Why Do Cats Groom? Pancake, Tiller & the Newest Theories

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Hello, I’m Dr. Lauren! Learn my introduction to study extra about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.

I caught Pancake in the midst of a dramatic grooming session final evening. It concerned a lot of splayed legs, and a decided effort to achieve one thing close to her perineum, that truly entailed what I’m fairly positive was an inverted cut up. Earlier within the week, I’d watched a equally decided grooming session play out- this time with Tiller making a valiant effort to groom Pancake into sporting a Mohawk. Fortunately, “The Pancake” who’s a bit Al Pacino Godfather-esque in regards to the mattress and sharing it with different cats, tolerated the session properly and no blows ensued.

If consuming and sleeping are two of the commonest actions I see each cats engaged in, then grooming might be an in depth third. A number of instances every day, after consuming, and undoubtedly earlier than sleeping, typically at 3:00 am between their numerous sleep modes, they groom. However simply why do cats love grooming a lot?

Why Cats Groom: Hypothesis and Theories

Cats have all the time been thought of pretty clear animals, resulting from their inherent grooming tendencies. Listed here are some theories as to why cats groom:

1. The concept that groomers are positioned socially greater than groomees. And moreover, that grooming is a method in social settings to permit cats to behave out on aggression points, with out the necessity for overt violence. This idea comes from a barely older paper, however attention-grabbing nonetheless…
2. A more moderen paper on the same subject discovered that familiarity and genetic relations improved grooming actions from one cat to a different. Once more suggesting a social or bonding perform.
3. Perform. To take away exterior parasites, resembling fleas. In one examine, grooming exercise helped to considerably lower the numbers of fleas, in comparison with management cats who wore e-collars and couldn’t groom for the examine interval. Different theories have proposed the removing of odors, resembling after consuming, to cut back the danger of being predated.
4. It’s price noting that grooming can (unintentionally?) unfold anal gland secretions on the haircoat. The anal glands include extraordinarily excessive portions of Fel d 1, one of many important feline allergens that contribute to human cat allergic reactions.
5. Don’t neglect that grooming may point out abnormalities, as properly. Flea allergy dermatitis, for example, may end up in massive portions of grooming. So can Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome. And urinary tract infections or urinary crystals can result in localized, extreme grooming of the perineum.

So, subsequent time you catch your cat in a grooming session, take into account for a second if there could also be extra occurring than meets the attention. It might be a easy lick, relieving an itch, eradicating an exterior parasite, or adhering to social construction. However for sure, cats, as all the time, are by no means fairly so simple as they might first seem!