Decoding Your Cat’s Purr
Your cat walks across the back of your couch and curls up on your shoulder. Soon, he has nearly fallen asleep and is purring loudly. Cats tend to purr, sometimes loudly, when they are relaxed. Whether because of the napping cat or because of the sound itself, some cat owners find their cat's purr to be relaxing.
Rather than just a sign that your cat is relaxed, many scientists studying cat behavior believe it serves other functions as well. Besides purring when relaxed, cats also are known to purr when feeding and when they're sick or injured. This leads some scientists to believe that purring is a cat's way of communicating that it is not a threat.
In addition to their normal purr, some cats also produce a second purring sound as well. This sound is hypothesized to be a cat's way of telling their owners they're hungry, because it only appears when the cat is hungry and approaching its owner. Many cat owners are familiar with this louder, higher-pitched “feed me” purr.
The anatomy of a cat's purr is still a little mysterious. Cats lack any anatomy unique to their species that could explain purring, so studying its origins has been difficult. The most common theory is that the low-pitched noise we called purring is produced by rapid muscle constrictions in a cat's throat. As a cat breathes in and out, the combination of air pressure and muscle contractions causes vibrations in the cat's throat that we hear as purring.
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Most of the time, your cat's purring is just a sign that it's happy and relaxed. Sometimes, however, purring can be a sign that your cat is sick or injured. If your cat has begun moving less, has lost its appetite, or otherwise changed its behavior, that could be a sign that you need to take your cat to the veterinarian. For more information, contact your certified Houston Vet Clinic today.