As much as you might appreciate the occasional exfoliation, being licked by a cat is downright painful. Cats aren’t exactly shy about their tongues. They show them off all the time during yawns, licks, and grooming sessions. Since you probably already know about the spiky quality of your cat’s tongue, this article will explain some of the facts that go along with it.
1. Cats’ Tongues Are Covered in Spines
Your cat’s tongue is covered with hundreds of spines, 290 of them to be exact. These spines are tiny, curved needles with hollow tips that scientists call “papillae.” To put things into perspective, each papilla is about as stiff as your fingernail because they are also made of keratin––hence the sandpaper of affection you experience when your cat licks you.
But there’s more. These ‘tongue needles’ all point in a backward-facing direction. Plus, they are perfectly shaped for transporting liquids. You’ll see why this is important in a little bit. Surprisingly enough, the papillae are common across all feline species. So, our beloved cats really do have a lot in common with the lions of Africa, cougars of the Andes, and the tigers of India.
2. Cats’ Tongues Create Surface Tension
Of course, all animals that have tongues use them to eat and drink. But how do cats manage it so gracefully? Both the shape of the tongue itself and the papillae help with getting enough food and water from the outside to the inside.
When it comes to drinking, the papillae create surface tension, drawing water up as the tongue touches it. If you’ve ever watched your cat drink, you will notice the water doesn’t move all that much when he or she laps it up. That’s because cats don’t do the slurping that dogs do with their tongues. For eating, the roughness helps with stripping meat from bones and feathers. (Cats are carnivores, after all!)
3. Combs Can’t Compare to Cats’ Tongues
A cat’s tongue is amazingly efficient because it doesn’t require much pressure to clean itself down to the skin. Thus, a cat’s tongue is far superior to a store-bought brush.
One of the most impressive things about your cat’s tongue is that the needle-like papillae can rotate. This means each time your cat’s tongue catches on a knot, the papillae not only sweep deeper into the fur, but change in orientation to work the tangle loose.
The papillae transport saliva and help your cat reach through the undercoat layer of fur where the tips of the papilla stimulate the skin’s sebaceous glands. This is true for all cat breeds, unless you have a Persian cat. Interestingly, Persians are the only domestic breed that can’t manage the full grooming ritual by themselves.
Fun fact: your cat’s tongue can transfer around three tablespoons of saliva every day. Its saliva is loaded with beneficial enzymes that get rid of contaminants. So, all that licking does make your cat cleaner!
Grooming serves another useful purpose for cats that not all humans are aware of. It involves body temperature regulation. Cats can only sweat through their footpads. However, as your cat grooms, the saliva on his or her skin begins to evaporate. The result is a much cooler kitty!
Since cats spend 24 percent of their time grooming (when they aren’t sleeping), it’s no wonder that they’d have perfectly specialized equipment to do the job.
4. Cats’ Tongues Help Uncover Hidden Smells
Your cat’s tongue is remarkable for another reason. It’s called the Flehmen response, and it has to do with exploring. The Flehmen response is something your cat does to read a particular scent. It happens when a cat focuses on simultaneously smelling something new. This helps him or her with figuring out what’s what in terms of other cats, as well as the general goings on in the neighborhood.
These scents are picked up, not by the nose, as you’d think, but in the mouth, and the tongue has a major role to play here. Amazing right? Cats have an additional scent organ called the vomeronasal organ, to interpret scent signals in a way we couldn’t possibly imagine.
While a cat is concentrating on a careful study, eyes half closed, mouth slightly open, their owner is usually observing in raptures. Naturally, seeing your cat make a funny face means you must take a photo, post it to social media, and keep it forever! (This is a completely normal interaction… in case you were wondering.)
So, now you have a whole new appreciation for your cat’s tongue. Remember, it’s always a good idea to know as much about kitty anatomy as possible. Then you can pick up on any subtle changes in your cat’s behavior as soon as they begin. After all, at the end of the day, understanding your cat is the best way to give them their happiest life!
