Why Does My Cat Purr?

On this episode of the Pet Question of the Day, Stephanie discusses the different reasons why our cats Purr and how it works!

Why Does My Cat Purr? A lot of you have asked this question and there are a number of reasons why cats purr. Let’s talk first about the HOW they purr. Simply put, cats are able to purr thanks to muscles in their diaphragm and larynx, and something called a Hyoid bone.

When you hear a cat purr, you’ll notice that they make the sound both while they inhale and exhale. This is because the muscles of their larynx and their diaphragm are moving VERY quickly, like 20 to 30 times a second quickly, and this causes the air to vibrate and make sound. They also have that Hyoid bone. That bone sits between their tongue and their larynx and its flexible! The size and density of this bone is what enables them to make the purring sound as they breathe.

Studies have shown that these muscles get stronger over time and typically once your cat reaches the age of two, that purr will be their purr for the rest of their lives. You may notice during this time that their “voice” has changed. We’ve experienced that happening.

Purring is meant as a form of communication. Cats use it to communicate with other cats, with humans and to calm themselves. One thing that can vary is how loud a purr can be! Older cats can and often do purr more loudly than their younger counterparts, and of course they have humans well trained. Young cats learn how to use the purr to communicate emotions and needs. When kittens are first born they are both blind and deaf, so, researchers believe they use the purr to communicate with their mothers while nursing.

Cats purr to communicate with humans, to express happiness, contentment, excitement, hunger, heat cycles, anxiety or even pain. We are most familiar with the happy purr and the quest for food purr. Dare to let her bowl drop below the full mark and you will hear all about it. The food bowl saga is REAL and she will let you know, often with a high pitched mixture of both meow and purr. But across the board, you will know this purr. Experts labeled this the “solicitation purr”. She wants food, or she wants attention. But there are actual studies about this kind of purr and they showed that the “solicitation purr” is most used by adult cats and directed toward humans to solicit food.”This purr has a high frequency component within it that human participants consistently judged as more urgent and less pleasant than a ‘normal’ purr.” Thus, my yowler. She clearly got the memo years ago. “The frequencies of this ‘voiced peak’ correspond to those of human infant distress cries, which could explain why they are so easily perceived by humans as urgent.” Thank you, Dr. Valuska. You are accurate. So cats purr to communicate and to train us to understand what they need and when they need it. Now, they will actually also purr if they are in pain or distress. They really do. Or if they are anxious about something. They’ll purr and it helps to soothe them. So the key is to know and understand your cat so that you are aware of patterns in their behavior. If their purr is suddenly different and you notice other triggers, there may be a health issue or illness coming and it’s best to get them checked out. Purrs can be soft or loud, or VERY loud. I personally had a cat that purred like a little freight train! You could hear her engine revving from two rooms away! It was the sweetest thing.

Cats also have a healing quality to their purr and it has everything to do with the frequency of it! It’s been documented!

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