Jack Borener, age 11, of Ypsilanti, Mich
How does a cat purr?
A number of Andy’s friends wrote to thank him for the information he gave about oats some weeks ago Of all our pets, Miss Puss is often the hardest to understand Most of our problems in the world, it seems, arise when we fail to understand the other fellow's point of view, And Miss Puss is a very complex little fur person For example, she is the only one of our pets able to show her appreciation with a rumbling purr in her throat,
To those in the know, of course, this purring rates as beautiful music This is because it means so much, It means that you have won the love and trust of a very choosy little animal She is by nature very affectionate and longs to show this to her human friends She will even try to tempt people who might not like her: But she reserves her wholehearted affection for those she knows she can trust and for them she purrs her best music :
The musical instrument that produces the purr is part of the cat s voice box, or larynx Her larynx is dust where your larynx is, in the wind pipe used to lead air in and out of the lungs In your larynx, you have two strips of skin or membrane stretched from side to side, These are the vocal cords and they can be relaxed or held taut by muscles in the walls of the larynx Air coming up from the lungs plays on the vocal cords which are held in various degrees of tautness and sets them vibrating
The vibration of the vocal cords starts the sounds which are formed into spoken words and singing notes Countless muscles and cavities 3n your throat, tongue, mouth and lips go into action to modify the vibrations from the larynx into the sounds you want to make.
A cat has has two sets of vocal cords in her larynx, one above the other, She uses her upper, or true vocal cords to make catty conversation the soft mews, the loud me‑aws and the yowling caterwauling on the back fence
The purring noise is made with the upper, or false, vocal cords When a cut relaxes, she lets go all over She even relaxes the true vocal cords in her larynx As she breathes in and out, the air flutters softly against the false vocal cords and this is what makes the purring sound
A Siamese is a cat, only more so, and Andy has learned a lot from his Siamese cat, Rama The science books say that a cat must be relaxed in order to purr, but Rama purrs while walking around or even romping He often purrs when he seams to be far from relaxed and this is true of many cats, Andy thinks that purring calls for a certain kind of relaxation, not necessarily total
In order to purr, a cat moat relax the tensions which keep her alert to danger, When she trusts you, she can relax these alert tensions any time you are near her Then she can express her heartts desire, which is to trade affections All you have to do is talk to her or stroke her soft fur and she will purr to show her complete contentment.