tracyr@sco.COM (Tracy Roberts) (05/23/89)
i was just wondering if anyone out there knew the origin of the cat's purr. why was/is it useful for cats to display contented-ness? how is purring related to survival of the feline species? was it merely a mechanism to comfort the offspring? any insights/ideas greatly appreciated. -tracy email: uunet!sco!tracyr
turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) (05/26/89)
In article <2765@scolex.sco.COM>, tracyr@sco.COM (Tracy Roberts) writes: > .... why was/is it useful for cats to display > contented-ness? ... I have observed cat's purring when they are obviously not content, for example, when very sick. Perhaps rather than contentedness, it indicates sociability: a willingness or desire to be around other cats or cat surrogates (this means you.) Russell
gordonl@microsoft.UUCP (Gordon Letwin) (05/28/89)
In article <5587@cs.utexas.edu>, turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) writes: > > I have observed cat's purring when they are obviously not > content, for example, when very sick. Perhaps rather than > contentedness, it indicates sociability: a willingness or desire > to be around other cats or cat surrogates (this means you.) > > Russell Desmond Morris, in a book titled something like "cat watching", suggests that purring is a cat's way to solicit "nice attention". This is pretty much what Mr. Turpin was saying - that cats purr when they want you to be nice to them, or to comfort them, etc.
jg@inmos.co.uk (John Giannandrea) (06/02/89)
In article <2765@scolex.sco.COM> tracyr@sco.COM (Tracy Roberts) writes: >i was just wondering if anyone out there knew the origin of the cat's purr. It's probably based in a greeting.
srp@cgl.ucsf.edu (Scott R. Presnell%Langridge) (06/02/89)
In article <1539@brwa.inmos.co.uk> jg@inmos.co.uk (John Giannandrea) writes: >In article <2765@scolex.sco.COM> tracyr@sco.COM (Tracy Roberts) writes: >>i was just wondering if anyone out there knew the origin of the cat's purr. > >It's probably based in a greeting. Indeed, one of our cats would say "purrr-aaow" as a greeting occasionally, as apposed to the normal course of her conversations with us. Scott Presnell +1 415 476 5326 Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Univ. of Calif. at San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA. 94143 Internet: srp@cgl.ucsf.edu UUCP: ucbvax!ucsfcgl!srp Bitnet: srp@ucsfcgl.bitnet
gfs@mtunh.ATT.COM (Geneva Stollery) (06/10/89)
In article <1539@brwa.inmos.co.uk>, jg@inmos.co.uk (John Giannandrea) writes: > In article <2765@scolex.sco.COM> tracyr@sco.COM (Tracy Roberts) writes: > >i was just wondering if anyone out there knew the origin of the cat's purr. > > It's probably based in a greeting. believe it has something to do with when the cat is relaxed a certain blood vessel vibrates against a bone?