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Loudest purr by a domestic cat

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smokey

Cats Protection

About Smokey the Cat (by Ruth Adams, owner)

Smokey the cat has been in our family for around 3 years. She originally came from a

Northamptonshire animal rehoming shelter named NANNA.
Northamptonshire Animals Needing Nurturing & Adoption
Northamptonshire Newfoundland Rescue
Higglety Pigglety Farm Rescue
Northamptonshire Ferret Rescue

All under the umberella of
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Reg. charity No. 1115238

I had been looking for an older cat that would be happy to spend most of their time indoors as we had a very busy road near the farmhouse. I also needed a cat that would be good with dogs and children. NANNA told me that they had my purrrfect cat.

We were very excited and arrived extra early at the shelter to make sure that we would be first to see her. We viewed several moggies before making our decision. Smokey greeted us as soon as we walked into her pen. She walked towards us with her tail held high and rubbed against our legs to make friends. She purred very loudly. Smokey came with a very shy, black companion named Sooty.

My husband was not expecting two cats and was a little surprised at first. Smokey and Sooty soon settled in and Smokey has not stopped purring since.
She is LOUD, VERY LOUD and keeps going. Her purr resembles a cooing dove stuck in her throat. Sometimes she purrs so loudly it makes her cough and splutter but this does not stop her singing. She is one happy pussy and she wants to tell the whole world how happy she is.

So how did we decide to apply for the Guinness World Record for the ‘Loudest Purring Cat’?

 A friend of mine, Diana, was a volunteer for the local branch of the British Charity Cats Protection. Diana wished to promote the message that it was very important to get your cats spayed or neutered in order to prevent the female cats giving birth to unwanted kittens

Cats Protection -
I suggested that as my cat made a lot of noise purring, then this would really sound good on the radio and so I suggested the idea of running a purring competition within Northampton. I contacted the local BBC Radio station and we arranged, with Diana to visit the radio station with the cat.
Smokey’s Purr was broadcast on 2.10pm Wednesday 9th February 2011 on the John Graff’s afternoon show and the important welfare message was delivered along with a purr. Smokey purrrrrformed well but not quite on cue, but the broadcast went out and her vocal carer started.
This was followed by an article in the local Newspaper called the ‘Chronicle and Echo’ mentioning the loud purring cat and the Cats Protection Charity. A web link was created allowing people to watch a video and hear her purr. This was picked up by a press agency based in Cambridge. Bav Media thought that the ‘loud purring cat’ may be of ‘National interest’, so a photographer arrived the next morning and took pictures of the cat and also recorded the sound level of Smokey’s purr using a decibel reader.
The decibel reader clocked a maximum of 92 decibels when measured close to the cat and was regularly at 80-85 decibels. This was a comparable sound level to a:

smokey      smokey         smokey    smokey


Lawn mower, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner or a Boeing 747 coming in to land from a mile away.


One week later Smokey was featured in most of the British National press and TV interviews were soon to follow. An application was then made with Guinness World Records and official trials were organised. The whole process from happy home cat to be awarded a Guinness World Record took only 15 weeks. Smokey is now a very famous cat.

Loudest purr by a domestic cat

Guinness World Records is pleased to announce that Smokey, a 12 year-old female British short-hair cat, has been recognised as having achieved the Loudest purr by a domestic cat at 67.7 dB (LA peak).