Scientists in Germany and Italy have discovered that your cat’s purr might be a better clue to who they are than their meow.
In a new study published by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the University of Naples Federico II, scientists found that a domestic cat’s purr carries strong, stable markers of individual identity—while its meow is far more variable and shaped by context.
“People pay most attention to meowing because cats mainly use these vocalizations toward us,” said Danilo Russo, the study’s lead author. “But once we examined the acoustic structure closely, the even, rhythmic purr turned out to be the better cue for identifying individual cats.”
To figure this out, researchers applied automatic speech recognition tools—similar to those used in human voice assistants—to vocal recordings from domestic and wild cats. Much of their data came from the Animal Sound Archive at the Berlin Natural History Museum.
They wanted to know: can a computer correctly match a sound clip to the cat that made it, based on sound alone?
It turns out, yes—especially if the sound is a purr. While both purrs and meows had individual traits, purrs were far more consistent and reliable for pinpointing which cat was which.
“Every cat in our study had its own characteristic purr,” said co-author Anja Schild. “Purring often occurs in relaxed situations, such as during petting or close contact with a familiar person. It also is used for communication between the mother and her kittens shortly after birth.”
Meows, by contrast, showed huge variety even within the same cat. They shift depending on mood, environment, and intention—whether the cat is hungry, annoyed, lonely, or simply wants to be noticed.
That variability, the researchers say, is no accident. In fact, it likely evolved alongside humans.
“Living with humans—who differ greatly in their routines, expectations, and responses—likely favored cats that could flexibly adjust their meows,” said senior author Mirjam Knörnschild. “Our results support the idea that meows have evolved into a highly adaptable tool for negotiating life in a human-dominated world.”
To test that idea, the researchers compared domestic cats with five wild cat species: the African wildcat, European wildcat, jungle cat, cheetah, and cougar. The differences were immediate. Wild cats meowed less and with less variation. It was the domesticated cats that had developed the most flexible, expressive meows—presumably to better communicate with their human companions.
That finding adds weight to a broader theory: that domestication doesn’t just change an animal’s behavior, but also rewires how it communicates. In cats, the meow became a kind of linguistic Swiss Army knife—adaptable, versatile, and deeply attuned to human reaction.
Meanwhile, the humble purr stayed mostly untouched. Low-frequency, rhythmic, and steady, it continued to serve as a marker of trust and familiarity, especially during close interactions with other cats or with humans.
Taken together, the findings suggest that cats use their voices in two distinct ways: the purr as a quiet signature of identity, and the meow as a chameleon-like tool for daily life among humans.
For cat owners, that means you might be able to spot your feline by their purr alone—but good luck trying to do the same with a meow.
