Ever wondered why cats purr, or how they do it? Skymee discusses the mechanism behind HOW cats purr, and then explains the psychology behind WHY they purr.
First let's talk about how they purr. Scientifuc reseaarch believes the two theory:
One is the "pseudo-vocal band" theory
I think the cat’s snoring is from the cat’s throat. In addition to the original vocal cords,
There is also a second pair of vocal cords that allow the cat to snoring without opening his mouth, and can last for hours or even hours.
The other is the theory of "blood turbulence"
This theory holds that it is irrelevant for the cat to make a snoring sound and a throat vocal cord.
Rather, because the cat's blood enters the heart through the main vein, blood flow increases and turbulence occurs. When the blood vortexes, it will produce a snoring sound.
These two arguments seem to all make sense, and the experts are also arguing endlessly. Then why they purr? Purring is sort of like smiling. You'll smile when you're happy, then you also might smile when you're nervous, stressed or trying to cheer yourself up. Just like smiling, purring release endorphins and has a self soothing effect on cats. So typically cats purr when they are conten, happy or relaxed. But they also might purr sometimes when they are sick, in pain or stressed. For example, mother cats often purr when they give birth which may act as a natural pain relief.
Did you know there are health benefits to purring. The tremor caused from purring applies a gentle rhythmic pressure on bones which can actually help strengthen them. This discovery has inspired research into human technology and similar tremor therapy has been used in astronauts to help maintain mascle mess and bone density in low gravity environments. So next time your kitty decides to sleep on your chest and purr loudly to 2:00 AM. Maybe let them, it could be benefiting your health.