My Cat Sticks His Rear In The Air When Stroked
by Michael
Charlie just after being stroked down his back! His back is very strong to compensate for having only 3 legs
Yes, my cat sticks his rear in the air with an upright tail, when stroked. I am talking about Charlie, my three legged boy cat. The picture above shows the acute angle at which he pretty well immediately places his derriere when you stroke his lower back.
I have not seen such an acute angle before in other cats, although my girl cat raises her back slightly as if it is a response to downward pressure. But it has nothing to do with that at all.
I have talked about cat stroking in a number of posts (I must be obsessed with it!):
Stroking a Cat
Why Cats Like Being Sroked
Why Does My Cat Lick Me?
I am sure that the regular visitors know the reason why Charlie sticks his rear in the air but it is not that obvious.
From the cat's point of view, our relationship with our cat is built on the basis that we are a mother cat and our cat remains our kitten.
When we stroke our cat our hand is a giant mother's tongue (cats live in a land of giants) licking him or her. When a mother cat licks her offspring she also checks out her offspring's rear end. For young kittens the mother also licks her kitten's anus to stimulate bowel movement, something vital to health.
Bearing in mind that our cats, adult or otherwise, are perpetual kittens (when not behaving as wild cats in the garden) in our relationship with them, our stroking immediately prompts the automatic response of presenting his or her rear end for inspection.
The tail is lifted to facilitate this. It looks a bit rude in our sanitised nature-distant world but it is beautifully natural and very functional.
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