Laut einer Studie kann die gegenseitige Fellpflege für Katzen ein passiv-aggressiver Weg sein, um zu bekommen, was sie wollen Aufklärung der sozialen Dynamik bei Katzen – Eine videobasierte Beobachtungsstudie zum Allogrooming bei Hauskatzen

Interesting points from the news article:

>“Sometimes allogrooming is used as this, we say, passive-aggressive sign,“ lead author Morgane Van Belle told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
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>“So cats using this grooming to subtly convey a message, like, ‚I don’t like you here,‘ or ‚I want your blanket.'“
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>Van Belle, a cat behavioral scientist at Belgium’s Ghent University, says the research was actually inspired by her own two cats, Fabio and Giovanni. She witnessed them licking each other, but noticed it didn’t always appear affectionate.
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>“One of them would lay on a soft blanket by a window and the other would come and he would lick a bit in the neck. But then this licking would proceed into biting and, in the end, the cat lying on the blanket would move away. And the blanket would go to the other cat,“ Van Belle said.
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>“It kind of looked to me a bit like competition.“
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>Van Belle and her colleagues put out a call, and received videos from 53 households in Europe that had two or more cats. They looked closely at the videos, and scored each behaviour they saw.
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>They found that, in fact, sometimes allogrooming was positive interaction — a form of social bonding. Other times, it was more like what Van Belle witnessed in her own two cats.
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>So what’s a nice lick, and what’s a passive-aggressive lick?
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>Van Belle says they observed the more confrontational grooming happening at the neck, where cats will often bite in a not-so-passive fight.
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>Also, a passive-aggressive cat will assume an asymmetric body posture, looming over the other cat, whereas when it’s friendly, they often have a similar posture to each other.
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>Additionally, the cat being groomed won’t look like a cat having a nice time. It will get annoyed and do things like yawn or shake its head.
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>…
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>For cats, it may seem there isn’t much benefit for aggressive allogrooming, but Van Belle says there is an upside. In some ways, it prevents a more claws-out fight.
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>“Licking is like a subtle way to deliver your message,“ she said.
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>“Cats will avoid really fighting to the maximum because when, you fight, you’re using your claws and your teeth, but you’re also at risk of being injured yourself. So it’s actually, I think, a very elegant way for cats to resolve conflicts.“

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Journal link: [Unravelling feline social dynamics – A video-based observational study on allogrooming in domestic cats](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159126001292)

Abstract:

>There are conflicting hypotheses about the social function of allogrooming in domestic cats; a main hypothesis is that allogrooming is used to establish and maintain social bonds. However, this hypothesis lacks empirical support. Therefore, we performed a video-based observational study to inductively infer the social function(s) of feline allogrooming. Videos of 53 cat dyads (106 cats) during allogrooming were analysed with a 23-item ethogram. Statistical testing included (i) test on body regions targeted during auto- versus allogrooming sessions, (ii) a Factor Analysis to explore which behaviours covary with allogrooming, giving a broader understanding of the context in which the behaviour occurs, (ii) LAG Sequential Analysis to evaluate the patterns within these interactions in terms of the behaviours that precede or follow allogrooming, and (iv) a linear mixed model to assess if allogrooming-interactions differ according to relatedness, grooming-behaviour or symmetry in body posture. The combined analyses demonstrates two contexts in which allogrooming commonly occurs, (1) social bonding/affiliation and (2) social tension. In these contexts, allogrooming might fulfil differing functions, distinguishable on the basis of wider behavioural features. Firstly, allogrooming may strengthen social bonds when cats seek mutual, long-lasting physical contact (mainly huddling), synchronise their body postures (sitting, lying), and wrestle following allogrooming in a pre-play-context. Secondly, allogrooming may serve to resolve conflict acting as either an appeasement gesture or a subtle agonistic threat. At these times of social tension, asymmetric body postures (i.e. one cat leaning over the other) ears rotated backwards, and the frequent expression of displacement behaviours (lip licking, head shaking) or overtly aggressive behaviours (striking, biting) are also apparent. These results highlight the potential importance of wider behavioural/postural synchrony to understanding the function of allogrooming.

i used to give my cat a bath every day but i got sick of the hair getting stuck to my tongue.

Licking can be used as a hard finger push

So it’s like face sitting in humans

If it’s reciprocated, it’s a sign of affection

If it’s one sided, it means „I want to sit there“