High-field accelerator magnets made of state-of-the-art Nb 3 Sn Rutherford cables demonstrate relatively long trainings due to sudden heat depositions originated by thermo-mechanical perturbations in the magnet coils. Coil sensitivity to these perturbations can be reduced by increasing the specific heat, C p , of major coil components - strands, or whole cable, or epoxy. The R&D on all these three approaches is in progress. This paper studies feasibility of increasing the C p of Rutherford-type cables by using a thin composite Cu/Gd 2 O 3 tape. The tape can be either wrapped around the cable, placed on the cable wide faces under the insulation, and/or inserted as a core. Cu/Gd 2 O 3 ribbons with ∼30% of Gd 2 O 3 powder and two different thicknesses were produced by Hyper Tech Research, Inc. Wire and cable samples outfitted with these high- C p ribbons, or tapes, were prepared and tested at FNAL for the Minimum Quench Energy ( MQE ). At 80% I c , the MQE gain average over the tested magnetic field range of the NbTi cable with high- C p tape on both sides was ∼1.3. The MQE gain average of the NbTi wire wrapped with the high- C p ribbon was 3.1.