Do cats actually remove dirt by licking their paws and rubbing their faces?

Question

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

Answer 1

Well, if your hair was dirty, brushing it with a light oil would actually help remove some of the dirt. If you had some greasy grimy patch that didn’t smell great, some oil would definitely help. Plus, a little bit of oil can actually keep a coat from picking up dirt and grime and getting tangled.

But what you see a cat doing when it licks its paws and rubs its face is a little more complicated. It’s usually not cleaning its face. Most of a cat’s oil/scent glands are on its face. When a cat rubs its forepaws around its ears or face, it’s transferring those oils to its forepaws. Sometimes you’ll then see the cat lick its forepaws — I think cats find pleasure in tasting it when they’re grooming themselves or another cat — and then groom some other part of its body. That’s one way to spread their scent all over their body and maintain their coat. If they have a gnarly tangle you might see them try to detangle it with their teeth, then take a break while they rub their face and lick their paws, then go back to working on it with their teeth. Sometimes instead of getting oil from their face, they’ll really go to town chchchchewing around the supracaudal glands at the base of their tail, then resume grooming some trouble spot. People think they must be going after a flea or something g but if it’s the base of the tail it’s almost always the supracaudal gland.

I don’t know for certain that they’re oiling up their teeth to make it easier to tease out tangles and burrs, but I’ve seen cats do it so many times that it’s hard not to imagine it is so.