Grooming is advantageous to the domestic cat in a number of ways. It is important to the cat. That is why they groom a lot. Over-grooming should be investigated though.
Cats groom themselves for up to a third of their waking hours. They will groom several times in a day. Bearing in mind that a cat is asleep for about 14 hours per day, after grooming they have about 6 hours to do something other than snooze, sleep and wash themselves. It’s a tough life.
Health
Obviously grooming cleans the fur. The spinny tongue with keratin spikes combs the fur and removes dead hair and debris. Keratin is the same substance that makes claws.
The tongue can also scratch the skin as we scratch our skin if it itches a bit. Persistent licking to alleviate an itch needs to be investigated as there might be an health problem such as flea or food allergy, to mention two. An allergy caused by something in the air such as house dust can lead to excessive licking causing hair loss symmetrically down the back. Ringworm also irritates causing excessive grooming in the area. The grooming process is part of the life cycle of the tapeworm, interestingly.
When cats groom a particular area more than normal it is sensible to inspect that area. For example a sign of an anal or rectal disease is repeatedly licking at the rear. Inflammation of the skin around the anus for a number of reasons can lead a cat to lick there exacerbating the problem. Anal sac infections can also cause a cat to lick in that area more than usual.
A mother cat licking at her breasts may be due to caked breasts. This is an accumulation of milk in the mammary glands during lactation.
Painful urination caused by urinary tract disease may lead to licking in the urogenital area.
Temperature Control
The saliva deposited on fur evaporates and cools acting like perspiration. The science behind this effect is called the latent heat of evaporation or the latent heat of vaporization. When grooming themselves cats sometimes tug on the fur to stimulate glands in the skin that release an oil to keep the fur waterproofed. Licking the fur also keeps it smooth making it a better insulator. There is a substantial element of temperature control in the grooming process.
Methods
Cats tend to follow a routine when grooming themselves. By routine I mean starting and finishing at the same places and grooming in an organised way. Suppleness is required to groom properly. Some parts of the body are very hard to get to. This is a good reason why cats should not be overweight. Obesity prevents a cat getting to those difficult parts.
Geriatric cats cannot groom properly and their fur can look unkempt and become matted. That is when we step in.
Anxiety
Overgrooming is due to anxiety it is thought. Grooming also serves the purpose of feeling good. It is a pleasant thing for a cat to do. Perhaps “pleasant” is the wrong word. It is reassuring for a cat to groom. If she is feeling anxious about something, grooming helps. This can lead to hair loss and the hair loss is usually from the areas of the body that are easiest to get to, namely, the rump and hind legs. All the fur is ingested and passed as feces. Sometimes it is thrown up as a hair ball. Rarely it can form a blockage in the gut.
Long Fur
Female cats and male cats groom for the same time. There is obviously variation between individual cats. Cats with very long fur, usually cats belonging to a cat breed (i.e. purebred pedigree cats) such as the contemporary Persian, are unable to groom themselves to a sufficient standard to maintain the fur in proper condition. People have to assist. This is one reason why extreme breeding is wrong.
The Devil
An aspect of cat grooming that upsets some people is the fact that a cat grooms her bottom. Some people still make a connection with this and the devil. The ancient connection between witchcraft and cats lingers on.
Very informative Michael, needed it, Thank you so much to share with us with the basic information <3 🙂
I think you are wrong. There is a connection with religion and a cat grooming his bottom. There is a quite a connection between cats, dogs and other animals and religion.
For example dogs are seen as unclean by Muslims.
what on EARTH does Martin Luther and his beliefs and teachings have to do with ANYTHING regarding a cats affection toward its owner and the time and frequency of its grooming. Your platform of preaching is in the wrong venue!
Thanks Liz.
Forgiveness comes only through the innocent suffering of Christ. Forgiveness is not cheap though my denomination has been accused, rightly so, of believing in cheap grace. That’s why I prefer a crucifix to a cross. That’s where it’s at for us– all of God that there is suffered there in human form, suffered the penalty for man’s depravity. For my depravity. Because not just some things are unforgivable, all evil acts are unforgivable. There had to be justice, we know intuitively that the universe demands that. I believe that justice was served through Christ.
Forgiving myself means nothing. I can’t forgive myself for any of the horrible things I’ve done, and even if I could, adding that to God’s forgiveness would be like shining a flashlight at the sun to add more light. Any forgiveness that comes from the church comes from the authority of Jesus Christ– it is not men forgiving men, it is men speaking the forgiveness already won for men.
If I did not believe that God in Jesus redeemed me I would have killed myself a long time ago and by my human thinking it would have been a good thing, a noble act even. Humans have screwed up this planet and done so much harm that it is certainly true that the earth would be better off without any of us. But I trust that God in His loving wisdom has a reason for allowing us to continue to exist, even trying to win us back to Him. My human reason cannot perceive what that reason would be. It’s a love I can’t understand.
I love Monty because we have the same Heavenly Father, who ordained that we would be together long before either of us was born. I do my best to care for Monty, not because I own him or because his presence in my home gives me pleasure, but because he is my responsibility. A responsibility given to me by the Creator of us both, who owns us both. Monty gives me a reason to keep living this life of sin in this body of death, because He reminds me that love, Divine Love, really must exist. It’s just hidden pretty well most of the time. But Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” He also said, “But fear not, for I have overcome this world.” Faith is belief in something you can’t see, but I think God gives us what we need, the little proofs we need, to keep going. Monty has been that for me. And I think it’s really cute when he cleans his bottom.
Wow the Devil and the cleaning of the bottom. Incredible. If they whipped out a bar of soap and used some water and a flannel, just for the bottom, perhaps they would no long be associated with the Devil, but infact God – since the 2 are so closely related. It’s terrible really. But wherever you have God, you have fear of God and the Devil. What is most ironic is the whole forgiveness thing. Not that they apparently forgave cats for cleaning their bottoms at any point, but it’s rather ironic that you can do terrible things and then be forgiven, and in some cases that involves saying a few words over and over again. As long as you accept that the church or your priest decides when you are forgiven all you have to do is go there and say sorry and he will let you know how many times to repeat those words to be forgiven. Doesn’t sound like a very good process. Personally I think some things are unforgiveable and I don’t trust any large organisation that gets paid to forgive. Anyhoo, thats a bit of a tangent – the fact is that those people who associate the cats with the devil also probably associate themselves in terms of god and the devil so I guess the reason that the superstition does still exist around the cat that means there are still people who think of things in terms of god and the devil and all the other devilish things that god apparently doesnt like, such as witches – or something ike that. Hopefully the whole thing will eventually just fade away and people will be able to forgive themselves and adopt cats without being concerned about god or the devil.