Mapping a cat

[KlondikeGeoff]

The prevailing theory on why cats lick themselves so much is that as predators, their instinct is to remove any blood or other scent from their fur that might attract larger predators to them. Makes sense.

Having watched cats do this over the years, am always puzzled as to what motivates them to suddenly lap one part of their body. Is it an itch, a hair out of place, a smell they don't like?

Do they, over a period of a day or so, actually cover every square inch of their bodies?

If so, do they have a mental cat-shaped diagram in their little cat brains so that each patch covered gets a check mark, until the entire map is covered?

I've asked my cats about this, but they just stare at me and say, "You think we are going to reveal any of our feline secrets to you?"

[matt_mcl]

According to Desmond Morris's Catwatching, they actually have a set pattern through which they go through each part of their body in sequence, although I imagine it might vary somewhat from cat to cat. My guess is they go through it just about as thoroughly as they can.

[WhyNot]

Well, I know at least one of my cats consistently misses the middle of her back near her tail. It's a mass of dredlocks during shedding season, and she's not even a long haired cat. (Yes, I brush her when I notice.) They seem (based on only casual observation, not study) to pay more attention to the head and front paws, and then the chest, which would seem to support the "get the blood off" hypothesis - the blood would be more on their front than anywhere else if they were actually eating a gazelle.

My guess is it's an itch thing, just like I get random itches and attend to various parts of my skin, but I really have no way of knowing. My cats are determinedly silent on the issue, as well. The male one won't even let us watch him bathe - if I walk into a room where he's attending his toilet, he gives me a horribly embarrassed look and runs away. Wish he was so discrete about his amorous encounters with the blankets!

[Q.N. Jones]

The male one won't even let us watch him bathe - if I walk into a room where he's attending his toilet, he gives me a horribly embarrassed look and runs away.

You're lucky. My boy cat will come seek me out and plunk himself down on the floor in my line of sight, so as to be sure I'll see him. Then he lifts his back leg so that I get a great view of his butthole as he attends to business. If I'm watching a favorite TV program, it's virtually guaranteed that Rex will come into the room and make a spectacle of himself, cleaning his butt. Complete with loud slurpy sounds.

BTW, Rex does seem to have a mental "bath map." It starts with the head, moves down the front and shoulders, then down the back and sides to his butt. He rarely does it all in one sitting though.

[Zsofia]

Why, precisely, does my younger orange cat not quite grasp the part about licking his butthole so it doesn't have poop still stuck to it? The older one has no problems in this area.

Also, the older one licks the hell out of the insides of the younger ones ears. Just goes to town in there like it's an all you can eat earwax buffet. The younger one does not return the favor - Dewey's ears are all waxy and gross.

[Mr. Goob]

Damn you all, now I'm going to draw a cat diagram on graph paper and study my two monsters for the next day watching and coloring in the little squares and see if the do it in any order.

[Celyn]

Damn you all, now I'm going to draw a cat diagram on graph paper and study my two monsters for the next day watching and coloring in the little squares and see if the do it in any order.


And if you assign numbers to all the little squares, you could have invented "cat bingo" or "cat lottery", which sounds fun. :)

Would anyone like to lend me a spare cat so that I can play too?

[SnakesCatLady]

Would anyone like to lend me a spare cat so that I can play too?

You are welcome to borrow any in this album (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/551443134BfYxVb) except the first one - Gwen passed away last week. You must return them in good condition with a full tank and try to stay under the milage in the contract, please.

I would especially appreciate it if you would take Cricket (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2385007710092851307nKPyot) off of my hands for a few days. Last night I spent 20 minutes looking for my glass of lemonaide only to discover she had knocked in into the trash can. Very neatly, too - didn't get a drop on the floor.

[Ludovic]

Why, precisely, does my younger orange cat not quite grasp the part about licking his butthole so it doesn't have poop still stuck to it? The older one has no problems in this area.

Also, the older one licks the hell out of the insides of the younger ones ears.Don't change nouns on me like that! :eek:

[delphica]

The thing that always cracks me up is sometimes I will go to pet the cat, and he gives me the stinkeye and makes a big fuss about grooming whatever part of his body that I touched (while still glaring at me).

He actually loves to be cuddled and petted most times, so I can't figure out what triggers the occasional rush to re-groom the part of his body that I have apparently tainted by daring to lay my unclean hands upon his person. He also likes to be petted "against the grain" (this is unusual with cats, in my experience), so I don't think it's that.

[Celyn]

You are welcome to borrow any in this album (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/551443134BfYxVb) except the first one - Gwen passed away last week. You must return them in good condition with a full tank and try to stay under the milage in the contract, please.

