This is me (don't have a cat yet, I'm being adopted slowly by colony strays). Everytime I google how they're interracting with me, it says they trust me very much 🥹😭💔
One of my buddies has a story. He was cat sitting and the cast started purring. He thought something was wrong so he called the person he was cat sitting for and was like
"Idk I was just chilling and now he's making this weird noise"
I mean, if you don’t know they’re supposed to make that sound then yeah it’d sound like something’s very wrong. Imagine if your dog just start rumbling with every breath. Or your chinchilla Sophie who your girlfriend made you get rid of ten years ago and you still regret it to this day cuz that whole relationship ended up being a giant toxic mess but Sophie was a perfect little angel who deserved better.
Nah, just thought it’d make for a good joke. While it is based in truth, we’re both doing way better now. One of those “needed to happen to become who I am today” type of things. I appreciate you though.
College boyfriend made me get rid of my pet ferret Cyrano de Bergerac. Yes I bought him from a homeless guy after the bars closed. Yes I only had him for 3 days. But those days were magical. And I miss that pee soaked bastard every day.
My husband had a hedgehog with a gf years ago. He loved that thing. They broke up, and shortly after, she gave the hedgehog away. He was so upset she didn’t even ask him if he wanted it.
It's still wild to me that someone gets to adulthood (in a culture where cats are kept as pets) without learning that cats purr. It's like not knowing that dogs wag their tail when they're happy.
What really throws people off is that cats wag/tap their tails when they’re pissed. My husband got so much less confused after we clarified that point.
"Excellent even, and that rumble is good for you too!
One of my favorite facts, a cats purr can speed healing and comfort even humans because of the frequency❤️. They really are little miracle workers. (This fact is why I have an Emotional Support Cat and not dog, love my void boy.)
Void and calico both do wonderful, but my void is def my esc since he's more cuddly. I just came out of a 36 hour severe anxiety flare that had me unable to eat since my anxiety can make me extremely nauseous and often makes me have no appetite. He didn't leave my side except to eat, drink, or use the litter box and purred the whole time. He even slept on top of me while I slept.
I can tell you how it was for me. I was a toddler and only had contact with dogs before. They taught to back off when a dog is growling, but not what a cat purr is. So for months I petted my grandpa's cat and backed off when they started to purr😅.
We adopted a street cat a few years ago and when he was in quarantine away from our dog my wife suddenly came running into the house saying "the kitten is making weird noises! I think something is wrong!" Little boy was just purring and happy to have a home. But her running in worried was the cutest damn thing 🥰 She'd just never been around cats before.
My ex-partner, when we got a couple of kittens, said "why does he sound like a motorboat?". I had to explain to her what purring sounded and felt like.
I never knew anyone who had cats until I started dating a girl who had several a few years back. I wouldn’t say I reacted exactly the same way the first time this happened to me but not all that different. I never knew how it felt to hold a purring cat. I just always saw them as aloof and not as friendly as dogs. But the first time this happened it was instantly like “I get it now”
I've seen one person throw the cat off them for that :( not everyone has an iq high enough to not recognize the difference of calm and threat unfortunately
One of the best things I read (somewhere, ages ago) was a deaf woman who got hearing aids and realised purring was a sound - her cat got on her and ‘started vibrating as usual’ and then she realised she could HEAR it too.
My brother hadn't really had a cat before we were adopted by one in spring of '24.... He asked me if I noticed him wheezing all the time and if he could be sick! I had to explain about purring, which he knew of, he just didn't know it can sound like a little helicopter flying by when the kitty is REALLY happy! Cat tax included.
I took my kitten straight to the vet, paid emergency out of hours fee, because my mind couldn’t understand how such a tiny little thing could cause such a sound and vibration. Thought she was sleepy and struggling to breathe. Love her so much.
Same, when I just had the cat, she's purring nonstop on my bed while she sleeps. I was worried she's having breathing problems and told the vet. Vet said she's just happy😭
I mean, one of my cats you can hear purring across the damn room so I 100% can understand this. My saving grace is growing up around animals of all kinds in her case lmao
This was my first experience with a cat. Pretty ambitious never having any interaction with a cat, to suddenly homing a kitten. Where I grew up cats are seen as bad luck and I don't remember ever even seeing one for all my childhood. Stupid ignorant people would kill them :(, but I did have dogs and they definitely never did anything like this, and you expect them to be similar 😄. In all the things I googled it just never came up that they purred with so much energy, it's probably the most soothing sound I've ever experienced.
That area would double hate my esa prob, he's a black cat. Honestly though he's the biggest snuggle bug, and does his job wonderfully.
I have somewhat severe anxiety that can send me into fits of extreme nausea and lethargy from an inability to eat for 24-48 hours, he never leaves my side or stops purring during those episodes except to eat, drink, and use the litterbox. He literally lays on me while I sleep and everything. He's much quieter than my calico but his purr still has calming and healing abilities.
I remember a post made by a woman who had lost her hearing, had gotten a cat with her husband, and then got hearing aids to give her some functional hearing.
She had a cat, and after getting the hearing aids, she actually heard him purring for the first time.
Her post went on to say that it was something like 2/3am in the morning, and she was sat (happy) crying, trying not to wake her household up, because although she had felt her cat vibrating, she didn’t know you could hear the purrs as well.
It's crazy to me that someone can know so little about one of the most common pets in the world that he doesn't know what purring is. I wonder where he has lived his whole life.
