Loud Kitty

A British community college says it has a recorded a house cat whose lawnmower-like purr hit 73 decibels 16 times louder than the average feline.

Northampton College said it had dispatched a music team with specialist sound equipment to record 12-year-old Smokey. The recording has been submitted to the Guinness World Records.
The grey-and-white tabby has already made several appearance in the local press, where journalists compared the purr to the sound of a Boeing 747 from a mile away.

Guinness World Records says it is ``anxiously waiting'' for the recording to see if it meets its standards.