--- description: Merlin the cat can out-purr a dishwasher title: This Rescue Cat Officially Has the Loudest Purr In the World image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Rescue Cat Officially Has the Loudest Purr In the World by [Kelli Bender / People](/author/people/) ## Kelli Bender / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 13, 2015 10:23 PM CUT by [Kelli Bender / People](/author/people/) ## Kelli Bender / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 13, 2015 10:23 PM CUT Can you speak up? I can’t hear you – the cat is purring. This is a common predicament for Tracy Westwood, the owner of Merlin the cat, who has just been awarded the title of World’s Loudest Purr, reports [Guinness World Records](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/5/rescue-cat-merlin-sets-new-world-record-for-loudest-purr-378630 "undefined"). “Occasionally when he’s really loud I have to repeat myself. When you’re watching films you have to turn the telly up or put him out of the room, if he’s eating he’ll purr loudly. I can hear him when I’m drying my hair,” Westwood told Guinness. The thirteen-year-old rescue kitty from Devon, England, has a purr that measures 67.8 decibels. This impressive number beats out the previous record of 67.68 decibels set by [Smokey the cat in 2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akcALE%5FR7-o "undefined"). With these numbers, Merlin is as loud as an air conditioner and can almost out-purr a dishwasher. Westwood always knew her pet was louder than others, but didn’t know Merlin was capable of breaking records until learning about Smokey several years ago. While Merlin’s purr is always loud, it gets even more boisterous when food is placed in front of him, so when Guinness came to record Merlin’s sounds, Westwood made sure to have a bowl of tuna nearby. _This_ [_article_](http://www.peoplepets.com/people/pets/article/0,,20922809,00.html "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3857540/rescue-cat-world-loudest-purr/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3857540/rescue-cat-world-loudest-purr/"},"headline":"This Rescue Cat Officially Has the Loudest Purr In the World","datePublished":"2015-05-13T22:23:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:19:45.886Z","description":"Merlin the cat can out-purr a dishwasher","url":"https://time.com/3857540/rescue-cat-world-loudest-purr/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","cats","Guinness Book of World Records"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kelli Bender / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3857540/rescue-cat-world-loudest-purr/","name":"This Rescue Cat Officially Has the Loudest Purr In the World"}}]}] ```