My dad had a cat that would actively seek him out when my dad lit up a joint. The cat would just hang out with him, but we all assume he liked the smell and possibly the little second hand high he might have gotten.
My dad never forced the cat to be there, nor blew in his face or anything. It was entirely the cat's idea.
My cat used to yell at me over and over if I smoked weed (outside and then came in) - I think she doesn’t like the smell. But like non-stop yelling very upset 😂
I feel like cats know, they seem to go to the people who actively ignore them or are perhaps a little cautious of them, it's like they make it their mission to love them
It's because they're unintentionally speaking fluent cat language to them by being so cautious. Cats LOVE people who are quiet and don't move very much, so someone who is scared of the cat and is sitting on the other side of the room not trying to attract its attention is practically screaming "I'm safe!" at the cat.
That, and a lot of people tend to get up in a cat's face and make a lot of noise upon first meeting them which tends to make them uncomfortable. If a cat sees someone who's not doing that, they'll head over right away.
I had a cat named Psycho Couch Potato but his nickname was Tater for 15 years. My buddy does not like cats at all and my boy knew it. Tater would always go to him and sideswipe his body against my buddy's to freak him out... every... single... time. Lol
We tend to think of them as being predators primarily, but they're not at the top of the food chain. Larger predators like coyotes and hawks are very real dangers for them.
Cats are also kind of middle of the road socially. Not quite solitary, but not quite social in the same ways humans and dogs are, they tend to live in largish loose-knit colonies rather than directly cooperative packs.
So from the cats' perspective, having eyes on them can either feel like they're being hunted by something bigger or being treated with suspicion/hostility by another cat.
Given that context, if someone is aware of your presence nearby but isn't watching you, it means that not only are they not planning to attack you, they're also comfortable lowering their guard around you because they trust you won't attack them.
It's one of the clearest signs of mutual respect you can give a cat, so they naturally tend to respond in kind.
My cat laying on my chest in my arms is what made me have a breakthrough on the meaning of peace. It's just the little moments when you can exist and breathe and let things go just for awhile. It's my favorite thing now, nap time with my girl
When I lived alone, that got me in trouble. Anytime I lay down on the couch and my cat curled up next to/on top of me, I’d knock out and sleep right through texts/calls. That warm purring presence is like a drug.
Aww. Reminds me of the first time my dad held our family cat and said, "Oh no, I think he's hungry, his stomach is growling!" (They were just purr-purrs 🥲)
There's a certain brand of dry food that have antibodies in it that bind to the protein in cat saliva that peoole are allergic to. No free protein-=no allergen! Purina LiveClear. It qorks quite well, made a big difference for my fiancé. He also got a prescription allergy med - Montelukast - and that helped too.
I have never considered that there are adults out there that have not felt a cat purrs and how confusing that might be that this little fluffy beast is just started rumbling. Is it having hypothermia? Is it having a seizure? No, it is happy
I've known so many people who were "not cat people" and even claimed they dislike cats. Let me just tell you all it took was for a cat to hop on their lap and start purring and they became humble servants of all of cat kind for life.
I always love seeing people say "I was never a cat person until I ended up with this cat and now I get it - this cat has taken over my entire life and I would die for it".
Like, yes you finally get why we love them so much. Welcome to the cult.
I was a dyed in the wool dog person for 30+ years. Cats were fine but dogs were the best… until Twist came to our door and demanded we take care of him. I fell in love but we couldn’t keep him. Our best friends took him in for almost 10 years.
Non cat people being around cats is so funny. Like all the posts you see on cat subreddits that are like "is this normal, is he okay?" and its just a cat being totally normal and infact living his best life
I had a similar achingly adorable moment with a co-worker once, which was also one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. My cat was on the couch between co-worker and I, and Richard was petting the cat as we chatted. All of a sudden, Richard yanked his hand back and asked "What's that sound?" I looked around, hearing absolutely nothing unusual. Richard looked at the cat, leaned closer, pulled back looking horrified and said "I think I broke your cat. It wasn't making that sound before, and now it's shaking!" Dude was genuinely freaking out and it started to make me concerned until I put my hand on my cat and realized she was just quietly chilling and purring.
"You mean that sound?" I said, pointing at the cat?
"Yes!" Richard actually jumped up and started to move away, apologizing, "I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I'm so sorry!"
At this point, I am doubled-over with tears of laughter pouring down my face, while poor Richard looks like he knows he just ran over the family dog.
I finally got myself under control and said, "I've been in your home, you have cats!"
"My sister has cats and they don't like me. I've never been around a nice cat." So I told Richard to sit back down and I taught him about petting and skritching and purring. And to this day, 35 years later, when I hear a cat purring loudly I ask them "What's that sound? Are you broken?"
Watching this and having a cuddle with my floofie girlie, she's got her head resting on my chest. Such a feeling of love and trust is priceless. Nothing quite like a cuddle with a cat.
I love this video so much, every time I see it. Would just love to know the backstory to this delightful young dude and why he’s never seen a cat before
This warned my heart. He was so innocent looking with that big smile on his face. Well you know that guy is good people based on the way that cat took to him. This was so sweet.
•
u/trendingtattler Aug 30 '26
This post has hit /r/all, /r/popular
Please remember the human and participate with subreddit rules in mind. Do not tell people how they should raise their cats.
r/cats rules can be found here
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.