Every cat lover, upon hearing the characteristic bass sound from their Oliver, has probably wondered – why do cats purr in the first place?
Quite recently, zoologist scientists conducted a series of studies that revealed the true reasons why cats make these pleasing sounds to our ears. AdmiGram.com will tell you all the most interesting things from this.
Why do cats purr: scientific facts
How and what does a cat purr with?
© Paul Hanaoka / Unsplash
The mechanism of purring has long been a contentious issue. The thing is, cats simply don’t have a special organ with which they produce these sounds. According to recent research, it was found that the mechanism of purring is as follows.
In the cortex of the cat’s brain, electrical impulses arise, which are transmitted to the muscles located near the vocal cords and cause them to contract rhythmically. Specifically, the ‘purring center’ in cats is located between the base of the skull and the base of the tongue and consists of finely connected sublingual bones.
Muscle contraction near the vocal cords causes them to vibrate. Your cat produces the purring sound through its nose and mouth. Because of this, vibration spreads throughout the animal’s body. The vibration is so strong that during purring, it is impossible to hear the lungs and heart of the cats.
Do other cats purr or just growl ferociously?
© Oleg Ivanov / Unsplash
All cats, even wild and very aggressive ones, purr. Purring and growling are different sounds and different mechanisms. Researchers Robert Eklund, Gustav Peters, and Elizabeth Duthie from Lund University published a paper in 2010 indicating that the frequency of purring in cheetahs ranges from 18.32 Hz to 20.87 Hz, while in domestic cats it ranges from 21.98 Hz to 23.24 Hz.
In 2011, a study conducted by Professor Eklund along with Susanna Schultz confirmed the findings of their predecessors. In cats involved in the experiments, purring frequencies varied from 20.94 Hz to 27.21 Hz. Additionally, this study noted that among different species of cats, purring noticeably differs in terms of amplitude, duration, and some other parameters.
However, despite this, the frequency range of purring remains within the range of 20–30 Hz. In their 2013 paper, Eklund and Peters found that the purring frequency of cats is practically independent of their age: kittens, young cats, and adult animals were used for the research.
So why do cats purr?
© Nora Hutton / Unsplash
Recent research has confirmed that cats purr when they are being petted and feel safe. Less frequently, when they are eating. Cats also purr during childbirth, and kittens can purr as early as two days old. Purring is a special form of communication that expresses pleasure or readiness to experience pleasure.
It’s almost like when we want to clap our hands in pleasure. Some researchers have shown that cats use purring to demand food from their owner or simply to get attention. Different types of purring can express:
- pleasure
- boredom
- greeting the owner
- anxiety
- gratitude
Another study shows that through purring, cats stimulate their brain to produce a hormone that provides a relaxing and healing effect. In experiments, it was proven that cat purring also had an analgesic effect, and there were cases recorded where injured cats purred.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, suggested that purring with its vibration strengthens a cat’s bones, which suffer from prolonged immobility. Cat lovers have long known that their pets can nap for 16–18 hours a day. Based on this theory, scientists proposed using ’25-hertz purring’ for the fastest recovery of bone and muscle activity for astronauts who spend a long time in weightlessness.
image on top: Piotr Musioł / Unsplash
