@why-animals-do-the-thing is this cat okay? It looks content but I’ve never heard a purr like that
Whoa, that’s a super weird purr. I think it’s fine, but now I’m super curious about the physiology of that cat’s vocal tract.
I’ll spare everyone the super gorey anatomical details (literally gory, they studied this by hooking up air pressure to the vocal tracts of various cats during necropsy and watching what happens) but basically, cats purr by vibrating a bunch of vocal folds in their throat. Because the hyoid bone isn’t ossified (bony), it can vibrate with the tissue movement and airflow over the whole structure creates a purr. That’s why cats can purr on both the inhale and exhale - it’s just air movement - but why the inhale and exhale parts of a purr both sound different.
I’m assuming that Tribble has been checked by a vet for it before he left the shelter, so I’m sure he’s OK. That leads to a question about why the sound is different, though, and my best guess is that it’s probably structural but harmless.
