a noninvasive, low cost form of treating anxiety, music therapy for pets is a good choice for any pet parent.
Is your pet dealing with anxiety or other mood disorder? Please contact us. We can discuss some recommendations for treatment that can help soothe the fear.