7 Facts about Cat's Tongue

Cats can reduce its body temperature

Cats lick their bodies when they feel hot. Maybe we will see this behavior more often in the hot months. Saliva that sticks to its fur evaporates, the cool effect will feel like when we sweat and exposed to the wind.

Useful, but dangerous if the cat does it excessively

The rough structure and papilla shaped like a spoon on a cat's tongue make it very effective for cleaning up. However, stressed cats tend to overdo themselves. This if left unchecked will make the cat's hair become bald, moreover the cat is more often licked himself when there is no one else. For those of you who have a pet cat, it would be nice for you to be more observant to see changes in behavior.

Spoon-shaped papillae

Papillae are protrusions on the tongue shaped like fine, small threads. Previously it was thought that the papilla on a cat's tongue was conical because of its rough structure, but a recent study in 2018 in the PNAS Journal confirmed that the papilla on a cat's tongue was shaped like a spoon. This form of papilla helps the tongue deliver large amounts of saliva to the cat's fur so they can clean themselves more effectively.

Remove the meat from the bone

In the wild a cat that wants to eat must prey on it first. That's why cats can release meat from the bones while eating. Cat's tongue also has a big role to make it easier to separate meat from bones.

Cat's tongue is useful for survival

Cats are basically carnivorous animals that prey on other living things to eat. Therefore it is not uncommon for blood from prey animals to stick to the cat's fur. The structure of the cat's tongue has been created to be able to lift various kinds of impurities including blood attached to the fur. Try to imagine if there is blood left in the body of the cat? Cats in the wild will become an easy target for predators who are attracted by the smell of blood on their bodies.

Cat's tongue cannot distinguish flavors

Cats have fewer tasting nerves than humans, which makes cats unable to distinguish flavors. Therefore, cats prefer meat because it has a distinctive aroma and fat taste. So, actually we don't need to give any taste to the cat's food because he can't feel it either.