my male cat, Luciano, who is a few months older and bigger than my female, ChumChum, often licks/grooms her. she tolerates it and sometimes even purrs. often this will result in play between them...wrestling, chasing, racing up the cat tree, etc. i'm just wondering though if there is something symbolic about him licking her? especially because i've never seen her licking him. is it an alpha cat thing?
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Cats Grooming Each Other?
- Thread starter hiwatt
- Start Date
Hey, my cats do that too - I forget what the terminology is, but basically when one cat licks the other, sometimes it's that cat exerting dominance over the other cat. Naturally, the cat being licked doesn't like that and so she'll fight back.
I'm not sure if it's an alpha cat thing specifically, but I believe the is the same. I say that because I don't know who the alpha cat is in my group, but I know that Max does it to Baylee and she won't stand for it!
I'm not sure if it's an alpha cat thing specifically, but I believe the is the same. I say that because I don't know who the alpha cat is in my group, but I know that Max does it to Baylee and she won't stand for it!
Good observation. Yes, it is supposed to be part of an alpha cat behaviour, (although I have one who has figured out it is just a jolly good way to get someone else to wash his face and make him feel good, too:-) so doesn't worry about letting those who are on the lower hierarchy lick him all they want). Sometimes you will see it progress to each trying to wash the other's face and then it turns into a wrestling match.
Kathryn
Kathryn
My two cats are about 13 months apart. Both are male and the second one (Chester)was adopted in January when he was about 9 months old and the older one (Moe) was not quite 2 years old. They wrassle around, chase each other and I've finally even caught them sleeping curled up together (kitty breakthrough). And yes, they groom each other all the time. Neither one seems to be more dominant than the other - they're equal opportunity lickers/chasers/instigators in wrassling. Is it really an alpha kitty thing?
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Sam is alpha, he was here first, and is much more gregarious with people and with other animals. He always groomed Bailey, and the grooming usually ended in a wrestling match. I used to worry, but she seems to like it, he will grab her around the neck and rabbit kick, she squirms and gets away, then comes right back for more.
Lately, she will also groom him. He doesn't like it much, and will usually just duck out of the way and start licking her even more. It's like a Monty Python sketch. "I lick you", "No, I lick YOU!", "No, no, you see, I LICK YOU MORE". Very funny to watch, and I thought from the beginning that it's a dominance thing.
Sam will also lick me. Bailey never has. But she shoves her head in my face, exactly the way she does with Sam, when she is asking to be groomed. Yuck, face full of cat hair.
Lately, she will also groom him. He doesn't like it much, and will usually just duck out of the way and start licking her even more. It's like a Monty Python sketch. "I lick you", "No, I lick YOU!", "No, no, you see, I LICK YOU MORE". Very funny to watch, and I thought from the beginning that it's a dominance thing.
Sam will also lick me. Bailey never has. But she shoves her head in my face, exactly the way she does with Sam, when she is asking to be groomed. Yuck, face full of cat hair.
When we were getting our second cat, Eva, someone told us that two cats are cleaner than one. Since it's hard for a cat to clean her own ears and head (though she tries!), cats will help each other out by licking their companion's head and ears. It's true that Ziv (dominant) licks Eva more than vice versa, but she does groom him once in a while. When Ziv wasn't feeling well a few weeks ago, Chesty curled up with him and groomed him gently.
I think it's really cute.
I think it's really cute.
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My two cats do the same thing. They will both groom each other, but it's usually the male cat grooming the female. Then it will turn into a wresting match. They seem to be having fun when they wrestle, and the female cat doesn't seem to mind that the male cat licks her.
My babies will groom each other as well. They're brothers and very close - I think they've only been apart during their "fixing". I for the life of me can't figure out which one thinks they're the alpha cat. I think they take turns!
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My cats (both males) groom each other. They both do it.
I don't think it's symbolic, I thought that is how they were showing theif affection for each other.
Char grooms the little ones all the time. Sometimes too much, I have to remove him from them on occassion because they get aggravated and he won't let them be. lol
I always thought it was an affection thing.
I always thought it was an affection thing.
I think when a cat licks another cat, it is showing dominance. I know that Shane used to try to groom Snoopy, who had been with me for 13 years before Shane came into the picture. Snoopy didn't like it, and wouldn't put up with it, which made Shane quite angry. I used t have to break up some pretty nasty fights between them. Shane also grooms Simba, and Simba puts up with it, then Simba chases Shane in play. So I don't know don't know which one of them is the alpha cat. Probably Shane.
I was always told than when a cat licks a human while you're petting them that it was the same as a kiss.
I was always told than when a cat licks a human while you're petting them that it was the same as a kiss.
