Why cant domestic cats roar like a tiger?

Roaring is possible amongst Big Cats due to special two-piece hyoid bone in the throat. All of the non-roaring cats like the common house cats have a one-piece hyoid bone only. read more

Roaring is possible amongst Big Cats due to special two-piece hyoid bone in the throat. All of the non-roaring cats like the common house cats have a one-piece hyoid bone only. Only 4 living cat species can roar: the lion, tiger, leopard, and jaguar. Due to single hyoid smaller cats (kittens) are able to purr instead of roar. read more

Roar VS. Purr. The cat family, known as Felidae, is split between bigger cats who can roar and smaller cats who purr. The roaring cats are part of the sub-family called Pantherinae and the purring cats are in the sub-family Felinae. In fact, only four species of cats can actually roar. These are lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars. read more

All such cats purr, but do not roar. The pupil is usually vertical but may be round in a few species. This genus, Felis includes the mountain lion and numerous kinds of smaller cats including the domestic cat. read more