Why does a cat have a rough tongue?

Although it’s common to hear that cat tongues are scratchy like sandpaper, we can guarantee you that your favorite cat’s tongue structure is far more imaginative than anything you could find on a hardware store shelf. But a thorough examination would be necessary to determine the true situation, and we doubt the cat would like such an intrusion. Fortunately for us, some excellent scientists have already put forth a great deal of effort to demonstrate the shape of the tongue and to make conjectures about its potential functions.

How does the tongue of a cat look?

Cat tongues appear nearly hairy to the unaided eye. However, their tongues are coated in numerous tiny, backward-facing spines known as papillae in place of hair. These pointed, scoop-shaped papillae were hollow and made of stiff keratin, a protein that has stiffened and is present in animal hooves, horns, and claws, as well as human hair and nails. It’s interesting to note that your cat and its larger, wilder cousins share these papillae. Similar structures can be seen on the tongues of domesticated cats, bobcats, cougars, snow leopards, tigers, or lions, according to micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scans.

Three Causes Why Cats’ Rough Tongues Feel Like Sandpaper

It makes sense that your cat’s tongue would feel like sandpaper if dragged across your skin, given that it is covered with hundreds of tiny spines. Additionally, despite the fact that the purpose of this coarse composition is simply a hypothesis, there are a number of research-based theories:

1 — They aid in cat grooming.

A cat’s tongue has papillae, which are hollow sections that help in grooming. The flexible hollow bases make it simpler to get out hairs that have been entangled in the tongue, and the area at the tip serves the purpose of wicking saliva off the mouth or depositing it deep within the cat’s fur. Put another way, your cat’s tongue functions similarly to an extremely advanced, built-in comb.

There are numerous benefits to grooming, which explains why cats dedicate around 25% of the day to this activity. That routine grooming can help avoid the development of uncomfortable mats or tangles that can harbor bacteria by eliminating fleas, debris, and stray hairs. Read This: How to Take Care of a Kitten or How to Groom a Kitten

2 — They help with cats’ digestion.

Not only is the papillae’s capacity to deposit saliva deeply into a cat’s coat useful for washing, but it’s also a clever tool for thermoregulation — the process by which cats regulate their body temperature. As cats only have sweat glands within their paws, grooming was previously believed to be a way for cats to regulate their body temperature. It was discovered that saliva deposits near a cat’s skin, assisted by papillae, can supply up to 25% of the cooling required for thermoregulation. Read More…