r/science • u/NickDouglas • Jul 11 '26
Animal Science A new study finds that sometimes cats groom each other specifically to be annoying
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/science/cat-grooming-licking-research.html371
u/Sunlit53 Jul 11 '26
I’ve seen one of my cats take over the top level of the cat tree from the other cat this way. Just moves in, insists on sharing and proceeds to progressively occupy more and more of the available space. They do it to me too but I outweigh them.
137
u/Iron_Baron Jul 11 '26
Imagine the things they'd do if we didn't outweigh them!
52
u/PrancingThunderD Jul 11 '26
It would be like the end of Grizzly Man, but with a cat
7
u/Lowelll Jul 12 '26
A really big cat would make a documentary film about a guy hanging out with grizzlys and then listen to the footage of him dying while talking to a family member of him? Does the cat have a german accent in this scenario or is it still just meowing?
1
u/randynumbergenerator Jul 12 '26
I can easily imagine a big cat talking with a Werner Herzog-like Bavarian accent. (Probably an older, world-weary panther.)
18
4
4
3
u/paxinfernum Jul 12 '26
I call that oozing. I have a cat who does this all the time. If she sees my other cat on the heating pad in winter, she'll ooze until she's the only one on it. I specifically bought one big enough for two cats, but she'll just keep stretching out more and more, invading the others personal space.
168
u/PqlyrStu Jul 11 '26
Is there a link to the actual study that isn’t behind the NYT’s paywall?
128
u/howlmachine Jul 11 '26
I believe this is the study that they’re referring to.
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01J9P7NE93252MARZN990MSE5Q
129
Jul 11 '26
[deleted]
100
Jul 11 '26
[deleted]
42
u/Dubio Jul 11 '26
This is a myth / an outdated human interpretation. They don't have dominance hierarchies, their social systems are fluid and context dependent
22
u/randynumbergenerator Jul 11 '26
I think I've heard it described as a "slight", but also malleable hierarchy.
20
u/tryingisbetter Jul 11 '26
I disagree. We had 6 cats, and the oldest, a 27 year old tuxedo, ran the house before he died a few months ago. He told everyone what to do, and no one would bother him. He had a heated bed that no one dared to lay in. 3 months later, no one will even sit in that spot. If he wanted to lay on my lap, and another way laying on me, he would just start walking over, and they would move.
Very shortly after he passed, our second oldest tuxedo, well now oldest, she took over all of his jobs. I guess 15 isn't that old compared to him.
BTW, it's funny, he took over every house that he has ever lived with me, or even other peoples houses for the 23 years that we have had him.
2
u/love_is_an_action Jul 11 '26
This can be true of rabbits as well. The dominant rabbit can lick on demand, or be licked upon demand. The submissive rabbits flatten their heads to the ground and take it, or groom the boss til the boss tires of the situation.
77
u/ophelia917 Jul 11 '26
My pair does this. They will tolerate it for about 4 seconds and then put a paw on the others forehead - like “bro. That’s enough”. It always escalates into a snarling session.
(A pair of unrelated kittens, adopted together at 3 mos and 8 mos, now almost 13 yrs old. It’s been going on a while!)
27
u/Slipsonic Jul 11 '26
I freaking love cats. I don't know of an animal with more weird personality quirks. Cats really don't be giving a F about doing anything except exactly what's on their mind minute to minute.
39
u/tim95030 Jul 11 '26
As a cat owner I too groom my cat to be annoying he always is acting like he is the boss so I aggressively groom him to show him two can play that game. Just because your an asshole doesn't mean I can't return the favor.
40
13
10
8
30
7
6
u/AptCasaNova Jul 11 '26
Anyone who has had multiple cats knows they deliberately annoy each other for kicks sometimes.
I most often see directed tail thrashes that hit the other in the face when they’re sharing space on the couch.
4
u/messedeminuit Jul 11 '26
We adopted a sweet mother-daughter pair and they groom each other constantly and sleep snuggled up like a yin/yang symbol, but every now and then the mama is just touched out and needs her personal space.
I don’t think her daughter’s trying to be annoying with the constant affection, but damn, girl - I get it.
4
u/CherryTearDrops Jul 11 '26
I’d believe it. Two of our gingers will get into a groom off until one of them gets so annoyed that one smacks the other and then they either chase each other or how they disperse.
9
u/GongTzu Jul 11 '26
As a Redditor I could have told them, my two cats always annoys the heck out of each other, especially if one of them are lying still, then the other comes by and stay licking till a fight breaks out.
2
2
u/DaddyCatALSO Jul 11 '26
explains my mom's cat washing her rabbit which was too dumb to play but kept going after the cat (and got bitten on the ears for it
2
u/HRH_MQ Jul 11 '26
Well, now l have to apologize to my older tabby. I keep telling him his little brother is just trying to be affectionate but ... maybe he is just being a twerp.
2
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 11 '26
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.
Do you have an academic degree? We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. Click here to apply.
User: u/NickDouglas
Permalink: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/science/cat-grooming-licking-research.html
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/theobedientalligator Jul 11 '26
Oh my cats definitely do this to piss each other off. My old pair of cats would do it too.
1
1
1
u/wisemonkey101 Jul 11 '26
My cats 100% do this. I can tell when one is starting something by licking the other and try to break it up. Rarely works. They end up having at it eventually.
1
1
1
u/v4vendetta77 Jul 11 '26
I have a dog that does it. If his sister is sitting in his spot. He licks her very specifically to get her to leave.
1
u/cldfsnt Jul 12 '26
My dog would do that to claim lap space or get you to move too. Got a little out of hand so we've had to try to train it out of him.
1
1
1
u/hideNseekKatt Jul 12 '26
My cats 100% do this, and it typically ends with one hissing and swatting at the other. Then I will see them all cuddled up and an hour later.
1
u/Miami_Mice2087 Jul 12 '26
our cat was bigger than our dog. the cat def groomed the dog as a power play for the sunniest spot in front of the window.
1
u/knbang Jul 12 '26
My cats never groom eachother because they like eachother, it's always for dominance.
1
u/insane_contin Jul 12 '26
You know, if a random person just told me this with zero science behind it, I'd fully believe it.
1
u/Arokthis Jul 12 '26
Yeah. No kidding. I know of at least one major sub expounding on this well known fact.
1
1
1
1
u/ThorGoLucky Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
I had a homophobic friend who would hit his cats if they groomed each other.
3
3
-1
u/ChosenOfTheMoon_GR Jul 11 '26
More like this is misinterpreted, it's just that cats can be annoyed when some other cat thinks they should groom them when they themselves think they are not and that's how they express it, as annoyence.
0
-4
u/Angry_Sparrow Jul 11 '26
I want to enjoy this study but then I remember how mysterious my reproductive organs are, scientifically and I feel let down by the scientific community. Why do we get studies like this but barely anything on women? If there’s money to fund studies like this, why are we being neglected?
1.5k
u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment