We have three very affectionate cats (at least we do when Midnight isn’t in a bad mood). Sometimes they get very affectionate and want to rub/head butt your face. If they do this right after they eat wet food, you can get smeared with cat dood. Ewwww.
My question is this – the cats never have cat food on their upper lips. They’re fastidious creatures, always grooming. They lick their upper lips a lot. But they never lick their lower lips, hence the cat food. It’s not that they don’t want to – I’m sure they would. But they seem unable to do so. I’ve never seen their tongues curl down to get that lower lip. The only way they can get it is to wipe it with their paw, then lick off the paw (which, if they do it once, they will follow with seemingly endless repetitions).
The cat trongue is a marvelous bit of organic engineering. It’s got a roughened surface so that they can rasp meat from bones, or “comb” their coats, lick out stubborn dirt, lap up water, or just annoy theor owners. So why can’t this bit of animal hydraulic engineering lick down to clean that lower lip and get those oh-so-valuable bits of food? I can lick my lower lip. Dogs can lick their lower lips. Why not cats?
And can I get the upgrade so I don’t have to worry about cat food? Our cats hate it when we go for the Kleenex and wipe off their lips.
Ewwww indeed. What are you feeding them?
My WAG on the question is that maybe the marvelous li’l kitty tongue has no muscles on its underside to press down with and clean the lower lip or chin. In fact sometimes a kitty’s chin will break out in pimples because they can’t clean it.
I do believe that I have seen slow motion movies of cats and dogs lapping up water from a bowl, and their tongues fold in opposite ways to do so. It seems as if the musculature of the feline tongue doesn’t permit such motion.
…and I agree…cat “dood”?? ick
it’s only a small “eww” the “dood” the OPer is referring to is just a mix of saliva and foodbowl residue
I knwo from what the OPer speaks - but after 6 years Smokey know better than to nuzzle me before cleaning herself off.
What she hasn’t figured out is how not to eat the entire bowlfull at once - Ususally she’ll eat a few bites, lap up some water (my guess is the food is salty) and that’s it for a few hours
But every now and then, she try to eat the entire serving in one sitting, and (the only way to describe what happens next without getting all gross on you is) she gets “backflow”.
on my carpet.
twice.
right in the path I walk every morning (which she knows) while still barefoot.
that’s "ewwwwww!"
“…She barfs in the corner and looks real smug,
So throw your cat awaaaaay.”
I wish mine would barf in the corner. But no! It’s either right in my office where I can hear the entire procedure, or in front of the door into the cat suite. At least I have a chance to see it before I step in it.
Don’t you just love the way they do that? They’ll search the entire house for you, leap up on some convenient flat surface nearby, and start with the hacking convulsions. If you’re quick, you can grab the cat and lift him/her down to a convenient non-carpeted surface before the leftovers come out.
Why, oh why, couldn’t they just do it by the foodbowl or litterbox? Why look for spectators?
Our cats don’t look for spectators, but they have another habit that makes up for it. If you catch them just before they throw up, and manage to slip a napkin or paper towel under them, they’ll immediately move elsewhere.
“On, no. I don’t want to throw up on your clean towel thing. Let me move over here and throw up on the carpet.”
Well, for the lower-lip problem, you might consider changing from canned food to dry kibble.
For the carpet-barfing problem, there is no real answer. However, one of our guys is very prone to that, but often gives us a warning by hacking a few times. If I can get to him in time, I just lift him up on his hind legs and massage his tummy. That usually seems to stop him from regurgitating. At first he would run away, but now he patiently waits for the “treatment.” 
Probably won’t work on all cats, but worth a try.
In response to the OP: Your cats have lips?
My kitties go in the litterbox (or attempt to) before puking. <gloats>
Virtually ALL mammals have lips. Helps make a good seal around the nipple.
I did the same for my cat, and it worked. But now whenever he wants attention, he starts making that hacking noise.
Well, I just looked at my Skippy’s mouth and it sure don’t look like what I’d call “lips.”