Scientists finally discover how cats use their language to groom themselves

The popularity of cats in human homes (and on the internet) is unquestionable. Anyone who will realize that they are usually very independent in their care, at least compared to dogs. One of those reasons is all the time that they spend grooming themselves with their own language.

It is estimated that cats spend at least eight hours a day licking their fur to keep them clean. This is why they do not usually need baths and they only paint themselves to remove excess hair. However, this raised a mystery: "What languages ​​do they have that makes them so useful for their own hygiene?"

This question was asked by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Her research has focused on how feline languages ​​are able to perform this task as effectively. For this, they simulated dead felines of six different species (domestic cats, lynx, lions, etc.) used with their respective fur.

Their results were very revealing. It was already known that these animals contained on their tongue a kind of thorns called filiform papillae. The novelty is that they discovered that at the tip of these taste buds, there were holes in which saliva is stored.

Each of these holes can store up to 4.1 microliters of liquid, which equates to one-tenth of a drop. Whenever the cat licks, it would apply this saliva that reaches the skin thanks to the firmness of these taste buds. At the end of the day, they end up emptying up to 48 milliliters of saliva into their fur (1/5 part glass of water).).

This action would be enough to remove fleas, dirt and loose hairs from your skin. Plus, it keeps you cool for most of the day.

The toilet is more complicated for some

For this reason, some breeds of cats are harder to clean than others. This is the case of Persian cats, whose long hairs prevent the taste buds of the tongue from touching the skin. Given this, they are often brushed frequently to help them.

These researchers also decided to develop a brush adapted to these cats named "TIGR". It is hoped that this similar evolution in the structure of feline languages ​​will make their lives easier.