Despite the Internet and other instant worldwide communications, sometimes these days it still takes a while before news crosses the Atlantic from England, the most recent example being the “loudest cat in the world” story that made it to U.S. shores this week, observes Grumpy Editor.
An illustrated piece on loud-purring Smokey, a 12-year-old British tabby appeared in London’s Daily Mail on Feb. 22.
Yet, it took more than a month for an Associated Press story, with art of the noisy feline, to grab space, including front pages, in many U.S. newspapers yesterday.
U.S. broadcast networks, including radio, always on the alert for news items with sound, jumped on the story, giving the loud-purring cat air time.
While the story in the Daily Mail had the British Shorthair's purrs reaching “an incredible 92 decibels --- the same as you’d experience watching a Boeing 737 coming in to land,” the AP version ranked the sound at 73 decibels.
The cat was obtained by Ruth and Mark Adams, in the central England village of Pitsford, from what the British call a “rescue center.”
Efforts were being made to get the tabby into Guinness World Records.
So how noisy is Smokey?
Hear the tabby in action, along with more details, via:
www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/31/134983274/cat-lovers-can-your-pet-purr-louder-than-smokey
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