Cats purr when they’re happy, right? A new study says that purring conveys more than one message.
Researchers from England’s University of Sussex took a close look at the purring noises made by hungry cats. They recorded hunger purring and happy purring from ten different cats and played the sounds back to human volunteers (ranging from dedicated cat lovers to people who had never owned a cat). Even the total feline novices could tell the difference between the contented rumble and the hunger noises.
The hunger purring tended to be higher in pitch than the happy purring most people are familiar with, giving a feeling of urgency to the noise. Some volunteers described the sound as being more like a cry than a purr.
Not all cats make the high-pitched hunger purr. Researchers feel that some cats learn to keep using the noise because they see humans responding to it. Hunger purring may evoke a similar response to hearing a crying baby — many humans jump to figure out something to make the distress stop.
In my work at the cats-only boarding facility, I’ve encountered another type of purring: stress or fear purring. It seems like some cats purr when they’re nervous! I wonder why — are they trying to say “look, I’m harmless, just leave me alone” or is it something else entirely? Some behaviorists think that stress purring is the cat’s attempt to comfort itself.
Until I learn how to speak cat, I’ll never know for sure!
Here’s an interesting fact I dug up from a 2003 Scientific American article: a cat’s purr vibrates in a range that can promote healing! The resonance may help stimulate muscles and bones without requiring a lot of movement or energy expenditure.
There’s a lot more to purring than just happiness or contentment. All this research seems to indicate that purring serves as a form of communication — I’m happy vs. I’m hungry — and may even go beyond that. I’m going to keep my eye out for further purring research!