Cats spend roughly 3-50 percent of their day grooming. While most cats groom themselves, cats will also groom each other as a social behavior.

Animal ecologist Dr. Ruud Van den Bos, PhD, said that grooming is “a way for cats to redirect pent-up aggression and to reaffirm dominance in a way that’s far better than doing so through aggressive and even violent behaviors.”

In addition, cats groom each other as a sign of nurturing and protection. Sometimes cats can’t reach in certain areas so it’s helpful to have another cat groom those spots instead. So cats have a lot of reasons to groom each other because it gives them something to do besides sleep all day long.

To learn more about the grooming habits of cats, click here.