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Cats actually don't always meow. In the wild, kittens mew, but adult cats generally don't vocalize much. Meowing in domestic cats is probably what scientists call neotenous behavior ... kittens mew to get their mother's attention, and domestic adult cats meow to get attention from their surrogate parents (that is, humans). A cat meowing probably wants something: food, water, "let's play a game", "clean my litter box", or something like that.Nobody is quite sure why (or even how) cats purr. One theory is that mother cats purr so that the kittens (who are born essentially blind) know where the mother is, and adult cats keep that because purring reminds them of a time when mother was near, so felt safe and cared for. It's known that severely injured cats will sometimes purr, and some people think this is to help them calm themselves.

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What is anather word for purring?

Meowing.


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