Cataholic i never knew that about cats, that they purr when distressed or scared, but u may well be right, because i thought it strange lexie purred all the way home in the cat cage when we took her from the cats league, and my friend Charlene is so upset when she had to put Romeo down because he was purring like mad before she left him, and that upset her so much, maybe i should tell her this and she wont feel so bad, thank you for that information, one always learns things on here