It's not Nature but...

Today this paper of mine was published in The Journal of Small Animal Practice, hardly Nature agreed, but it is quite a widely read clinical journal for vets.

Purring is an enigma. Cats purr when they seem to be content but they also purr in other circumstances, for instance if they have been injured, and also sometimes in the stressful circumstance of visiting the vet. When they purr it is very difficult for a clinician to obtain useful information from listening with a stethoscope ("auscultation") for the heart rate, heart rhythm, lung sounds, etc. Although purring has fascinated or intrigued many people, including Charles Darwin himself, little scientific work has been published which addresses the subject.

The main findings from my study were: Lots of cats purr at the vets (62 0f 341 consecutive cats, or 18.2%). Most cats stop purring if you hold them near a running tap , or failing that, if you spray an ethanol-based aerosol near to them.

Yes I know its not very exciting stuff - but vets who know this will in future be better able to examine purring cats.