Cats and their grooming behavior: It's about more than just grooming
Created: 05/26/2022, 09:00
By: Nina Marie Jarosch
Cats groom themselves very often and for a variety of reasons.
Because it's about much more than just grooming.
Munich – Cats are considered to be very clean animals because they often and regularly clean themselves extensively.
In fact, they even spend a full three hours a day grooming themselves.
Find out the reasons for frequent cleaning and what it says about the health of an animal.
Cats and their grooming behavior: It's about more than just grooming
Cleaning has many functions in cats and is not just for cleaning.
(Iconic image) © blickwinkel/Imago
The most important and probably the most obvious reason for grooming cats is cleaning and grooming.
The cat's tongue has a special structure with small horn-like hooks that enable the cat to effortlessly remove hair, plant parts, parasites or other foreign bodies when brushing.
But grooming fulfills many more functions than just cleaning and caring for the fur.
Cats and their cleaning behavior: impregnation and visiting card
Cleaning stimulates blood circulation in the cat's skin, which stimulates the sebaceous glands to secrete fat.
Grooming spreads grease and saliva everywhere, which keeps the coat supple and also waterproofs it.
At the same time, this also strengthens their individual smell.
This special scent is like a calling card that cats use to recognize their fellow cats from afar.
Cats and their cleaning behavior: air conditioning
Grooming acts as a natural air conditioner for cats and helps them regulate their body temperature.
Because cats have few sweat glands on their chins and pads, they lick their fur to cool themselves through the evaporation of moisture.
On particularly hot days, it is therefore very important that cats drink enough so that they can moisten their fur sufficiently to cool down.
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Cats and their grooming behavior: relaxation and socialization
Both cleaning and being cleaned is very relaxing for cats.
Cats observing a prey animal through a window can often be seen frantically cleaning.
Because the velvet paw cannot satisfy its hunting instinct, it jumps into action, which serves to reduce stress and helps the animal to calm down again.
Mutual grooming has an important social function for cats, which they learn from their mothers and which strengthens the bond between the animals.
Most often, mutual grooming happens in cats that are related, have known each other since childhood, or are very fond of each other.
It is a sign of security, trust, well-being and affection for other dogs.
Cats and their cleaning habits: indicators of health problems
It is completely normal for cats to clean themselves frequently and extensively.
However, if a cat's cleaning behavior suddenly changes and she suddenly grooms herself excessively or hardly at all, this can be a sign of health problems, parasite infestation or stress.
Possible causes of excessive or reduced grooming in cats:
parasites
Pains
tangles
hormonal disease
Dry skin and itching or allergy
injuries or wounds
digestive problems
fear
stress
boredom
Warning signs of unusual cleaning behavior in cats are:
Cat only licks certain parts of its body all the time
Cat compulsively grooms itself a lot (more than 4 hours a day)
Cat licks itself so much that it creates bald spots
Decreased grooming
Cat can no longer be cleaned by other cats
Coat looks shaggy and unkempt despite excessive grooming
Excessive grooming can cause painful skin infections in cats.
And reduced grooming also indicates health problems in the animal.
If a cat shows any of these signs, owners should definitely take their house cat to the vet to have the cause of the changed cleaning behavior determined and to be able to help.