"Your purr wasn't translating as it should have..."
It had been neither one of contentment, nor one of fear. It had been something else entirely of which Jake was unsure how to elucidate or explain. Except that it was akin to someone trying to speak a foreign language and pronouncing the syllables incorrectly.
Don't trust him! His conscience insisted.
"It is special to me. Might not be special to somebody else."
That was a lie. It was an extremely important device. Without which, he would seem to be nothing more than a normal house cat. And he had learned from past experience that his collar was best kept in his own paws.