What does it mean when cats lick their fur frequently? What does it mean when cats lick each other?

Anyone who has ever raised a cat knows that cats often lick their own fur, or lick their feet while wiping their faces, and sometimes they lick each other, which is very cute. So why do cats lick their fur so often? What does it mean when they lick each other's fur?

What is the situation when cats lick their fur frequently?

Cleaning hair

Cats are very clean animals. Whether it is after a meal, after defecation, or any other time in daily life when a cat thinks it needs to clean itself, it will lick its fur to restore cleanliness.

Similarly, cats will lick their fur if they think it has a smell they don't like. For example, many cats will habitually lick themselves after being hugged by a stranger.

Soothing

When a cat wants to relieve its emotions, it will lick its fur to give itself the psychological hint "it's okay, it's fine, it's not bad" to relieve stress, just like we use touch to comfort a crying baby.

Cover up the embarrassment

Although cats are very cool animals, they also do stupid things from time to time. For example, when they are full of confidence and want to jump up something but fall down, when they want to steal a small dried fish when the poop shoveler is not paying attention but is discovered... At this time, they will lick themselves as if nothing has happened to soothe their panic caused by failure. Generally, the licking of fur in this case is relatively short.

Warming or cooling effect

In the summer when it is too hot, lick the fur to wet it, and the heat will be evaporated with the saliva, which can achieve a certain heat dissipation purpose! In the winter when it is too cold, lick the cat's fur to make it fluffy, which can achieve a certain warmth-keeping effect.

There is also a saying that when cats bask in the sun, the ultraviolet rays in the sunlight will stimulate their bodies to produce vitamin D, and the process of licking their fur will absorb vitamin D, so while licking their fur they are also supplementing natural nutrition!

What does it mean when cats lick each other?

Marking Smell

Most of the time, cats lick each other just because they are close friends. In the feline world, they identify each other by smell, and cats in the same household have the same smell. Licking fur is an effective way to convey smell.

Boredom

This is the most likely reason. In addition, cats licking each other's fur can help each other clean places that they can't normally lick, such as the top of the head, ears or face.

Status symbol

Generally speaking, cats will lick the fur of other cats when they think they are superior and in a leadership position. This shows that they are taking care of the other cat and the other cat will be under their care from now on.

Why should you feed cats hair removal paste?

Cat owners know that cats will vomit hairballs, because cats will eat the fallen hair into their stomachs when licking their fur. The hairballs accumulated in the stomach will form lumps and eventually form a disease called "hairball syndrome", which has a bad effect on the intestines. Therefore, cat owners must feed cats hairball paste regularly and quantitatively.

In addition, cat grass and catnip can also relieve hairballs.

Combing your cat's hair more often when you are free can reduce hair loss, alleviate the occurrence of "hairball syndrome", and enhance your relationship with your cat.