Researchers from Belgium set out to decipher conflicting hypotheses about allogrooming in cats. Allogrooming is when one cat touches another by licking, scratching, nibbling, or rubbing. It’s also been documented in horses, cattle, primates, birds, and insects.
To find out what feline allogrooming means, the researchers did a video-based observational study and found that cats allogroom for social bonding/affiliation and to alleviate social tension.
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