why does tigger do this?

tigger

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I didn't know whether to post this in the care/grooming or the beharior forum, but thought it fit best here!

Tigger grooms little Scooter all the time!! It is so cute. But, we notice she bites his whiskers off!!
Why does she do this? Is this just a maternal instinct in the females? She would have made such an excellent mommy!
 
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tigger

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Debra,
Nope, no answers..... My hubby and I thought maybe it's because she doesn't want him to have long whiskers! :tounge2: She wants them to be short LOL :LOL:
 

sfell

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I don't know if I have heard this somewhere or if I'm just creating a theory but here it goes. Cats wiskers are sensors for their environment right? Well, maybe moma cats do this to their little ones to keep them from wandering off (keep their wiskers cut off from sensing too much of their environment so they don't get too curious)? Just a theory (probably a stupid one).
 
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tigger

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sfell,
You were actually right with your theory!
I did a post on my Bengals_L group at Yahoo. The breeders said exactly what you had said! Also, I found out it can be a dominance thing. Also, they said sometimes the whiskers are an iritation to the queen! Tigger is still chewing poor Scooter's whiskers off. They grow, and then she chomps them down to little stubs! :tounge2: I need to get an up-close picture of him... he looks cute, in a way!
 

sfell

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Wow, I'm kinda surprised with myself. A picture sure would be neat to see (and cute)! Does it affect Scooter at all with Tigger doing this?
 
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tigger

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No, it doesn't affect him in any way. From what I have been told, it is harmless. There are times he just wants to lay with her, and she starts to groom him, and he kind of smacks her, to tell her to knock it off. I will try to get a pic of him. It's going to be hard, though! Scooter rarely sits pretty for the camera!
 
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