This Cat Purrs So Loud He Broke a World Record

Image Credit: Courtesy Guinness World Records

When it comes to showing affection, Merlin the cat doesn't hold back. The 13-year-old feline from southern England just broke the record for the world’s loudest purr.

Merlin, who was adopted from an animal rescue in the U.K., makes such a racket when he purrs, “I can hear him when I’m drying my hair,” says his owner, Tracy Westwood. Westwood took him on the television show Cats Make You Laugh Out Loud 2, where his purr shattered the previous record. A Guinness World Record adjudicator verified that the din was real. 

While not every purr Merlin emitted was a record-breaker, setting out a bowl of tuna-flavored cat food brought out his loudest hums—a 67.8 decibel rumble. The previous record holder, a British cat named Smokey, emitted a powerful 67.68 decibel noise recorded in 2011.

For comparison, the noise level for a typical air conditioning unit is 60 decibels, while the sound of a vacuum cleaner clocks in at 70. Westwood says if she’s talking while he’s going at it, she often has to repeat herself to be heard over the sound. Hear his roar in the video below: 

[h/t: Buzzfeed]