I would especially appreciate it if you would take Cricket (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2385007710092851307nKPyot) off of my hands for a few days. Last night I spent 20 minutes looking for my glass of lemonaide only to discover she had knocked in into the trash can. Very neatly, too - didn't get a drop on the floor.


Wow, you certainly have a goodly amount of cats. Ah, yes, the username should have told me that. :)

Well, Cricket sounds like a classy and tidy cat. And a VERY pretty one! Of course, chez Celyn, it has never been a cat that is guilty of breaking or spilling things, as I do all that myself. Just to save the cat the trouble, you know. :D However, I'm not sure how much Cricket would enjoy being stuffed into an envelope and posted overseas, so I might just have to return to my"shall I soon adopt a new cat?" musings.

I'm sorry to hear about the Gwen cat, I really am.

[Q.E.D.]

My guess is it's an itch thing, just like I get random itches and attend to various parts of my skin, but I really have no way of knowing.
It's probably not an itch, as such. Cats clearly do get itches, and the response to them is similar to ours: they scratch. It's probably some type of sensation, but we probably don't have anything similar to compare it to and really have no way of knowing how a cat experiences it.

[Zsofia]

Don't change nouns on me like that! :eek:
I'm pretty sure I've seen some cross-kitty turdcutter licking action, trust me.

[picunurse]

It's probably not an itch, as such. Cats clearly do get itches, and the response to them is similar to ours: they scratch. It's probably some type of sensation, but we probably don't have anything similar to compare it to and really have no way of knowing how a cat experiences it.
You, obviously, haven't gone through menopause. :D

Damn you all, now I'm going to draw a cat diagram on graph paper and study my two monsters for the next day watching and coloring in the little squares and see if the do it in any order.I hate to be the one to tell you this, but, you have way too much time on your hands. :D

[WhyNot]

It's probably not an itch, as such. Cats clearly do get itches, and the response to them is similar to ours: they scratch. It's probably some type of sensation, but we probably don't have anything similar to compare it to and really have no way of knowing how a cat experiences it.
That's true, of course. I was just comparing it to how I feel when my "fur" needs cleaning - the skin underneath itches, and invites cleaning, or at the very least, brushing.

[Zsofia]

The BF and I are going to try cat bingo tomorrow. We will have to draw lots as to who gets the cat with the best habits. :)

[Celyn]

The BF and I are going to try cat bingo tomorrow. We will have to draw lots as to who gets the cat with the best habits. :)



And please to draw lots of cats too, while you're about it. We temporarily catless people will be grateful. :)

In colour.

[bouv]

Why, precisely, does my younger orange cat not quite grasp the part about licking his butthole so it doesn't have poop still stuck to it?

Maybe he just doesn't want cat shit on his tongue.

My roommate's cat lately has VERY black paws and stomach...we think it's because now that summer's here, we've opened up the glass sliding door to out screened in porch, and the floor in there is not that clean. I really should mop it or something.

[WhyNot]

My roommate's cat lately has VERY black paws and stomach...we think it's because now that summer's here, we've opened up the glass sliding door to out screened in porch, and the floor in there is not that clean. I really should mop it or something.
If you can get the cat attached to a long stick, I bet you can mop it and clean the cat at the same time! :D

[Celyn]

If you can get the cat attached to a long stick, I bet you can mop it and clean the cat at the same time! :D


Heh. NEW! Mops with sound effects. Buy yours now! :)

[silenus]

If you can get the cat attached to a long stick, I bet you can mop it and clean the cat at the same time! :D


If.



What amuses me is how one of our cats will be in the middle of racing through tha house and just come to a sudden stop to lick some random piece of fur. The onboard computer must have picked just that moment to activate the "clean" program.

[Tuckerfan]

You're lucky. My boy cat will come seek me out and plunk himself down on the floor in my line of sight, so as to be sure I'll see him. Then he lifts his back leg so that I get a great view of his butthole as he attends to business. If I'm watching a favorite TV program, it's virtually guaranteed that Rex will come into the room and make a spectacle of himself, cleaning his butt. Complete with loud slurpy sounds.

BTW, Rex does seem to have a mental "bath map." It starts with the head, moves down the front and shoulders, then down the back and sides to his butt. He rarely does it all in one sitting though.And how is it that cats know you're very busy and thus don't want to be disturbed, so this, of course, as far as they're concerned, is the perfect time to come and demand that you give them lurvin's. However, when you are in the mood to hand out the lurvins, all kitties will promptly flee from you as if you're made of water or something.

