Sometimes
I envy my kitty's purr —
it rumbles & thrums
through her body
like rolling thunder.
See the Scientific American article on Why Cats Purr. It echoes a hypothesis I've had – that purring is a sort of meditation cats use, a self-calming in stressful situations. It is, indeed, a sound of contentment; so, when stressed, the cat strives to induce contentment by purring.
