Diary of a Cat Mom
Diary of a Cat Mom is a reflective cat podcast created and hosted by Dagmar Gatell about understanding cats more deeply — and creating a calmer, more connected life for both you and your cats.
Based on real experiences caring for over 50 cats throughout her life, each episode shares quiet observations, emotional moments, caregiving reflections, and gentle insights from everyday life with cats. From routines, behavior, and emotional wellbeing to grief, gratitude, overstimulation, trust, and the small meaningful moments many people overlook — this is not a traditional “how-to” podcast, but a space for understanding, awareness, and lived experience.
Beyond cat care itself, Diary of a Cat Mom also explores our connection to nature, emotional presence, personal growth, and the way our inner state can influence the animals who share our lives. Because living with cats is never only about feeding and routines — it’s also about energy, safety, trust, patience, and how we show up emotionally in the spaces we create together.
Created for cat lovers who see their cats as family, this podcast offers companionship, reassurance, perspective, and emotional support during seasons of caregiving, uncertainty, healing, change, and letting go.
Diary of a Cat Mom is a personal storytelling podcast and does not replace professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and medical or behavioral concerns should always be discussed with a trusted veterinarian or qualified professional.
You’re not alone on this journey.
We’re learning, loving, and growing together — one paw print at a time.
Diary of a Cat Mom
Is My Cat Purring Out Of Stress? | Understanding Cats | Ep. 103
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For years, I believed a purring cat was always a happy cat. Then my rescue cats taught me something I never expected.
From anxious vet visits to caring for injured community cats and saying goodbye to my beloved Russian Blue, Sheiba, I slowly realized that cats don't always purr because they're content. Sometimes they purr to comfort themselves during stressful, unfamiliar, or painful moments.
In this episode of the Diary of a Cat Mom podcast, I share the experiences that completely changed how I understand one of the most familiar sounds our cats make.
You'll Hear In This Cat Podcast Episode
- The vet visit that changed how I viewed purring
- Why my anxious rescue cat Snow White surprised me
- What an injured community cat taught me
- My final lesson from my beloved Russian Blue, Sheiba
- How I now interpret my cats' purring differently
Timestamps & Chapters
00:00 Is My Cat Purring Out of Stress?
00:35 Snow White's surprising vet visit
01:25 I thought it was only Snow White...
01:45 The injured community cat changed my mind
03:05 Sheiba's final lesson about purring
03:50 Purring isn't always happiness
04:30 The End
This is where I’ve gathered everything that supports me and my cats:
https://diaryofacatmom.com/cat-care-resources/
About the Diary of a Cat Mom Podcast
Diary of a Cat Mom is a personal cat podcast created by Dagmar Gatell, sharing real moments from life with cats. Everything shared comes from lived experience as a cat mom and is not intended as professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and for health concerns, it’s always best to consult your trusted veterinarian.
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Diary of a catmom is my cat purring out of stress. Welcome to Diary of a Cat Mum. For the longest time I thought, look at the cats, they're purring. They are so happy. They feel so wonderful. I love when they purr. And I didn't know and I didn't realize they could purr when they don't feel good. So the first time I brought Snow White to the net. We were sitting there and they tried to measure her heart rate. And they couldn't measure it because she was purring so loud that they couldn't hear her heart. So we tried different things, and the less she was touched, the less she was purring. So finally they could measure the heart rate. But it was then was really the first time I realized that she was purring out of self-soothing and self-comfort, and not because she was so happy, because definitely she was not happy being at the vet. But I thought that was really something perhaps rare because she also does hyperventilating when we go to the vet. So when we're there at the vet and then they try to check her out, and she starts, and they're, oh my god, what's wrong with her? She has breathing problems. I'm nope, she's just anxious, and that's her way to show that. So I thought it's just Snow White perhaps. The next time I came across a situation where I realized this purring is not happiness was as I had to trap one of the furrow cats we have in our cat community because he had a little injury, brought him to the vet. And when they are in captivity, the furrow cats I come across, they normally become pretty clingy because you are the only object they know and the only object they trust. So an environment like that where they are not known what's going on. He started to purr. I was holding him and he started to purr and I'm my God, is he becoming friendlier? Is he enjoying that I hold him? Is he happy that I hold him? That he starts purring. So I hold him, they take care of him, check out, clean his injury, and give him medicine. And then I'm coming home and on my way home, I'm like, oh my god, he's loving me. Now he likes that. I hold him, he purrs beautiful. Putting him in a separate room so that I can take care of his wounds. An hour later, he was hiding in the corner and I could not touch him. So it took endlessly effort to give him his medicine. But that was a moment I realized the purring earlier was not happy purring either. The purring was self-soothing and self-calming to be in an environment he was not used to being. And I thought, oh, okay, so it's not just snow white, I guess. The purring can mean different things. It can mean happiness and enjoy when being petted or laying the sun, but also can mean self-soothing or self-comforting. And then with my Russian blue Sheba, who is looking down to us from the rainbow bridge, that was another case I realized purring can mean something else too. As she was at the end of her days, and I could see she was in pain. And when I gave her the pain medicine, she purred. And then I really realized she was sick, she was in pain, and everything stressed her. I really realized then that cats not only purr when they are happy, they can also purr when they are sick, or when they are in an environment or situation they're not familiar in, or when they are touched, they're not used to be touched, or when they don't trust. So what I learned in situations like that to look at the bigger picture and at the situation the cats are in to understand what's the meaning of the purring. Are your cats purring when they're stressed out? Please share. I would love to hear about it. Thank you so much for joining me for this entry of the Diary of a Cat Mom. There's always another lesson, always another little story or message waiting to be shared right around the corner. So watch the next video and join me for the next entry. Bye. Diary of a cat mom.