At home, when you take care of your cat, it happens very often that it emits a purring sound. This sound, specific to felids, can be emitted in several situations, signifying in turn a great pleasure, or stress. We explain how to understand what your cat wants to tell you in this article.

Purring is a “regular, dull sound” that is common to hear in our pets. This sound is produced by the passage of air through the cat’s larynx and lungs, producing a vibration in the throat muscles and the cat’s diaphragm. In the end, the result is a sound that the cat can produce on inspiration as well as on expiration, and close to a buzzing or hissing sound.

Purring is often produced when the cat is comfortable, following hugs or a moment of complicity with its owner. However, the meaning of these purrs remains difficult to understand.

Indeed, in certain situations, they mark the happiness and the well-being of your cat. But a stressed cat or an injured cat can also purr when faced with an anxiety-provoking situation. The purring would then aim to reduce the stress level of the animal, in particular by involving a hormonal system. For a person uncomfortable with the behavior of cats, it is not always easy to differentiate between these different types of purring. It will therefore be essential to analyze the behavior of the cat as a whole in order to be able to understand it. The only thing that is certain is that purring has an interest in communication between cats, or from cat to human.

At home, when the cat is relaxed, lying on a cushion or being stroked, it is not uncommon for it to start purring. This purr marks his well-being and testifies to the fact that he is happy. It is a purring that we will also find when he knows that a positive event is going to happen, for example just before we put him to eat.

These purrs of pleasure have a double interest, for the cat but also for his companions. When he purrs, the cat activates a whole hormonal circuit that will release endorphins, the hormones of happiness, in him. For his companions, it is also a way to affirm that he appreciates the interaction, and the purring is then often linked to an exchange of complex pheromones.

Purring for pleasure is an innate behavior of the cat, that is, it has known it since birth. This is one of the first sounds that a young kitten will emit, often when it goes to suck in order to exchange with its mother, the kitten purrs with pleasure while sucking its mother, who herself will purr to inform her little ones that everything is fine. good.

For human beings who interact with it, this purring of pleasure also acts on the nervous system and changes emotions. The result is an impression of relaxation and pleasure. This technique, called “purring therapy” is well known to psychologists and is one of the many qualities that our pets have.

However, cat purring is not always associated with a positive event. In particular, when the cat is on the veterinarian’s table and is about to purr, it does not mean that he is relaxed, but rather marks a moment of stress. Although the usefulness of this stressful purr is uncertain, many experts believe that the purpose of this behavior is to change the cat’s perception of the situation, so that they experience it in a more peaceful way. This purr is then called a “stress purr” or “submissive purr”.

This purr is part of the large family of cat appeasement signals. Contrary to what their name suggests, these are not signals that the cat is relaxed, but rather behaviors that the animal will do in an attempt to lower its stress level. Stress purring therefore allows the cat to calm down and calm down.

When faced with aggressive cats or of which he is afraid, this purring can also be seen as a message of submission, making it possible to reassure the cats around him, thanks to the production of this soothing vibration.

Finally, when cats have an injury or severe pain, they may purr. The usefulness or significance of the purr in this case is not known. One of the most plausible hypotheses would be that the release of the hormones associated with these purrs makes it possible to reduce the pain of the animal a little.