Not music to ears

Of the many things one has to take care of when bringing up a pet, utmost importance must be paid to the kind of sounds that could put off your companion. Humans hear in the range of about 20-25,000Hz, while dogs fall in the 67- 45,000Hz zone and cats in the range of 45-64,000Hz. Human voices come in the 300-3,000Hz range, which means that our pets are subjected to shrill noise every day.

Most pet owners are not aware of the fact that something as simple as compact fluorescent light bulbs, light dimmers, certain CRT and LCD displays (computers, televisions, etc.), and even tea kettles are all potential sources of high-frequency noise.

Popular veterinarian and director of Felican Pet Hospital, Kochi, Dr S. Sunil Kumar says “Pets, especially cats and dogs, are very scared of high frequency sounds. They can tolerate sounds below 20Hz. So we always try and warn pet owners to tone down the use of fire crackers. If at all there are crackers or such sound creating objects, the owner should be beside the pet at all times. I have seen so many casualties where the pets are locked up in kennels are bought with severe head injuries as they run around in their kennels. When it comes to other household sounds, these pets gradually get adjusted to it over a period of time.”

If the owner is serious about reducing ultrasonic noise pollution and bust stress for their pets they need to turn everything down a notch. TV, iPod, video games, washing machines and dryers can all stress out noise-sensitive species. On the other hand, they can play low-volume classical music or find pet-specific music online.