Narcissa Finds Her Voice

People are full of surprises. Just when you think you know everything about someone, you learn something new. The same applies to animals, too. At least it does to my cat, for she has a unique quirk, one that took me years to discover.

Narcissa came into my life in November 2018. Her name was Fluffy at the time. She was nearly two years old and belonged to a woman who was moving to an apartment that didn’t allow pets. I had lost my cat and best friend of seventeen years, Remus, a few months prior and missed the sounds of a Persian meowing at me. I took one look at that beige and gray Persian with the big blue eyes and haughty expression, and I knew she was mine. She needed a home, and I needed a cat. It was a match made in heaven.

Narcissa did nothing but meow the whole ride home! Hearing all that noise, I thought, She’s going to be a big talker like Remus. In fact, that big voice and prima donna attitude she showed in the car nearly inspired me to rename her Carlotta after the Phantom of the Opera character. Instead, I decided on Narcissa Meowfoy, after the Harry Potter character of whom her coloring and personality reminded me. That turned out to be a good choice because my first impression of her was incorrect. Ironically she’s hardly ever meowed since!

In the nearly four years I’ve had her, I’ve only heard Narcissa meow when she’s tired of being held or when she thinks I’m in distress. I was a little disappointed at first that she wasn’t as chatty as I thought. After seventeen years of Remus constantly meowing at me, it took some time to get used to Narcissa’s quieter personality. But as I got to know her better, I learned that she talks to me in a different way. She doesn’t meow much, but she purrs. A lot.

That in and of itself is nothing new. Persian cats are notorious purring machines. It’s what she purrs at that’s so unusual. Scientists have learned that cats tend to like high-pitched human voices. If that’s true, Narcissa is the exception to the rule. She prefers deeper voices. British baritone voices, to be exact.

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It was a humdrum day in Fall 2020 when I learned about Narcissa’s unique vocal preferences . I was sitting on the bed with a laptop on my knee, typing away at my latest writing project while the soundtrack of an obscure Broadway musical droned in the background. Narcissa was curled up next to me, purring like crazy. It was unusual for her to purr so much when she wasn’t being fed, brushed, or petted, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. When the song changed, the purring stopped. I went back to work and didn’t give it another thought until about fifteen minutes and several songs later. Narcissa was purring again, even louder than ever! Again, there was no obvious reason. Then it clicked: she only purred when the male lead was singing!

Was she purring at him, or was the timing just a weird coincidence? Curious, I conducted an experiment to answer that question. When the soundtrack I was listening to ended, I played another one from a different musical starring the same actor. The same thing happened. Whenever he sang, Narcissa would purr. And it wasn’t just singing. Every time she heard that voice, be it a song, video, or livestream, she would come running if she wasn’t already nearby. She’d curl up beside me and purr until he stopped talking. Sometimes, she’d purr so loud, she’d drown out the actor!

One occasion that sticks in my mind happened around Christmas last year. Narcissa and I were watching a livestream on my phone. I had the volume all the way up, and I could still hear her purring over him. I was like, “Girl, hush! I can’t hear [actor’s name]!” Between her purring and me giggling at her purring, I never did hear a word of that livestream!

On another particularly hilarious occasion, Narcissa and I were listening to our favorite Broadway star’s rendition of “Soliloquy” from Carousel. At the line “His mother can teach him the way to behave but she won’t make a sissy out o’ him”, she looked up, tilted her head to one side, and just stared at my laptop screen. It took me a minute to figure out why. Her nickname is Cissy, and when she heard that word, she thought he was talking to her!

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For over a year, I thought that was the only voice that would make Narcissa purr. That changed when my friend gave me a movie recommendation; the movie was The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. While I had mixed feelings about the movie itself, I did learn something interesting about Narcissa while watching. Apparently she also likes Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice! Every time he was onscreen, she would stare at the tv and purr. Then came the test. Would she do it again? After playing several of his other movies for her, the answer was a definite yes!

While Narcissa and I were watching movies together, I noticed that the two voices that made her purr sounded somewhat similar. Okay, so she has a thing for baritone voices, I thought. Little did I know, her preferences were even more specific than that!

Narcissa’s newest favorite voice is that of King Charles III, as I learned earlier this month. I was watching a video of his speech following the Queen’s death when I heard it, that familiar purr. The purr that Narcissa reserved for only two other voices. That purr was so unexpected that I nearly burst out laughing right then, but somehow I managed to listen respectfully and hold all giggles until the video ended. A few more YouTube clips confirmed what I already suspected. Narcissa found another voice she likes.

That recent discovery got me thinking. Two of Narcissa’s favorite voices had British accents; one did not. So what was it that attracted her to the Broadway star’s voice? Then it hit me. In the two musicals she hears most often, he did have a British accent!

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Every time Narcissa purrs at a new voice teaches me something new, but for all I’ve learned, several questions remain. What other voices, if any, will make Narcissa purr? Will they be British baritones like the others, or will she learn to appreciate different voices? Why is she drawn to that particular type of voice in the first place? Is it something innate or something she learned from me? I don’t have those answers yet, but I look forward to learning more about my cat as time goes on.