A question about purring

lorie d.

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I'm not sure where this belongs, and it's not a big deal, it's a question about a very minor problem. Snowball is a very healthy and contented cat, but he has never seemed to purr very well. If we gently put our fingers on Snowball's throat, we can feel vibrating, or if Snowball is in someone's lap we can feel his entire body vibrating. If he actually purrs loud enough to be heard, it fades after a second or two and he goes back to just vibrating. I don't know of any other cats that do this and I was just wondering if anyone had any information about this behavior?
 

sassyfras

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In my experience, purring varies greatly from cat to cat. Some of our cats never purr audibly, while others sound like freight trains. I don't think there is any one "normal" purr. As I write this, Mojo is on my lap and is obviously quite happy: his eyes are closed, he is kneading and rubbing his face on my hand, and he is also purring, but I have to put my fingers on his throat to feel the purr. On the other hand, I can hear Mojo's brother Nigel purring from a distance of 5 feet!! Both of these cats are young (they'll be 2 in April), healthy, and have led lives of luxury since coming to live (inside only) with my husband and I when they were only 2 days old. They just purr differently.
 

suzerq98

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My Mister Sosa will lay on my lap and smile with contentment (well, my son says he is smiling!), but you can hardly hear him purr. He just doesn't purr very loud. My Mac and Allie though, they sound like vacuum cleaners when they purr.

smiles,
sue
 

donna

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LorieD,

My cat Mollie Rose has such a quiet purr I put my finger on her throat to see if she is purring. Some cats are like that and it's nothing to be alarmed about. My other cats are like diesel engines. Every cat is different, I guess.
 

melissa

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All of my kitties have loud purrs except Kiri. She was born to a feral momma so shes still getting used to humans and I think shes still too nervous to be totally content. I've never heard her purr at all
I love Onyx's purr though, its so loud that I can't hear the TV if hes on my lap
 
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