There is a small dirt patch in my back yard. Lately, my pure black cat has been rolling around on it. In the process, he gets covered in dirt. He will come in the house with so much dirt on him he is brown.
He has just started doing this recently. Why is he doing this now. It is not that warm outside. Is he turning himself brown for camouflage? He is quite the hunter. Is he trying to mask his scent. It is all very strange.
Any help will be helpful
How old is your cat? Probably trying to entice you into petting his or her stomach so that he or she can grab your hand with claws and kick with the hind legs.
Male cats do a lot of rolling round in sex play with females. When in heat the females do a lot of yowling, but at least they don’t get all covered with leaves and dirt.
He is 5 years old and is fixed
I’ve noticed that after my cat has rolled on the ground and I pet him, that it’s easier to get out the dead hair that he’s been shedding. The grit gives my hand a better grip on the dead hair. It is spring, so you’re cat is probably starting to shed.
Dogs often like to roll in manure or other smelly things to hide their scent. When a cat is just rolling in normal dirt, then I doubt it would be to hide their scent.
Fleas, perhaps?
I’ve seen cats do this myself countless times. The cats I’ve seen do this were of either sex. I’ve noticed that they roll around only if the dirt is dry, loose and powdery. I’ve also noticed that they do this either in late morning or evening before dusk, for the most part. I don’t know why though.
I have a pair of cats who love to do this. They also do this on the carpet in the house, but it’s not noticeable because it causes no problems. I found this.
Numerous furred and feathered animals do this to put a large number of fine mineral particles into their coats. Fleas and other arthropod parasites get the mineral particles into their exoskeletal joints, damage the hinges, open their bodies to infection and moisture loss, and die.
A modern replacement for dirt specifically in the context of pet care is diatomaceous earth, the same stuff that is added to pool filters, the stuff that makes some flat paint flat. It’s also the miracle ingredient “Zectron” that made Superballs bounce so well.
No doubt this animal behavior developed as an instinct. I don’t think cats, much less little birds, invented dust baths by thinking about insect knees.
Bit of a hijack here:
If I might ask, how did you get that to show without needing a subscription? I ask because I have one of those “online account, physical paper subscription” things for the Albuquerque Journal (the family back home gets it and no one else sees a need to read it online when they’ve got a physical copy right there) and it always seems to want my user name and password.