Mercedes Benzene Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Why is it that cats arch their back when you stroke them.It seems to be a response that all cats share (in common).Is it autonomous, a reflex? Or is it forced, and purposeful?What use does it serve. Just something as I was pondering while petting my girlfriend's cat today.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthepon Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 (This might not seem all that scientific) This little streching urge can be felt to an extent in us humans also. This simplifies things then. Have someone stroke your back, MB (Tell them it's a sceintific experiment) and notice how you feel. Now just why this happens I don't know. But cats also may follow the same instincts. PS: Don't let Boerseun know you've been stroking cats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockydude Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 I personally think that its a reflex action. I am not too sure but i suppose that the cat's back might contain alot of nerve endings making it sort of an erogenous zone. So it might trigger a stimuli to its brain which, in repsonse, makes the cat arch its back. Its kind of a sensation of getting "tickled" which the cat feels. Dont' think its of any purpose though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Maybe they are trying to maximize their surface area so your touch covers more space. Or, maybe it gets the system moving, blood/nerve cells and such, and the stimulus get to the brain more intensely. Or, maybe it's related to the sexual idea of lordosis, whereby a sexually receptive female will arch her back and stick her bum in the air (this is how the measure it in rats too...). Maybe it feels SO good that it's almost sexual. Or, some combination of everything that's been said. :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthepon Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 So many hypotheses... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 So many hypotheses...So little time. :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydrogenBond Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 When cats are trying to butter you up for food or patting, as they circle around your ankles they will often arch their backs before you pet them. Sometimes they get cause and affect mixed up or they use an affect to create a cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anglepose Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 maybe there just strecthing everyone likes a good stretch once in a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes Benzene Posted July 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 It's okay... I really thought there may be some scientific explanation... ..it just seems (to me) that it is strange that a cat arching its back is a universal response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydrogenBond Posted July 16, 2006 Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 If you ever saw a cat going ballistic within a defensive/aggressive stance it will also arch its back. Maybe this makes it look taller. It may also work like a spring so it can charge its enemy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 16, 2006 Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 It's okay... I really thought there may be some scientific explanation... ..it just seems (to me) that it is strange that a cat arching its back is a universal response. There is a scientific explanation, yes. The cat is marking you with scent. The scent is generated by glands in the cheeks & top of the head (among others), and the cat first rubs these areas on an object & then arches its back to drag it across the scent deposit & further distribute it. :cup: Mercedes Benzene 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes Benzene Posted July 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2006 There is a scientific explanation, yes. The cat is marking you with scent. The scent is generated by glands in the cheeks & top of the head (among others), and the cat first rubs these areas on an object & then arches its back to drag it across the scent deposit & further distribute it. O.O Really>??? Wow. That was exactly the kind of explanation I was looking for!Thanks Turtle! Once again, you have amazed me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthepon Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Urgh! Turte, must you have said it in public?? I won't touch one ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chacmool Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Wow, I must be REEKING of cat all the time... :star: No wonder dogs go bonkers when I get near them. :moon: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 hehe cats are a wonder.. tell me, why and how do they purr? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boerseun Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Cats arch their backs and purr in an attempt to suppress human intelligence. They've been doing the whole 'cute' routine ever since their spaceship landed on Earth in 3000BC. The current cat-population we have are simply emisaries for a larger population that are still in hibernation on the far side of the moon. The cats we see on planet Earth today are only here to tame us for the eventual invasion to come. The do the 'cute' routine in order to train us to feed them. They are nothing but a bunch of hairy intergalactic freeloaders, and I will have nothing to do with them. Wake up, people. The threat is real. They will take over the world and we will simply be wage-slaves to care for them and feed them and change their litterboxes. Cats look down on humans. Even when you are six feet above them, and they are sleeping on the carpet in front of the heater, they still look 'down' upon you. They are the only animals in the known universe able to achieve this dimension-defying feat. And this is only an inkling of the low regard they have for us mere humans. Chacmool and pgrmdave 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chacmool Posted July 17, 2006 Report Share Posted July 17, 2006 Must feed the cat... must clean the litter tray... must stroke the cat... must give over world dominance... :moon: Boerseun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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