What is the function of a cat’s tongue?

Dec 14,2023
4Min

The main functions of a cat's tongue are to comb hair, taste food, facilitate eating and drinking, leave odor on the owner's body, and help dissipate heat. Although cats’ tongues have many functions, these small spines on the tongue sometimes bring safety risks to cats, such as forming hair balls in the body due to frequent licking or eating small things by mistake. Therefore, owners must regularly give cats Eat hair-reducing cream to prevent your cat's body hair from clumping together, which can cause digestive problems. At the same time, the debris should also be put away to avoid danger.

1. Grooming

There is a special kind of barb on the cat's tongue, which is like a comb and can be used to comb the hair. And these special barbs can also help untangle the cat's hair, making the cat's hair look smoother.

2. Taste the taste of food

There are 200-300 keratinized taste buds on the surface of the cat’s tongue, which can taste sour, salty, bitter, etc. Therefore, the cat’s tongue also has the function of tasting the taste of food, and also helps the cat to find food that is more suitable for him.

3. Convenient eating and drinking

A cat’s daily eating and drinking are closely related to its barb-shaped tongue. When a cat eats, it mainly relies on its tongue to move food Rolled into its mouth, the barb-like structure also helps shave the meat away from the bone as it eats meat. Secondly, when cats drink water, they also need to rely on the barb-like structure to attach the water to their tongue, and then quickly retract the tongue, using inertial force to allow themselves to drink a large amount of water at one time.

4. Leave scent on the owner

In order to declare their sovereignty, cats will also leave their scent by licking the owner with their tongue or rubbing on the owner. , which also shows that the cat likes and trusts its owner.

5. Help dissipate heat

In hot weather or after strenuous exercise, cats will also dissipate heat through their tongues. This is mainly because cats have limited heat dissipation through their foot pads and breathing. Therefore, when the weather is hot or after strenuous exercise, they can only take excess heat out of the body by panting quickly and sticking out their tongues. This is a normal phenomenon, so the owner does not need to worry too much.

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