While cats may not like human music, a University of Wisconsin study shows they don’t want to paws music created specifically for them.

The study shows while cats typically ignore human music, they are responsive to music composed for them. Charles Snowden, lead author for the study and emeritus professor in psychology, said in a statement they are not trying to replicate cat sounds.

“We are trying to create music with a pitch and tempo that appeals to cats,” Snowden said.

The cat music is based off the tempo of purring and the sucking sound made when nursing. The tempos are meant to be appealing to cats, based on their sensory system, Snowden said. Cats vocalize one octave higher than humans.

To test the music, Snowden and former UW undergraduate student Megan Savage played music for 47 cats. They played four samples, two from classical music and two cat music selections.

Positive responses to the music were purring and walking to the speaker, while a negative response was hissing and arching the back. When the cats listened to the cat music, the response was significantly more positive than the human music. Cats reacted positively to cat music after 110 seconds, compared to 171 seconds for human music.

Snowden said the slow responses to the music represented the situation during the study.

“Some of them needed to wake up and pay attention to what was going on, and some were out of the room when we set up,” Snowden said.

Snowden said animals hear different frequency ranges than humans. Researchers in Japan showed animals ignore frequencies below 4000 hertz, ignoring most human music. Cats may find classical music to sound angry or ominous rather than calming, Snowden said.

Listen to the cat music, composed by University of Maryland composer David Teie, below.