Mutual Grooming between Cats
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As you can see from this picture, cats do groom each other. Mandy is grooming Zari. Mandy started grooming Zari when Zari was a tiny kitten. At first, it looked like kitten abuse because Mandy would sit on Zari's head and groom her behind. I don't think that it hurt Zari because she would follow Mandy around afterwards. And Mandy would tackle her and groom her again.
As Zari grew, Mandy stopped tackling her and began to groom her around the ears, face, and neck. These are the spots that cats cannot groom themselves with their tougues and teeth. Usually they sit facing each other to groom, but I happened to have a camera when Mandy began licking the prone Zari. The belly up position denotes trust and comfort.
Allogrooming helps strengthen bonds between cats, and between cats and humans as well. When you stroke your kitty, it's the same as when his mother groomed him. Cats enjoy scratching behind the ears and around the neck as well as long strokes down the back. Tummy rubs are iffy, because cats never allogroom on the tummy. However trusted humans have been known to rub this forbidden area.
Mutual grooming has many benefits to cats and humans as well. Lowered blood pressure, relaxation, and reduced stress are results of cats grooming each other or humans stroking cats. So for your health and the cat's cuddle up!
If you liked this java, I found it at The Omega Factor
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