![]() ![]() And purring does not prevent a cat from making other sounds. Instead, a cat’s purr is created when the vocal folds of the larynx modify airflow - specifically, “a sudden opening of the vocal folds” while breathing produces the sound which is then conducted to the mouth and nose. Even though you can sometimes feel a cat purr through its body, Sissom and colleagues concluded, the diaphragm and muscles around the ribs have nothing to do with purring outside of allowing a cat to breathe normally. ![]() Other hypotheses about purrs being produced deeper within the body were not upheld by the team's investigation. The fact that a previous study found that cats with paralyzed larynges couldn’t purr bolstered this idea. Vibrations in the larynx seemed to be key - particular muscles moved folds in the larynx into position and allowed the cats to purr. Where purrs comes from was another matter. Their recordings confirmed that purring is a low-frequency sound that occurs during the entire respiratory cycle of the cat, even as breathing in and out alters the sound of the purr. In an attempt to narrow down the possibilities, Sissom and collaborators collected audio recordings of various purring cats - from domestic cats at an animal shelter to a cheetah and cougar, the largest cats known to be capable of purring. Peters briefly reviewed various ideas about the peculiar sound in a 1991 paper simply titled “How cats purr.” Some kind of soft-tissue vibration - of the vocal chords, soft palate, diaphragm, or parts of the circulatory system - had been previously proposed as the origin of purrs, but there was no consensus among anatomists. What I actually said was “AI was cat-trapped, and right before I drifted off to sleep again I wondered how the little felines were making those soothing sounds. I should have said “OK, kitten, I need to get out of bed” and followed through with that declaration. She immediately started purring - the sound started as a low rumble and rose to a constant vibrato modulated by her breaths - and flopped herself down over my neck. Our youngest cat, a diminutive calico named Margarita, sprung onto the bed as soon as she heard me start to stir. I rolled out of bed later than I intended to this morning. ![]()
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