I never used to with the cats, but now that I have Auggie, The Cutest Dog on the Planet ™, I leave the TV on for him every day. I usually leave it on CNN so there’s just talking- he gets too excited when Animal Planet is on, and I always wind up with nose juice on my TV.
We leave a radio on when we are gone for more than a couple of hours. Your television uses a lot of power. Our 27" will consume 225 watts so the cost can add up.
Yeah, I always leave the TV on for Poppy (my adorable staffie) when I go out, even all she seems to do while I’m gone is sleep. I might start just leaving the radio on in future, bearing in mind what Toddly says. I think it’s the voices she finds comforting anyway.
I leave the tv on. I don’t know if they watch it but they always get up on the couch when the tv comes on. I used to leave it on CMT but one of my huskies seems to dislike certain artists (at least she insists on leaving the room if they come on) so now I pick TNT, ESPN or APL.
I used to leave the radio on at night when my cats were kittens. (They were very tiny- only a few hours old when I found them. Naturally, they were never left alone until they were much older.) It cut down on the crying/mewing.
They entertain each other now, but I still do it if we’ll be gone for longer than a day or so.
Our cats turn on the TV if they want to watch it, so we don’t have to bother leaving it on! 
Really though, there have been many times when I’ve come home and the TV is on. It seems they prefer the channels in Spanish too! (I’m sure their bouts of “kitty krazies” had they running on the couch and stepping on the remote)
I did leave the radio on when we went on vacation for a couple of days. I’m sure they could have cared less…they were probably upstairs crashed out on my bed!
We leave the radio on the local classic rock station when we go anywhere. I don’t know if the Maggie-dog prefers any specific type of music (except she did howl at that Janis Joplin record my mom put on when she was a puppy…) but she does behave better with the radio on. If we forget to turn it on and are gone longer than a couple hours, she tips over the garbage or eats things out of the cat box.
I used to leave my clock radio tuned to the local classical station for my cat until I got married. I get up earlier than my wife, so I no longer leave the radio on so as to not wake her. Sorry, kitty – no more classical music for you!
Barry
I don’t have a pet, but my neighbor has a cat. There have been several times when we’re about to go somewhere and she turns on the radio. She only turns it on to NPR though. She says it’s to make her cat smarter.
Well, she’s not exactly serious about that. At least I hope not.
Yes, I leave the radio on for my parakeet.
I sometimes leave the radio on for my goldfish, Davey.
Well, that’s my excuse.
We leave the TV on for the dogs, but mostly to mask sounds from outside so they don’t bark when we’re gone. My one cat in partiular gets upset if the dogs bark too much, so anything to mask outdoor noises is good.
During the workweek we leave on talk radio – a station that broadcasts Howard Stern and the Don and Mike Show. On the weekends we’ll leave the tv on for her, usually Animal Planet because she definitely sense the routine is different so she’s got more energy. When the tv is on she’ll settle in on her bed and do a nice long toy-suck and entertain herself.
My birds love the Oldies!!! Just can’t get them into George Strait…
Our TV has a fancy timer system so we can set it to come on at different times while we’re gone. If we’re going on a trip we usually set it to come on when we’d usually be watching tv (along with the lights when it gets dark.) This is primarily for security reasons, but we do engage in some discussion about what channel the cat would enjoy most.
I leave the radio on for my dog all day while I’m at work.
I figure this keeps her from hearing cars that go by while I’m gone.
Also, it just seems like it would be less boring to be home all day by herself if the radio is on…
No way! I have parrots. The 2 big ones think the human voice is their cue to squawk. So, no TV. Music sets the little birds (budgies) to chattering. One budgie is okay, 8 can be darned loud. That is the signal for the cockatiel to run through his repertoire of whistles and phrases. “Good morning” from the tiel gets a response from the big guys. Budgies go nuts. Ad infinitum. No more radio.
My neighbors thank me.
I have come home to find the cat lolling on the sofa, watching TV. Gotta hide the remote.