If my face were dirty, and I licked my arm, then rubbed my arm on my face, it might move the dirt around, and transfer some to my arm. I guess if I then licked my arm, I might remove dirt by swallowing it. But unless I wiped my arm off on another surface or something, I don’t see how this could remove dirt.
I know there are other reasons why cats groom themselves, e.g. to spread oils around their coat. But, in terms of actually removing dirt … does it help?
In: Biology
A cats tongue is specially made to remove dirt, debris and other junk from their fur.
They have tongues that are rough not only for licking meat off a bone or drinking water but for cleaning themselves.
When they lick their paws, they get saliva on it and then when they rub their faces, either the dirt comes off or it sticks to the wet part of their paw, then they licked the paw again which removes any dirt from the paw.
Certain things like grease if the cat was under a car or brushed against something greasy won’t come off right away, but will eventually wear off with the daily baths.
This is a good example of the benefits of cats living in colonies, not only for protection, hunting, safety of kittens, but also because grooming is easier too. For example; feral cats will end up in a colony. In the wild, a lot of different species of cats live together. While books and websites might not come right out and say it. It is a big benefit of living together.
Fellow cats will lick the hard to get spots, another cats face, forehead, between the ears (sometimes the ears themselves, between the shoulder blades, under the chin and throat. What does not come off during a self given bath will come off when another cat grooms it.
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