Rick and I just realized that in the 3 years we have had our cat, Vanta, we have never heard her purr. Is that very odd?

Those both seem odd to me. I wouldn’t have a clue why. A vet could tell you better.
My mom once had a kitty with a very quiet meow. I can’t remember why it was tho.

Both were some what feral, some what abandoned. I

Well adult cats don’t meow to each other (they may hiss etc, but not meow). That is something they do with people. I have two very vocal cats, but my husband and I talk to them a lot.

My sister’s cat, Apollo doesn’t purr or meow. And he is a annoyingly affectionate cat. But no purrs.

My cat purrs like a machine gun if you look at her.

I’ve had many cats over the years. One, Chigger, was really vocal. She was the talkinest cat ever. I only had one who didn’t talk, Wiffy, and one who never purred, Vanta.

I have an imaginary friend who never talks. Go figure.

So you think that’s odd? Well I went to the zoo the other day, and they had the biggest damn leopard you ever saw. Found out later it was an elephant with measles.

I noticed that the more white a cat is, they are more vocal. Orange cats usually have a very quiet, and /or gentle meow, and are overall less vocal.
Black cats ate usually pretty quiet…

May I ask what color,and gender your cat is @Dutchess_III ?

Cats have personalities as variable as people. If your cat is comfortable in your home then it’s lack of purring may be normal for your cat.

I adopted a homeless cat a few months ago and it took just very recently for it to purr for me. He will purr only when he comes to me for affection. If I approach him and pet him he will not purr but seems to enjoy the attention.

I’ve also had a cat that didn’t really meow. It very seldom made a sound and when it did it was a high pitched squeak. I called her “Squeaky”.

@MrGrimm888 I once had an orange cat that used to scold me loudly and relentlessly for his dinner when I came home each day. It was so irritating that I would feed him immediately to shut him up.

Maybe your cat figured out you don’t speak cat, so there is no point in trying to communicate with you. Most of the time I’ve known a cat to meow is when it wants something.
Food, or to go outside or attention. If your cat is well fed, has no desire to go out or you let it out when it goes to the door, and you lavish attention on it, when it wants to be on your lap, then it would have no incentive to try to communicate with you.
Cats aren’t like people. They don’t seem to care to much for communication outside of need. People are probably the only animal who need to communicate.

My dog doesn’t bark for any of her needs. Her bowls are always full, and she jumps on me or snorts when she wants to play, and stands by the back door when she wants to go out. The only time she is vocal is if she’s super excited in play or sees someone or something (another animal) of interest outside.
My previous dog barked plenty. To go outside and when he wanted attention. I could go a whole day without hearing my current dog bark. She simply doesn’t seem to care for it.

She’s a black female, @MrGrimm888.
She meows, @Pandora. She yells all the time. The dip will scream to be let in the side, sliding glass door, and immediately charge through the house and yell to be let out of the back door onto the deck. It’s the long way around. If she just wanted to go on the deck she just needed to cut through the yard, but no. She has to come yell at us.
She just never purrs. Another interesting thing about her: We found her when she was about 5 weeks old. Mom had moved her into a corner on our back deck. We brought her in. It was a hard decision because we knew Mom would be looking for her but the alternative meant certain death at some point, after she was weaned. Anyway, from a very young age she would round up the little kid socks that were hanging about the house. She’d carry them about in her mouth making that curious, rolling yelping sound that I’ve only every heard before in actual mother cats calling to her babies.
As she got older and started venturing out in the neighborhood, she’d find kid socks elsewhere. I guess in other people’s yards, and you could hear her coming from a mile away, long before you could see her. She’d bring them in and put them in her food bowl. It’s the darndest thing!
She has never, never liked to be cuddled. In 3 years she has never jumped on anyone’s lap. She’s also an asshole. I’ll be watching TV, sitting on the couch, and she’ll come out of now-where and claw the shit out of my foot, or hand, whatever she can reach, and then run. It draws blood!
Then, about 2 weeks ago, we had some wicked straight line winds blast through. They must have been 70 mph. A few seconds later I heard Vanta screaming at the sliding glass door. Normally I’d just flip her off and make faces at her, but this caused me to jump to let her in. When she tumbled in I just scooped her up and held her close to my chest because she was so scared. I know those winds took her off her feet, if they didn’t actually throw her across the yard.
It took me a moment to realize….she was not struggling! She wasn’t trying to slap me in the face either! She was just quiet, as I carried her across the room and laid her on the couch.
A week later I was sitting in our easy chair, when Vanta jumped on my lap and curled up!! I’m used to cats on my lap so it took a moment to register. When it did I said, quietly, in awe, “Rick….”
He looked up and about fell over himself.
She’s jumped up a couple of times since then. But she never purrs. She also never seems to get completely comfortable on my lap, either.

Some cats, especially if they have been kinda feral may never completely warm up to humans or show a lot of affection or purr. Sounds like Vanta is coming round. It’s all about trust and with cats like that you cannot do a one step forward, two back thing. maybe the windy storm thing was a breakthrough for her. I bet she continues to come around as the years roll on.

My now, 10–11 year old male cat ‘Myles” that I adopted from the shelter in 2011 at about age rarely purred until about a year ago, now he purrs loudly every time I pick him up and at night when he cuddles up next to me in bed. Cats like people, are ever changing.

Interesting @Coloma. Well, she’s been coming back for 3 years so…

Edit: ....adopted from the shelter in 2011 at about age 5.

It seems that cats usually purr less once they mature.

Katrina (aka Roofy) is about 4 years old now, but she’s Princess Purrsalot when she’s indoors. Sometimes she’ll purr and mew simultaneously, so it sounds like she’s chirping. :-D

However, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her purr when she’s outdoors.

Well, we’ve had her for 3 years, since she was 5 weeks old, and not a sound. She does make that chirping Momma – Cat sound, like she’s looking for her babies, which she’s never had.