A 14-year-old cat has broken the Guinness World Record for the loudest purr made by a feline currently alive.
Bella, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, let out a purr which clocked in at 54.6 decibels, equivalent to the noise from a boiling kettle.
The sound smashed the previous record of 50db, and was confirmed by a Guinness World Record adjudicator.
Nicole Spink, the cat’s proud owner, said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Bella has broken the world record.
“She has been our family’s companion for many years – we love her to bits and are so proud of her achievement.”
Dave Wilson, the official Guinness World Records adjudicator who oversaw Bella’s record-breaking attempt, said: “It’s always an exciting day when there is the potential for a new world record so we waited in anticipation to see whether Bella would be able to do it.”
In order to record Bella’s feat, Mr Wilson and an acoustic engineer blocked out external noises in the Huntingdon home and set up recording devices.
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Once Bella settled down on her favourite cushion in preparation of breaking the record, she began to purr and the “results were immediately obvious”.
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Ms Spink said: “We’ve always known Bella had a really loud purr – we even have to turn up the volume to hear the TV over her purring – and that’s always after mealtimes.
“So, when we saw that the record for the World’s Loudest Purr was up for grabs, we knew we had to put Bella forward, and we’re so pleased we did.”
However, while Bella’s purr is impressive, the certificate specifies it is the “loudest purr by a domestic cat [living]”, and was beaten by other felines that have since died.
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According to Guinness World Records, Smokey the cat’s purr reached a staggering 67.7db in March 2011, recorded in Pitsford, Northamptonshire.
And this record was beated by Merlin from Torquay, Devon, who was 13 years old at the time and hit 67.8db, controversially.
65db is generally the level of normal conversation and nearly as loud as laughter (70db).
Both cats have since died, but Smokey’s owner Ruth Adams managed to get her late pet back in the record books by arguing that “no decibel reader in the world – even in a scientific soundproof room – can offer an accurate reading as there is a margin of error with all machines to the extent of 0.6db to 2db”.
She took the extraordinary step of carrying out research with sound engineers, and even received technical expertise from The Massey University in New Zealand.
In tribute to her efforts, Guinness World Records honoured both Merlin and Smokey with the top spot of loudest ever purr, revising the 2011 attempt up to 67.8db.
