Your Cat Is Being Nice? Think Again. 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.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w1A.GeAv.VKJUEw63TqLO
155 points · 13 comments · view on lemmy.world
13 Comments
Admetus@sopuli.xyz · 62 pts · 68d
I feel like almost every bit of research that comes out just proves cats are assholes.
OpenStars@piefed.social · 17 pts · 68d
"almost"?!?
frank@sopuli.xyz · 11 pts · 68d
Some of it is inconclusive
gedfromgont@piefed.ca · 7 pts · 68d
...inconclusive because they are assholes.
applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 68d
like we dont love them for it. be honest youve pet a cat just to annoy them before. my cats definitely yell at me just to annoy me. when they do it i sometimes annoy them by picking them up and giving them lots of kisses or turning them upside down lol. the joy of living with cats is their complex personalities, and part of that is them being kind of an asshole sometimes, but turnabout is fair play.
Kushan@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 68d
Real cat owner here.
MagisterSieran@discuss.tchncs.de · 47 pts · 68d
Oh, absolutely. My cat will often start grooming the other just to start a fight.
psx_crab@lemmy.zip · 21 pts · 68d
Omg my one cat is this bitch, he will groom my other cat and then bite them. He will also lick my leg to annoy the hell out of me no matter how hard i protest it. Love that fucker to death tho.
Blablablabum@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 68d
One of ours does the same, it look so cute and then - BITE. After 5 years the other cat have started to just hiss at him after af few licks.
proudblond@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 68d
Every scientific headline I see about cats just confirms what cat owners already know.
Ilixtze@lemmy.ml · 13 pts · 68d
I read somewhere that cats see grooming another cat as domineering behavior. So cats are basically telling you what to do and to get a better job/get your shit together
lath@piefed.social · 12 pts · 68d
Kids acting nice just to be annoying.
RebekahWSD@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 68d
Use to have cats that would do that lol. Grooming just to be a twit and start a fight!