Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/01/why-a-cats-tongue-is-covered.html
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You should also definitely mention the other part of a cat’s anatomy that is covered with tiny barbs and why that’s so. Hint: I’m not talking about their feet. 
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It’s pointy ends all the way down!
I was given to understand that the papillae also help in rasping meat from bones.
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Cat saliva is a complex, highly evolved biological cocktail containing microbes, enzymes, cleansers and healing agents. The tongue papillae maximize the area of each cat hair’s surface that will be annointed with saliva.
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& it feels good.
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I’m hoping that works for me: Our office cat snuck into my cubicle this morning and batted around the loose vitamins sitting on my desk. If those paws were in his sandbox…
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My cat (at typically inconvenient times) will decide I need to be cleaned and grab my head or hands with both paws to hold me in place until he thinks I have been made sanitary.
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Prey species tend to be on the lookout for danger, and one whiff of the wrong odor can give the cat away.
Hmmm… so said prey hasn’t evolved to detect the overpowering smell of cat breath, eh? Fascinating.
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As I watched this video, our Senior Cat, Lorenzo, took the opportunity to curl up in my lap and purr loudly. He’s not the one that grabs my hand and demonstrates that rough, sandpaper tongue - that duty is delegated to the new cat - but he’s happy to let me work on my petting skills.
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Those skills need constant upkeep and testing, if our cats are any indication.
Also, they apparently believe we forget where the food is each morning, and are sure to lead us to the right location, looking behind as they walk to make sure we don’t get lost along the way.
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it is not easy to find competent servants
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It’s also fascinating how cats use their tongue to become masters of fluid dynamics by pulling the water into their mouth (as opposed to dogs that basically use their tongue to scoop water into their mouths).
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Which seems like a much simpler solution…
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It’s a hell of a lot messier and less cool, though.
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My cat is so above average; he grooms obsessively and then barfs in the wee hours.
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Don’t worry, PLOS1 has a peer-reviewed scientific paper showing that the mind-altering parasitic microbes the cat deposited on your vitamins are totally harmless.
The paper’s author, Ms. Karen Sugden of Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, is pictured below.
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“Our results suggest that a positive test for T. gondii antibodies does not result in increased susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders, poor impulse control or impaired neurocognitive ability. Moreover, we found no association between seropositivity and aberrant personality functions.”
Thank goodness! One less worry. One less… kfherfwfjffi!!!MYMINDISGOING!!!IFEFJEREIOEKJJJDJHkfjrfj!!!
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Damn. I guess that means i need to stop using this as an excuse.
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With language like that, you could market it to glitterati as a holistic skin care product.
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