(phone ringing) - Hi, it's Doug! My niece, Madeline,
recently got her first cat. His name is Harry Winston. It turns out he's a talented piano player. (cacophonous music) And he looks great in a sweater. Someone named Jaelynn has
a question about cats. Let's give her a call now. (phone ringing) - Hi, Doug.
- Hi, Jaelynn! - I have a question for you. Why do cats purr? - That's an interesting question. If you have a cat at home, then you're probably so
used to what purring is. But growing up, my family
only ever had dogs, and I remember really clearly the first time I got to be around a cat. I was staying over at a friend's house and I remember because the
cat came right up to my head, and all of a sudden I heard
this loud rumbling noise. I was like, what is that? Wait, that's your cat? Whoa, what's wrong with your cat? Your cat's vibrating. It's not just any sound. I mean, I knew that cats made sounds like mew and meow and all that, but with a purr the whole cat vibrates. It's like a motor going off
inside the cat's throat. Why do cats do this? What do you think? Before I say anything more, now would be a good time to
pause the video and discuss. Why do you think cats purr? Okay, you ready? Well, one of the things that makes this such an interesting question, is that we can't just ask a cat. Hey, cat, why do you purr? We don't really know what's
going on inside a cat's head. But what we can do, is we can watch. We can observe when a cat purrs and look for any pattern. Maybe that will at
least give us some ideas of why cats might purr. And one of the things that
any cat owner can tell you is that most of the time when a cat purrs, it's when it's doing things
that seem like it's happy. Cats purr when they're
getting their chin rubbed, which they love. They purr when they're
cuddled up on your lap. They purr when they're kittens, snuggling with their mother. So it seems that purring must have something to do with being happy. But that said, some people have observed that cats will purr in
other situations too. Situations that aren't very happy at all, like when a cat is hurt or sick or seems nervous about something. Wait, so maybe purring
isn't all about being happy. So, why do cats purr? Well, here's another clue, it's something else you
can observe about cats, and it's one of my favorite
things that cats do. Sometimes, when a cat is
purring and looking happy, you'll also see it doing this. It's called kneading or as some cat owners
call it, making biscuits, because it's the same motion someone does when they're kneading dough to make bread. When cats do it, I like to imagine them with a little chef's hat on. Although making biscuits
might seem really silly, it turns out to have a pretty
clear reason why cats do it. Making biscuits is a movement that cats start doing when
they're just tiny kittens. Kittens do it when they're
nursing milk from their mother. Scientists have figured out that this causes the mother to produce more milk for her kittens. So, why would grown up
cats still make biscuits? They don't drink milk from
their mothers anymore. One idea is that making biscuits is a type of soothing behavior. Something that makes the
cats feel calm and safe. Something that maybe reminds them of the warm, fuzzy feeling of cuddling next to their mother, back when they were tiny kittens. Purring itself might be one
of these soothing behaviors. If so, that could explain why cats purr not only when they're happy, but also when they're
sick, hurt, or nervous. It might be that the cat is purring in order to help itself feel happy again. That's all for this week's question. Thanks, Jaelynn, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and chose three questions submitted to me that I'm thinking about answering. When this video's done playing, you'll get to vote on one. You can choose from: How are potato chips made? Where does water from
the faucet come from? Or why are people saying
Pluto isn't a planet? So submit your vote when the video's over. I wanna hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us, stay curious and see you next week.
