Years ago I posted a question about how one of my cats, when gently stroked or tickled in the region just between his hipbones, in front of his tail, would make sucking motions with his mouth, or suck on whoever or whatever was nearby. Usually also he would give a short sharp squawk. The consensus then was that he was probably weaned too early, which did happen in his case.
Now I’ve found that another one of cats reacts sort of the same way. He doesn’t do the sucking thing, but he gives the same kind of sharp squawky “meow”. I often find this cat, in the middle of the night, milk-treading on a third cat that happens to be lying on his back. He makes the same kind of sound when I have to pull him off.
What is it about cats and the base of their spines? When you stimulate them there, do they instinctively think it’s the mother cat grooming them, so the expect to be able to turn around, run between her front legs, and find the milkspouts? Does it trigger some sort of infantile reaction?
Don’t have a general answer, but if I’m reaching over them to do it, the two I have now will turn their heads and lick my arm while I scratch. One friend of mine says that only male cats do it.
Any cat I’ve ever had has treated this as an orgiastic experience. Since cats are like Roman emperors, this may include biting, scratching, and killing your hand.
The base of the tale is a highly glandularized area in cats, one of the areas they use to scent mark. In fact intact male cats are occasionally prone to a condition called “stud tail” where the sebaceous glands become overactive and the hair gets matted and oily/waxy. The whole area appears to be naturally sensitive - in some cats more than others.
It is also claimed that the thrusting into the air of the rump is a kitten hold over from when their mothers used to clean them after elimination. Dunno if that is valid or not.
I know that with female cats that have had kittens or even just gone into heat, you will often see the “screw me” pose when you do that - rump up, and tail held cocked to the side.
We have one cat (out of 7) that shows a reaction. She will start licking the air furiously, meanwhile turning around until she can latch onto my arm and make me stop. I don’t think she likes it.
Both of our girls love to get the “butt-rub.” Havoc likes me to give her a brisk rub right above the tail, during which she will flatten to the floor, then low-crawl away when it gets too intense. But she’ll be back for more in a few seconds.
Just about every cat I’ve ever met seems to love getting scratched right there. Raises the butt in the air, maybe twists the neck around, maybe even nibble a little on whatever’s in front of kitty, but what I’ve never seen is a cat trying to get away from these scratches.
Then there’s this YouTube video, which contains some very amusing butt-scritching behavior. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, the butt-scritching begins about 30 seconds in.
My Burmese pokes her tongue in and out of her mouth rapidly and looks like she’s in heaven. It’s always good for a laugh when Mr McMillan and I are bored.
