the cat’s purr, according to something I remember reading ages ago, (and therefore I could be really wrong about this) is generated by the cat either relaxing or tensing a muscle somewhere along their air passageway, and then letting the air vibrate thru that muscle or set of muscles. (I tend to go with relaxed because more often than not a cat will purr when content - altho cats in great distress have been known to purr as well, as if to say “I really could use some comfort and aid right now”)
Different cats puss differently. My cat purrs quietly but all over, My friend’s cat purrs very loudly - so loudly, in fact, he can be heard across the room - and only in his upper body.
you forgot that except for one or two breeds, the Jello is then covered in fur. The fur is very important. It keeps the Jello from sloshing all over the place, or from spraying pedestrians during that 85 foot fall
I’ll bet that some tomcats will spray the tree on the way down!
mmmm… Fur and jello. Yummy. 
I approached a cat that had been hit by a car. It was badly injured, lying in the road with its hindquarters crushed. It was purring.
Hit return too soon . . . Anyway, based on that experience, it’s my theory that purring doesn’t mean “I’m happy” so much as it means “my guard is down, you may approach.”
I had a cat who did this once; I called it chirping. She also used to walk around making little purry chirps, haflway between a purr and an inquisitive meow: “Prrrt?” with a distinctive chirpy sound.
Has anyone else heard the tale that cats never purr when they’re alone? Sorry, I just noticed that, cats, tail, get it? Must not be a Manx. No, but really, have you heard that story, and is it true?
Don’t know if it works with all cats, but my vet just turns on a faucet. For some weird reason, the running water makes the cat stop purring. :eek:
I merged two duplicate threads so this one may read a bit wonky.
samclem GQ moderator
I have. Queens in labor purr. The purr is not the same as a happy purr, it’s rougher.
When my sweet Maxx was hit by a car, I knew he was gone when his roughened purr stopped.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned kittens. Young kittens purr almost constantly for the first 6-8 weeks of their lives. One theory I heard somewhere*
is that the nursing mom-cat can keep track of her babies by hearing their purrs. That might tie into the whole purring-while-frightened issue , too. Maybe cats in distress feel helpless, and revert to kitten-like behavior.
- (hey, that’s a good enough cite for me—we’re talkin’ 'bout cutesy wutesy kittens here)
Is this a philosophical question?
I have heard that cats raised with humans communicate much more than cats raised by other cats (e.g. barn cats). Both of course yelp instinctively as kittens for mama, but as they mature the only advantage to vocalizing is to get a human’s attention. I wish I had a specific cite for that, but a researcher at Cornell has found that the variety in various “meows” may be used by cats to communicate their needs to humans.
That is what I’ve always done. I knew a veterinarian at Penn who would place a rubber band around the cat’s ears (kinda like a hat) and she claimed that would stop purring. Only problem is, it also makes the cat want to hurt you.
As far as cats purring when injured, yes, I see that every day.
I don’t think that’s true.
I’ve quietly come into a room to find one of my cats curled up and purring. From the reaction when I said something, it clearly had not been aware that I was present.
I’ve also observed via closed circuit TV a cat purring when alone in a room.