If you’ve spent any time with a cat, you know that they spend a lot of time grooming! This is an innate behavior that started as a survival tool in the wild: a cat that smells of the blood of prey can become a target for larger predators.
Studies suggest that cats spend as much as fifteen percent of their waking hours grooming. And grooming isn’t just for hygiene! It can also help a cat regulate her body temperature: the evaporation of saliva can help cool a cat in hot weather. Overgrooming and undergrooming are both signs of health or mental problems. Overgrooming — including excessive licking, biting, and chewing — is often a sign of stress.
The mother cat grooms her kittens until they are around three weeks old. After that, the kittens start to groom themselves; by six weeks, most kittens are proficient groomers. Once a kitten can groom herself, she may also groom her siblings. This is known as social grooming or allgrooming, and is a common behavior between cats that grow up together. It can also develop between cats that live together as adults but did not live together as kittens. Allgrooming helps strengthen the bond between cats.
Encouraging social grooming can help relieve tensions between cats in a family. A dab of tuna juice on a hard to reach place — like the head or nose — can encourage the cats to groom each other. This bonding experience can help diffuse tensions when cats are not getting along.
Some cats even groom their owners! It is a display of affection and trust, the way they would lick a littermate or mother. If your cat enjoys being brushed or combed, you can groom your cat in return. This will strengthen the bond between you and your cat and gives you an opportunity to check your cat for any skin problems that may be developing.