This is why I thought it wasn't so much a dominance thing as an affection thing between the cats.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #15
if that's the case, i get "showered" with kisses every morning when ChumChum finishes her wake-up grooming and proceeds to groom me
All three of my raggies groom each other - it seems to serve as hello, goodbye, play with me, comfort, reassurance, exasperated affection if one is bugging the other but hasn't deserved to be duffed up yet.
When Jazzie came back from her spay Jake cuddled up to her and spent hours washing her face and ears, he was the first of us to get a purr out of her. I love that boy.
Prissy lives with two other female cats (one of them was a littermate). The three of them groom each other but it seems mostly playful. Just a few quick licks and then they go off running around the house. But I've also seen two of the cats team up to actively groom an ailing cat in a systematic way -- not just playful random licks but a full cleaning. The sick cat seems to know she is being helped and passively accepts the assistance.
Prissy doesn't lick humans as much, but Nano will give me a few licks on my leg or arm. She is usually either purring or doing headbumps at the same time so I just consider these licks from Nano to be "kisses" of affection.
Prissy doesn't lick humans as much, but Nano will give me a few licks on my leg or arm. She is usually either purring or doing headbumps at the same time so I just consider these licks from Nano to be "kisses" of affection.
My three have gradually developed more and more mutual grooming, though it is usually Ellie (Alpha) and Persil who groom each other most. Persil absolutely LOVES it when Ellie grooms her - last night on my bed Ellie had her paws round Persil and was licking her head and back furiously, and Persil lay there with an expression of total bliss on her face, eyes shut. The others will only let Persil groom them for a few minutes then it turns into wrestling. They all lick me, though Ellie does it most.
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I had wondered about this. My black cat Sabbath was adopted first and a year and a half down the line we picked up Felix who has three legs. When Felix has settled Sab tends to come over and lick Fe's head and neck, but usually within a minute or two Fe will start wrestling and Sab tends to howl and hiss at him when he does (and bits his stump).
Tonight I was about to doze off when Sab lay behind Fe (he never snuggles with Fe generally) and licked him for a good ten minutes. Fe usually tolerates it and gives access to the neck etc but his tail goes whipping about the entirety of the session. Then as usual it turns into Fe getting frustrated and trying to wrestle Sab down.
It bugs me as I think if Fe would just put up with it, Sab would eventually settle and cuddle him (he's still adapting to having a new brother). Then Felix tries to approach Sab later to lie with him and Sab hisses at him because he feels threatened. They can't see eye to eye on this.
Weirdly they share food quite happily and switch bowls back and forth with no hostility. Even weirder is that if Felix goes to poo he usually ends up with some cat litter coming out with him...Sab will try to clean the mess of it up by scraping it away from the floor and dragging his paws over the nearby table as if cleaning after himself. I've never saw a cat do this before (almost like he knows Felix can't do it because he's slightly disabled).
They do fight on and off through the day but mostly it's Felix is the instigator because he wants to play and Sab is a lazy "don't bother me" type lol. Regardless of how many fights they have and how many times Sab bites Felix's eat, etc, I've never seen any wounds on Felix so there's a lot of restraint being shown (Sab's never been a vicious cat though).
Felix loves being stroked for hours on end but really doesn't like allegrooming unfortunately. I can only hope he'll adapt. It's only been two months since we got him. I worry about these things a lot but I guess it's normal to want both cats to be happy and adapted.
Tonight I was about to doze off when Sab lay behind Fe (he never snuggles with Fe generally) and licked him for a good ten minutes. Fe usually tolerates it and gives access to the neck etc but his tail goes whipping about the entirety of the session. Then as usual it turns into Fe getting frustrated and trying to wrestle Sab down.
It bugs me as I think if Fe would just put up with it, Sab would eventually settle and cuddle him (he's still adapting to having a new brother). Then Felix tries to approach Sab later to lie with him and Sab hisses at him because he feels threatened. They can't see eye to eye on this.
Weirdly they share food quite happily and switch bowls back and forth with no hostility. Even weirder is that if Felix goes to poo he usually ends up with some cat litter coming out with him...Sab will try to clean the mess of it up by scraping it away from the floor and dragging his paws over the nearby table as if cleaning after himself. I've never saw a cat do this before (almost like he knows Felix can't do it because he's slightly disabled).
They do fight on and off through the day but mostly it's Felix is the instigator because he wants to play and Sab is a lazy "don't bother me" type lol. Regardless of how many fights they have and how many times Sab bites Felix's eat, etc, I've never seen any wounds on Felix so there's a lot of restraint being shown (Sab's never been a vicious cat though).
Felix loves being stroked for hours on end but really doesn't like allegrooming unfortunately. I can only hope he'll adapt. It's only been two months since we got him. I worry about these things a lot but I guess it's normal to want both cats to be happy and adapted.
