I contacted Professor Ken Simpson, Monon Veterinary Hospital and also the veterinarian in my hometown – Indianopolis, and asked about the latest veterinary science information. “Physiologically this is still a mystery,” he said, but also said that veterinary scientists have discovered something interesting about this.
“To me, this vibrating is a communication method formed by the reaction of the larynx dilate when the blood circulates strongly due to arousal. When the air flows through the larynx leaves vibrate, creating sounds that we can hear. I have also read that the moving pleura that touches the bulging lung tissue is also the cause of this phenomenon. In my experience, cats with asthma or large lungs have a much louder purr.
There is evidence that this is learned behavior, he also said. He had seen a deaf cat that never shivered. Another cat patient of his cat had meningitis as a child, affecting his ability to learn and it never shook. Such examples show that the cat’s behavior is rooted in the brain, and Simpson says he has no reason to disprove the neural oscillator hypothesis.
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