Why Do Cats Purr?

That tiny engine on your lap is stranger than it sounds. How cats purr in both directions, the 2023 voice-box discovery, why lions can't purr like house cats, and the hidden cry cats use to ask for food. Chapters 0:00 The tiny engine 0:19 What a purr is 0:40 How cats make the sound 1:25 Who can purr 1:44 What a purr means 2:30 The purr that asks for food 3:01 Sounds made for humans 3:16 Can purring heal? 4:08 Wrap-up Sources & further reading • Herbst, C. T., et al. (2023). Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input. Current Biology, 33(21), 4727–4732. • McComb, K., Taylor, A. M., Wilson, C., & Charlton, B. D. (2009). The cry embedded within the purr. Current Biology, 19(13), R507–R508. • Remmers, J. E., & Gautier, H. (1972). Neural and mechanical mechanisms of feline purring. Respiration Physiology, 16(3), 351–361. • Humphrey, T., et al. (2020). The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication. Scientific Reports, 10, 16503. • von Muggenthaler, E. (2001). The felid purr: A healing mechanism? Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 110(5), 2666. Researched and fact-checked against the sources above. Whys of Everything: Short answers to big little questions. Subscribe for new animated explainers every week. #whydocatspurr #catpurring #howdocatspurr