My kitten purrs constantly!

[pippapurring]

Just curious if this is a personality quirk of hers or something I should be concerned about. I have a very happy kitten, she's about seven months old. She's an orange Maine coon who is very small for her age, she looks more like a four month old kitten than a seven month old kitten.  She purrs CONSTANTLY, even when she's sleeping. Sometimes the purring is very quiet and other times it's quite loud, even distractingly so, especially at night. When she's sleeping if she's not purring she's snoring. She seems to have a bit of an 'overbite' for a cat, but I know Maine coons have larger mouths than domestic cats. She's very adventurous, likes to go on walks with my BF and I, is fond of car rides, has a healthy appetite and drinks from her fountain regularly. Overall she seems to be in excellent health,  save for some heavy panting when she plays too hard and a rather gross fondness for rolling in her litter box whenever it's been refreshed. I've had a cat with asthma before and she doesn't cough or anything like my old kitty did. I've just never had a kitten who purrs this much, so I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that all is well because I know some cats purr when they're nervous or in pain! I'm not exaggerating when I say it's near constant, maybe 90% of the time she's awake. She kneads quite often as well, sometimes even when she's walking so it looks like a bit of a prance, haha. Is this some form of self soothing behavior? She was about 13 weeks when we got her so she wasn't taken from her mother too early. We have a ragdoll male and they get along better than any other pair of cats I know. I'd love any advice you might have! 

 

[catmomjulia]

My cat also purred CONSTANTLY as a kitten! He still purrs a lot but he would purr every time he played, ate, was touched, anything

 

[ursulaandbuffy]

When we first got Ursula she was a couple months old, and we had this too.  My husband was actually REALLY worried about her because she purred so much.  Eventually, it became a little less.  We recently got another kitten, Buffy, who is 4-5 months, and she is just a complete purrball.  I think it is a very common thing with kittens.  Cats also purr sometimes if they are anxious, because it helps them feel better.  If she is in a new place, maybe that is part of it, also.

Also, the kneading is likely a form of trust.  Kittens knead their mother when they are nursing, and it is a behavior that carries over even when that stage of their life has ended.  (Some people will tell you that kneading is a sign of marking territory, which is possible, as there are scent glands in paw.)

What I have been told is that panting is something that needs more concern than purring (though I am no expert!)  Ursula pants after play, and I know for a fact that she doesn't drink enough water and is probably dehydrated, because cats aren't really supposed to pant like dogs do.  

 

[flowerdew]

I have a slightly sad story about this: I found my cat Puck in a school parking lot after a 3 day blizzard. The vet guessed he was about 4 weeks old, too young to be away from his mother, and probably a few hours at most away from freezing to death. Within a few days of me finding him and bringing him home, the end of his tail fell off from frostbite. He had had a terrible time of it.

I believe you when you say your kitten purrs all the time, because he purred constantly, non-stop. Seriously, non-stop. The only time he would pause was when he would fall asleep, and he would wake himself up because he wasn't purring, and he'd immediately start again. "He's so happy to have a family!" we all said, but it wasn't a happy purr. There was something really off about his purriing: it was frantic. When he would wake himself up and start purring again, it was like he was in a panic, as if he thought something terrible would happen if he stopped purring. Maybe he thinks I'll throw him out again if he doesn't show me that he's grateful all the time? I wondered. He would freak out if I put him down, went into another room, wasn't in physical contact with him at all times.

When I learned more about it, I came to the conclusion that he was doing the kind of purring kittens do to alert their mothers to where they are. He had obviously recently lost his mother and got stuck in a storm. Whether he was lost or orphaned or abandoned or dumped, I'll never know. But I think he was scared that if he stopped purring for even a moment, he would lose me, too, and I wouldn't know how to find him. It took several weeks for him to settle down enough to get about his day without purring the whole time. And he did end up growing into a very confident, independent cat, albeit one who was deeply attached to me. His separation anxiety entirely went away. He and I just preferred each other's company to all others.

Your cat sounds much happier than this! But this is another reason a cat might purr constantly.