Why Do Kittens Purr When They Eat

A mother cat teaches her kittens to purr when they are just a few days old.

Why do kittens purr when they eat. Because kittens are born blind and deaf they need the vibrations from purring to communicate with their mother and littermates. Cats purr to express happiness in general. And a cat s purr like their meow is also a form of communication. To communicate and feed the young sometimes the cats purr at birth or when they are nursing their young and they in turn also purr when they are breastfed.

Cats start purring and hearing purring from infancy. Some cats purr when they eat. Here are most of the reasons cats might purr. Kittens start purring in return when they re about 2 days old showing their contentment for the food.

Kitten mother bond kittens can purr at only a few days old and is a way that they let their mothers know where they are or that they re ok. So as the cat breathes in and out the air moves across these twitching muscles resulting in a purring sound. Well because it s what they re born to do. In the wild the purring communications between a cat and her kittens are pretty clever too.

Since purring isn t as noticeable as meows and cries it doesn t attract predators. When cats purr signals are sent to the muscles of the voice box as well as the diaphragm which expands the chest when breathing. These signals stimulate a cat s vocal cords to vibrate. The low frequency of a cat s purr causes a series of vibrations.

Kittens begin to purr soon after they are born. Often kittens will purr when they drink milk. Cats seem to purr for many reasons it is their most important and most utilized means of expressing themselves. When purring for food they combine their normal purr with a mew.

Purring also helps a kitten and mother bond and mother cats use purring as a lullaby. Mother cats purr to lead their kittens which are blind and deaf when they re born to them for food. This helps the deaf and blind newborns locate their. One way to think about this is to equate purring with smiling says kelly morgan dvm clinical instructor at the chicago center for veterinary medicine of the university of illinois at urbana champaign college of veterinary medicine in chicago.