LOUD AND PURR-OUD!
Tracy’s cat is loudest by a whisker Tracy Westwood, 51, Torquay
Cradling my rescue kitten, Merlin, then eight weeks, I was completely in love.
It was July 2002, and, nestled comfortably in my lap, he purred away – loudly!
Seems he had a hidden talent… he was as loud as a motorbike!
‘Turn the telly up!’ I said to my daughter, Alice, then nine.
Still, he didn’t purr when he was asleep, so he never disturbed me.
The sound wasn’t piercing more a low rumble - and I found it strangely comforting. But visitors would certainly comment.
‘He’s like a drill!’ my pal, Dave, 30, gasped.
One day, in 2011, I watched a TV news item about a record-breaking cat called Smokey, from Northampton, whose purr had registered 67.68 decibels.
A typical cat’s purr can hit around 25 decibels.
‘Merlin’s way louder that that!’ I declared proudly.
Curious, I downloaded an online decibel tester and measured Merlin’s mighty purr… It was 100db! Googling it, I learned that his purr was as loud as a lion’s roar!
Friends encouraged me to contact the local paper, who came to film Merlin’s feafening din.
Overnight, in January 2013, Merlin became a Youtube sensation, and he’s had over one million hits. In March this year, Channel 5 programme, Cats Make You Laugh Out Loud, contacted me and arranged for an official test to be performed.
On 2 April, a sound engineer and an adjudicator from Guinness World Records arrived.
A high-tech microphone was held one metre away from Merlin, at one metre above the ground – and it registered Merlin’s purr at a whopping 67.8db. ‘He can do louder!’ I insisted. I gave him an extra bowl of tuna to encourage him, but he was too shy. Still, he’d beaten the world record by a whisker!
Officially the loudest cat in the world, I think he’s pretty chuffed with himself, and he still purrs all day long.
Merlin may be louder than a car horn but, to me, he’s just my pitch purr-fect puss!