“If your cat licks you, he is telling you that you are his property.”
It doesn’t matter if you are more of a dog person or if you prefer cats. We can all agree that the image of a cat licking its paws or licking its human friends is adorable. The problem is that it is a scene as adorable as it is disconcerting. Traditionally we think that if our cat licks us, it is telling us that it loves us. However, according to experts, there may be many other reasons. And none of them are precisely related to love. It tolerates you, tastes you or possesses you. As explained by Dr. David Sands, an expert in animal psychology, in an article for Science Focusit is not known for sure why cats lick humans. However, there are three quite plausible hypotheses. They may even all be true. The first indicates that the cat indicates to the human that it does not perceive it as a threat. On the other hand, the second hypothesis opts for a chemical analysis of the human. Cats’ taste buds are powerful. More or less. Finally, it may be that if your cat licks you, he is basically marking you as property. For them we are just another animal. Cats learn to behave with humans as they do with other animals. Since they are puppies, they conceive the act of licking as a sign of trust. The first relationship they have with this gesture is through their mothers, who groom them with their tongues when they are puppies. This, logically, is a boost of confidence. Therefore, over time, they get used to doing the same with other animals they trust. If another cat is not a threat to them, they show it by licking. With humans, they do exactly the same. In a way, they indicate that they tolerate that person, not necessarily that they adore them. Chemistry based on licks. Cats don’t actually have a super powerful sense of taste. They have only a few hundred taste buds. Humans have 9,000so that we get an idea of how insensitive cats are in that sense. However, they do have a great sense of smell, which they are very guided by. analyze the world around them. They often complement this sense of smell with that of taste, so that the tongue can be considered a kind of antenna with which they extract the first signals. These signals can indicate the presence of substances that give them information about the human in question, such as pheromones, perfumes or food remains. You are his property. Cats give a lot of importance to their smell. In fact, as Sands also explains, if you’ve ever seen your cat lick itself after you pet himhe’s basically getting rid of your smell. But they don’t just do that. They also try to make what they own smell like them. It is a way of marking territory. on your cheeks They have glands with which they can impregnate everything from objects to animals through the act of licking. In a way, they scrape off your own scent and impregnate you with theirs. Therefore, in reality, several of Dr. Sands’ hypotheses can complement each other. Your cat licks you to show you that it is not afraid of you and, by the way, since it does not see you as a threat, it decides to mark you as its property. If you are not going to cause him problems and you usually bring him food, you are a good possession. Does this mean your cat only wants you for convenience? Well it depends, each cat is different. What is clear is that, in general, the licking gesture is not an act of love. They may love us in other ways, but let’s not fool ourselves with that either. Image | Magnificent Xataka | In Alicante, the Animal Welfare Law has put associations on a war footing over an issue: feline colonies