[Xema]

The prevailing theory on why cats lick themselves so much is that as predators, their instinct is to remove any blood or other scent from their fur that might attract larger predators to them.
I'm not sure this theory is persuasive. Both lions and tigers clean themselves; neither faces pressure from a larger predator.

Nor will it do to explain this as the need to be scent-free when stalking prey, since large cats stalk upwind.

[Zsofia]

If.



What amuses me is how one of our cats will be in the middle of racing through tha house and just come to a sudden stop to lick some random piece of fur. The onboard computer must have picked just that moment to activate the "clean" program.
Well, sometimes they do "composure groom", like if they fall off the couch or something. It's part of that "I meant to do that" act.

[Beware of Doug]

Our 9yo ratbag (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/380704285_b7640fc8cc.jpg) performs this bizarre maneuver where she sort of grabs one back leg with both front paws, raises it straight up, then licks the living bejabbers out of it. It's almost canine somehow. Anybody else's kitty do this?

[Quiddity Glomfuster]

Having watched cats do this over the years, am always puzzled as to what motivates them to suddenly lap one part of their body. Is it an itch, a hair out of place, a smell they don't like?
It is my theory that they momentarily forget what they're supposed to do next so it's a reflexive habit. If they were humans, they'd crack their knuckles or twirl their hair or smoke or grab a dougnut but being cats they haven't access to the necessary accoutrements for those other activities.

[Barrington]

Surely I can't be the only one here that was reminded by the thread title of Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist?

At one time, he decided to do a course in biology, just for the hell of it. When he attended his first lectures, they were being taught something about cats that needed a background in animal physiology that he didn't have - the names of muscles, that sort of thing.

So, he went to the library and asked the librarian, in all seriousness, if they had "a map of a cat", a term that made complete sense to himself as a physicist, but baffled the librarian.

[Dervorin]

Surely I can't be the only one here that was reminded by the thread title of Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist?

At one time, he decided to do a course in biology, just for the hell of it. When he attended his first lectures, they were being taught something about cats that needed a background in animal physiology that he didn't have - the names of muscles, that sort of thing.

So, he went to the library and asked the librarian, in all seriousness, if they had "a map of a cat", a term that made complete sense to himself as a physicist, but baffled the librarian.
You're not the only one. You're just the only one who beat me to it. I remember that story about the map of the cat - I really must re-read Surely You're Joking sometime.

[Zsofia]

Our 9yo ratbag (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/380704285_b7640fc8cc.jpg) performs this bizarre maneuver where she sort of grabs one back leg with both front paws, raises it straight up, then licks the living bejabbers out of it. It's almost canine somehow. Anybody else's kitty do this?
Dewey does. It does look very doggy.

I get a little skeeved out when they really get going between their toes, I must admit.

[WhyNot]

I get a little skeeved out when they really get going between their toes, I must admit.
Oh, that tug, tug, tug, tug sproing! thing? Oogy. Way oogy.

[Terrorcotta]

Just as an aside, rabbits to this as well and they are prey animals. Her Higness would stop and do a complete groom a few times a day, front ot back, in the same order. Tiny Higness even did a paw shaking move before she started which we figured was her way of shaking the imagined dirt from her paws before licking them to groom her face. Uppy-earred bunnies cleaning their ears is pretty funny, they bend one ear down to catch it then lick it as far as they can before grabbing the other. They then shake thier heads to put their ears back in place.

Most times, a nap then follows so it could be argued they are removing as much scent as possible so they can rest without attracting too much predator notice.

[CrankyAsAnOldMan]

Damn you all, now I'm going to draw a cat diagram on graph paper and study my two monsters for the next day watching and coloring in the little squares and see if the do it in any order.

I felt a little rush of nerdy excitement when you wrote this. I think this would be an interesting project. Honestly.

[zagloba]

What amuses me is how one of our cats will be in the middle of racing through tha house and just come to a sudden stop to lick some random piece of fur. The onboard computer must have picked just that moment to activate the "clean" program.It's like that ping pong playing robot programmed in lisp. It did quite well, except that periodically it came to a sudden halt as the garbage collector kicked in.

[Madd Maxx]

What amuses me is how one of our cats will be in the middle of racing through tha house and just come to a sudden stop to lick some random piece of fur. The onboard computer must have picked just that moment to activate the "clean" program.

I had a cat when I was younger named Miss Priss. One day as a kitten she was walking across the kitchen floor and stepped in a puddle of something I, as a toddler, must have spilled. She immediately sat down in the puddle and cleaned her now wet paw before continuing on her way.