I have presumed that she is nibbling his ear. It looks like that. I do see pleasure on his face. There is the faintest of smiles and there should be because it is very loving. This is a real sign of affection by what I believe is a female cat towards this male. I am probably anthropomorphising the whole thing badly but I don’t care. It is the first time I have seen a cat’s ear so assiduously nibbled by another cat and it made me smile. It is allogrooming but it is a bit special this time. Of course the video maker had to add some amusing words. That’s normal because we find cats entertaining. But we wouldn’t be so ready to make a joke of a women nibbling the ear of a man, would we?
The commentary is that the nibbler is needy and trying to get his attention. This is wrong. She is simply grooming the other cat because she is friendly with him. It is nothing to do with being needy in my opinion.
I don’t believe that cat’s smile but…sometimes I do believe it – just 🙂 It is a big question about domestic cat behavior; do they smile or can they smile? Is smiling uniquely human? No, as apes can smile and laugh like us. But can some other animals? Some ‘experts’ believe that companion dogs have learned to smile from their human guardians. Cats are great observers so have some cats learned to smile? But do they have the anatomy to smile? I think not but they can feel contented and it may alter their facial expression slightly.
I remember my elderly female cat at the end of her life. He face was ‘pinched’ as if in distress. It could be me projecting my thoughts onto my cat but I feel fairly sure that cats do have faint facial expressions.
This picture below is just in case the video disappears in the future as they are prone to do.
P.S. This is a very well known and seen video so if you have seen it before – sorry. I don’t recall seeing it which tells you have big the internet is because I search for stuff daily.
