Animal Rescue Superhighway

If you’re a “rock out” kinda person and you have pets, this is definitely an article for you.

A dog’s ears are seven times more sensitive than our ears and a cat’s hearing is so sensitive that it can hear sounds we can’t on both ends of the spectrum. A cat’s ears are uniquely designed to draw sound into the ear canal, which allows them to hear a mouse rustling in the brush thirty feet away. However, this unique design makes their ears more sensitive to a higher amplitude of sound. While dog’s ears work very much like our own, they, too have the ability to hear at a higher frequency than we do.

There isn’t much scientific proof about the effects of loud noises, such as music, on an animal’s ears. For whatever reason, few experts are addressing the topic. Veterinary faculty members at Mississippi State, for example, are trying to determine the effects long term exposure gunshots have on hunting dogs. Their preliminary results determined that a normal, healthy labrador begins to hear sounds at ten to fifteen decibles, one test showed that repeated, long-term exposure of gunshots caused the dog to not begin hearing sounds until 60 decibles – which is half the noise of a jet engine.

It’s common knowledge that longterm exposure to loud noises can damage our ears. It is thought by some experts that because of the unique design of their ears, that cats are even more susceptible to hearing damage than we are. In fact, an army experiment done with cats seems to back this theory up.

If you’re unsure if the loudness is bothering your dog or cat – watch their reaction to the noise. If they seem to be agitated by the noise, chances are it’s too loud. Pay attention to the signals they are sending and react.