My 18-month-old kitteh is FINALLY purring. Is that strange or what?

[joeybee12]

I've had her for about 8 months now...she showed up at my feral colony and was so friendly I looked around for a home for her...after no takers, i just took her in, got her fixed and her shots, and while the idea was to find her a new home, she bonded with me so quickly i couldn't stand the thought of her leaving. Anyway, she has always been very affectionate, but never purred at all until a few nights ago and now she purrs all the time when i pet her. Does anyone know why this is? Do cats have to be taught to purr? Does she finally---after 8 months--feel safe and so she purrs? Weird, but I'm glad her motor is finally running.

[madinmaryland]

1. We have a cat that finally after a couple of years started purring.

Of course, this was the cat the jumped off our third floor deck and was missing for 11 days. He was definitely traumatized after that. My wife thinks Flaxbee's cat who we adopted pushed him off the deck, but I think he was trying to get the giant bumble bee that used to hang out near our porch and drive the cats crazy!

[Flaxbee]

2. Sonia pushed your other baby off the deck?

Horrors! But at least she got him to purr :D

[madinmaryland]

4. My wife thinks she did, but I think the hugh bumblebee did Panda in!

She may have helped Panda purr, but Panda and Roosevelt taught Sonia the tricks of being a cat!

[joeybee12]

3. Did he purr before the trauma and then stop for 2 years? n/t

[madinmaryland]

5. He never really did purr much and is still a quiet hummer (rofl)!!!

[TZ]

6. That is weird.

My girl Smokie was an orphan kitty wandering with her sister and brother (whom I didn't adopt) and when the vet pulled her out of her cage for me to hold she was purring.....Neither her or her sister meowed for a few months though...Now they do.

[joeybee12]

7. Even feral kittens I've fostered start purring after a few days when they've

calmed down and realize they're still getting food regularly!

[grasswire]

8. my big orange tabby didn't purr for a long time...

...well, he was a young orange tabby then, about 13 years ago. One day, though, I petted him along his back with a firmer touch and he started purring. He still purrs a lot.

Cats just have odd habits that come and go. For many many years Keiko (orange tabby mentioned above) would not sleep touching anyone. Just wasn't a cuddler. Now he snuggles up at night.

The best experience we had with him was when we took him along on vacation to New England. He flew across the country with us, nearly escaped in JFK, and spent a month watching different fauna from the window of a condo in Western Mass. He became a much more chatty cat on that trip, chirping and acting very happy. It seemed to alter his personality.

Sweet old boy.

[joeybee12]

9. Aw...

The thing is both my other cats will purr just as they approach me to get petted...their motors constantly run.

[fizzgig]

10. i've heard my fat cat purr more in the last 2 or 3 months than i had in the four years i've had her

she's always been a talker, but not much for purring until recently. i have no idea why, but i love it. my other cat is the opposite. she's always purred like a motor boat but i had her for probably 18 months before i ever heard her talk and that's only because i stepped on her tail. she's gotten a bit more talkative, but she doesn't talk much more than a few times a week.

[joeybee12]

11. My toher two, who are almost 15, had their speaking patterns changed AFTER getting fixed...

...Scarlet would not shout up until she was 6 months old, then fixed, and rarely speaks...Melanie never spoke until she was fixed, and now she constantly has something to say.

[fizzgig]

13. fat cat didn't have anything to say for the first nine or so months my friend had her

then one day she just started chatting and hasn't shut up since.

[MineralMan]

12. I have a 14 year old cat who purrs a lot, but had never uttered a sound.

It opens its mouth, as if to meow, but no sound emerges.

I track this back to the time I checked "The Silent Miaow" out from the library. This cat must have sat on the book and absorbed it through osmosis.

[joeybee12]

14. One of mine did that for the first few months...I wondered if her vocal

cards hadn't been fully developed until then.

[MineralMan]

15. I don't know. Our silent cat can make noise when it wants to.

It's just that when it interacts with us, it almost never makes a sound. It opens its mouth, but no sound comes out. When it's dealing with our other cat, it often vocalizes. Very strange. But, then, cats are very strange anyhow...

[barb162]

16. I think she feels safe finally. It's not odd.

A friend of mine took in a feral who mostly hid under the bed for a year and then finally came out one day like nothing was wrong.