why do cats clean each other

Why do cats brush each other’s hair? The answer may surprise you: It’s not always a matter of hygiene or even affection. Cats are a species that engages in social grooming, also known as full-body grooming. Let’s explore the different reasons cats groom each other — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Why are cats involved in the allocation process?

Contents

Allogrooming refers to the social grooming among members of the same species. Many species, including primates, birds, and even insects, groom each other as a means of bonding and reinforcing social hierarchies. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior found that “shared grazing is one of three ways cats display group cohesion. The other two ways are absorption and transmission of scent signals. From observations of the distribution of cats, scientists were able to conclude the following:

Although two cats may regularly engage in grooming together, one cat will usually groom the majority.
Dominating, confident cats are more likely to refer to less confident, less dominant cats.
Cats often get more grooming from cats that are aggressive towards them.
Two conditions have the same relationship with more living: a higher number of pairs of cats living in the same space and less aggressive behavior between cats.

The domestic cat isn’t the only cat involved in the grooming process. Scientists have studied this behavior in lions and other large cats.

Fascinating discovery

Read more: “Why They Blow Their Noses in Water” Most of her data comes from a 1998 study published in the Journal of Mythology. The study focused on about 25 adult cats living in cages – 14 males, 11 females, all of which were neutered or killed.

Of exercise sessions, 65.1% was between two men, 31.3% between men and women, and only 3.6% between two women.
Male cats almost always (90.4%) act as initiators.
The majority of interactions (94%) begin with one animal approaching or inviting the other — not when the animals are already sitting or lying together.
The majority of interactions (91.6%) were unidirectional (one cat licking and brushing the other).
Dilation usually occurs in the head and neck region.
More often (78.6% of the time) the more senior cats were the ones who groomed the lower level cats.
Whether or not a cat is a blood relative has no effect on the frequency or duration of holistic care sessions.

So why do cats brush each other?

With these observations, animal behaviorists have narrowed down some of the reasons why cats groom each other. For example, the author of the 1998 Journal of Mythology study offers his own theory: The author suggests that “shelving domestic cats is likely a way for cats to redirect pent up aggression and reassert dominance in a much better way (towards the group) than to do so through aggressive and even violent behaviors. “This theory makes complete sense in the context of free-range cats that must follow a social hierarchy to survive in the colony. But what about these cats living the good life together as house pets?

As various studies have observed, full-body sheltering occurs in cats that are already socially engaged. If a pair of domestic cats are generally accepting of each other, they are more likely to engage in this type of social grooming.

Read more: why charizard is not a dragon type | Top Q&A Often, the dominant cat in the house will groom others as a way to reinforce his position in the hierarchy. You may even notice one of your cats (usually a submissive or “subordinate”) wooing by approaching the dominant cat, arching its neck and exposing the top of its head or nape. .

Family love

Although 1998 research showed that “co-parenting seems to have nothing to do with whether cats are siblings, parents and children, cousins, or any other kind of relationship,” there is a lot of evidence. anecdotes about relationships forming between litter cats, mother cats and kittens, etc. This may only work for domesticated cats — feral packs are less likely to show more loyalty to the bloodline. Why do cats brush each other? The answer is not correct. We now know that hygiene doesn’t usually play an important role in training – instead, this behavior can be seen as social acceptance and even dominance in the context. of the group.