Record Breaker
Merlin
recorded 2015
The rescue cat whose purr was officially the loudest ever recorded
- Owner
- Tracy Westwood
- Years
- recorded 2015
- Known for
- Record Breaker
Merlin, a black-and-white rescue cat from Torquay in Devon, England, earned a place in Guinness World Records for the loudest purr by a domestic cat. In 2015 his purr was officially measured at 67.8 decibels — roughly as loud as a running shower, an air conditioner, or the background hum of a busy office, and around three times louder than the average cat's purr of about 25 decibels.
His owner, Tracy Westwood, adopted Merlin from an animal rescue centre and quickly discovered that his contented rumble could drown out the television, the hairdryer, and even conversation at the dinner table. Measuring the record was no simple matter, because a cat cannot be told to purr on command — the adjudication relied on capturing his natural purring during a relaxed, happy moment.
Merlin's fame is a reminder of what purring is and why cats do it. The sound is produced by rapid twitching of the muscles of the voice box, which vibrate the vocal cords as the cat breathes in and out. Cats purr not only when happy but sometimes when stressed, injured, or unwell, and some researchers believe the low-frequency vibrations may even help promote healing. In Merlin's case, though, the record simply celebrated an unusually loud expression of pure feline contentment.