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Filou and Tigris clean each other but especially Tigris does the dominance thing, too. If Filou has found the sunny spot and curls up there, Tigris very often goes and starts to lick him, licking harder and harder until Filou is disturbed and lifts his paw -but at the end it's Tigris at the sunny spot.
However there are moments where it's just pure friendship and very touching to look at.
I think (as if one really cares) that they lick for several reasons. One is the matriachial thing, the dominant will lick the submissive. But, I heard they also lick to say to the other one, "everything is ok with us right now". Tenny and Dakky- nearly every single morning, on the carpet outside the bathroom door start the communal lick, then bite, then fight! It is a riot. I can almost set my watch to them. The pattern never changes.
Then Tex, the alpha male, will "let" Georgia (most submissive female) lick him for a moment...he will return a few licks, then add a little bite to the ear! Strange about those two..she gets the worst of Tex- he will stalk her, but she is on only one that gets to share his treat bowl in the am...
Someone also told me that to a cat, our petting them is like a giant tongue! I love that analogy....
Wow, so much from Cataholic in one day...I gotta get back to work! :D
Baby always starts to lick Minnie but it always end up in a fight. She licks first and then bites. Minnie hates it!