Does This Cat Have an Unusually Deep Voice?
CLAIM
A movie captures a cat with an enormously deep meow.
RATING
ORIGIN
In May 2017, a two thousand fifteen movie featuring a cat with an unusually deep voice inexplicably went viral, and was duly picked up by various tabloids:
Don’t let this cat’s puny stature idiot you – he has a bass voice that would put Barry White to shame.
In a movie filmed by the kitty’s holder, he’s just chilling on the kitchen counter. Unsurprisingly, his ridiculously low voice has gone viral, with a lot of people wondering how it’s physically possible for such a lil’ cat to produce such a noise.
There are several reasons to be skeptical about this footage. The movie was originally posted to YouTube by “Cash CatFlava” in December 2015, bearing the following description:
So this is Jack and he has some sort of type of laryngeal paralysis? At least thats what the vet told me.
Some cats do suffer laryngeal paralysis, but a deep meow is not a known symptom of the disease. Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, a California-based veterinarian with expertise in petite animals, told us:
While certain medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism or masses can alter a cat’s meow, I’ve yet to see a cat who developed a deep and humanlike meow like this. Any switch in a cat’s meow is a good reason to visit the vet because the meow shouldn’t switch over time!
According to the American College of Veterinarian Surgeons, a cat with laryngeal paralysis may display harsh panting or a coarse (not deeper) voice:
In dogs and cats with laryngeal paralysis, the muscles that normally pull the airway open do not function decently. When an affected pet breathes in, the walls of the airway do not pull open—rather, they are sucked into the opening, or in severe cases sucked shut. Early in the condition, this creates enlargened noise when they breathe; later, it can fully obstruct their airway, and they can suffocate.The early signs of laryngeal paralysis can be fairly subtle.
harshness in their panting
enlargened panting or panting when cool and silent
a hoarse or raspy-sounding bark
A movie of a cat suffering from laryngeal paralysis shows that their meows are not comically deep, but squeaky (and arguably a little sad):
Our attempts to find similar movies of cats with unusually deep voices were unsuccessful. In fact, the only similar movie we could uncover was uploaded by the same YouTube account, Cash CatFlava, in October 2013:
Setting aside for the moment what a coincidence it would be that the same person has come across not one, but two cats with laryngeal paralysis, both of whom sound identical, this movie actually gives itself away as a fakery in the very first few seconds. Before the cat exits the house, you can hear audio of its actual regular-pitched meow.
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