Why Your Cat's Tongue Is Nature's Perfect Hairbrush

[sl8]

From http://mentalfloss.com/article/564285/why-cat-tongues-are-perfect-hairbrushes

Why Your Cat's Tongue Is Nature's Perfect Hairbrush

BY SHAUNACY FERRO
NOVEMBER 19, 2018

A lick from a cat is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, cats don’t dole out affection to just anyone, so it’s a true compliment when they try to groom you. On the other hand, their tongues feel like sandpaper wrapped in barbed wire. Those sharp tongues are actually incredible tools, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Their unique structure is very efficient at depositing saliva on cats' fur to help them clean themselves and keep cool. Researchers from Georgia Tech made the discovery using high-speed video, CT scans, and “grooming force measurements.”

Cats aren't just prettying themselves up when they spend all day grooming themselves, the study shows. (That’s not an exaggeration—house cats can spend up to a quarter of their waking lives grooming.) As they lick themselves, their tongues remove debris, fleas, and excess heat from their fur thanks to those sharp, curved spines—called filiform papillae—that are so unpleasant to feel on your skin.


ALEXIS NOEL

These keratin-based filiform papillae have U-shaped hollows at their tips that allow cats to wick saliva from their mouths onto their fur, helping them regulate body temperature and cool down. Each of these papillae can carry one-tenth of an eyedropper’s worth of spit, half of which gets deposited on the fur. The papillae spread the saliva along the roots of each hair, allowing it to penetrate cats’ fur so that it can cool their skin. Saliva alone can provide 25 percent of a cat’s cooling needs, according to the study.

This useful adaptation isn’t limited to domestic cats. Researchers looked at tongue tissue from six different species—bobcat, cougar, snow leopard, tiger, and lion, in addition to house cats—and found similar structures.


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[tblue37]

1. So my cats aren't clean. They're covered in cat spit. nt

[TexasTowelie]

2. You would know the difference if you ever gave your cat a bath.

Believe it or not, once they get through the initial irritation of getting dunk, nearly all of my cats enjoyed getting bathed and shampooed. I can usually get through it without being bit or scratched. However, my Siamese was a genius and would find hiding spots once the faucet to the bathtub was turned on.

[lark]

3. Not our cats.

One day when our daughter was coming home from college, she came in, heard the male cat screaming, threw her bags down and ran into the back saying "Basil is getting killed". He was just in the shower and expressing his extreme displeasure. Both he and his mom yowl loudly and continually until the water is turned off. We have to pick them up and carry them to the bathroom because they'd never enter the bathroom willingly with the shower running. Even then, we have to very quickly turn and shut the door because they get so squirmy. We live in FL with tons of sand fleas, so when they were younger and went outside some every day, they needed more baths, but now they are very old and don't go outside much, they rarely need the water torture (in their minds).

[grantcart]

10. Our cat yells "Noooooooooooooooooo" and then tolerates it.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Cat licked my eyelid once.... YEOW!

Cat licked my eyelid once.... YEOW!

[yellowdogintexas]

5. I have one that used to lick the tip of my nose when he settled down to sleep

However he would also groom my hair
One night I had this dream that I was being scalped along the hairline leading down to my right ear. When I came out of the dream, that damn cat was licking my hairline with a vengance.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. One of my cats likes to lick my hair when I'm asleep.

It's really a weird feeling.

[ProudLib72]

7. A new take on "cowlick"

[sl8]

8. Are you up to 25% cooler afterwards? n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. No, because pretty soon she stops licking and starts chewing.

[iscooterliberally]

9. You haven't lived until you've had your entire face bathed by a grateful baby kitten.

Way back in 2003 we brought home a little baby kitten from a mom and pop pet store that rescued a litter. When we got home I was in the recliner watching TV and she jumped up on my chest and started going to town on my face. I didn't think it was going to last long, but she kept going and going. Talk about exfoliation!

[Archae]

12. My calico cat Charlotte shows her affection to me by licking my nose gently.

I sure do love her and my black cat Raven.