Where do alligators hide their babies? A cat sticks out the tip of its tongue: reasons for this behavior of the animal, norms and deviations Which animal cannot extend its tongue

Surely those who have a four-legged pet at home have noticed how the cat sticks out the tip of its tongue from time to time. The spectacle is very funny, but is it as funny as it seems at first glance? Perhaps the animal has health problems or something is causing him discomfort. To understand this, you need to know the reasons for this behavior of your pet.

The tongue is a muscular organ located in the oral cavity. In cats, it has a rough surface and performs a variety of functions:

• participates in the process of receiving, retaining and digesting food;
• with its help they recognize the taste of food;
• is an excellent assistant in carrying out hygiene procedures.

By licking, cats not only wash away dusty dirt and dead hairs, but also give their fur a well-groomed appearance.

Cats' tongues can vary in size and length. Not only cats, but also, for example, ferrets pull out too long. In such a situation, even a surgeon will not help, so you just have to accept it if the animals feel great with this feature.

What is considered normal?

Why do cats stick out the tip of their tongue? The reasons for this behavior may lie in completely natural reasons.

1. Forgetfulness. The cat was licking itself, and when it was finished, it simply forgot to put its tongue back in place. This happens quite often, especially when the animal is in a relaxed, “blissful” state. The cat may simply get tired due to the fact that the process itself lasts quite a long time, from 10 to 20 minutes, and there is no longer any strength left to hide its tongue. Also, these animals tend to freeze, so the fact that the tip of the tongue looks outward is a normal condition.
2. Relaxation. At the moment of sleep, the tongue relaxes and lengthens so that it does not fit in the mouth. There is nothing scary about this, it happens reflexively and everything returns to normal as soon as the animal wakes up.
3. Stressful conditions. During nervous tension The cat's breathing rate increases. To alleviate its condition, the animal sticks out its tongue.
4. Bite. The peculiarity of the breed of some cats, for example, flat-faced ones, implies a change in the bite. In this case, the tongue is not located behind the teeth, but is slightly pushed forward. Because of this, the tongue may stick out, but if you are not going to participate in exhibitions and this does not cause discomfort to your pet, then there is no need to worry.
5. Cooling. IN hot weather cats, like dogs, can stick out their tongues. This indicates that the animal requires restoration of thermoregulation. Take him to the shade and let him drink. You can spray the wool with water.
6. During childbirth. At the very beginning, when the process has just begun, the cat sticks out its tongue to restore breathing and reduce pain.
7. During the change of teeth. This phenomenon is observed in kittens when their teeth change from milk teeth to molars. Breeds with a flattened muzzle are prone to sticking out their tongues in such cases.

To find out why cats stick out the tip of their tongue and whether it is pathological, touch it with your finger when it is outside. If the animal quickly hid it, then everything is fine.

Why does the tip of a cat's tongue stick out: pathological reasons

Often sticking out your tongue is a symptom of unpleasant health complications. If you notice that your pet is not acting normally, take him to the vet. There are physical and medical problems, as a result of which cats stick out their tongues:

• allergies leading to swelling of the larynx;
• misalignment of the jaw - may be present from birth or appear as a result of injury;
• loss of sensation in the tongue or jaw muscles;
• problems with nervous system, causing the cat to lack muscle control.

What diseases can cause a cat to have the tip of its tongue sticking out:

• inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, for example, stomatitis. The tongue touching the palate or the inner walls of the mouth causes pain, so the cat shows it, easing its condition;
• respiratory diseases. Any ailment that makes breathing difficult is a consequence of a protruding tongue. Most often it is rhinitis, sinusitis, laryngitis, etc.;
• cardiovascular failure. The disease leads to disruption of the inhalation-exhalation processes and shortness of breath. This condition can occur after active games. In this case, the tip of the tongue that appears may have a bluish tint;
• poisoning. Frequent vomiting occurs, which leads to irritation of the vomiting center. The animal begins to breathe rapidly and stick out its tongue;
• infectious diseases. The condition is accompanied by fever, sneezing and nasal congestion, which provokes protruding tongue;
• functional disorders of the brain. Cats are susceptible nervous disorders. In addition to a protruding tongue, you may be alerted to the presence of convulsions, strabismus, urinary and fecal incontinence. Most often, this condition leads to death.

In addition to the above reasons, a cat’s tongue may stick out as a result of tartar or a bone stuck in the throat. An interesting fact is that cats can stick out their tongue reflexively when they hear the sound of tape or a comb coming off. Scientists suggest that this is due to childhood memories when the mother licked the kitten, creating similar sounds.

Pay attention to your pet’s well-being and behavior more often, because... Not all illnesses that precede tongue protrusion are safe. For example, rabies is deadly for both the animal and its owner. Show the cat to a specialist and if everything is in order with her health, you can continue to be touched by the protruding tongue.

Some animals boast the largest teeth, others have tails, and some simply have amazingly long tongues.

Bat

The owner of the longest tongue, as much as 8 cm! turned out to be bat Anoura fistulata. It would seem not much, but if you compare this size with the length of her entire body, which does not exceed 6 cm, it turns out quite impressive. She needs such a long tongue to get nectar from the 8-centimeter corolla of a tropical flower. By the way, the tongue does not fit in the oral cavity, so a special place is designated for it in the chest.

Woodpecker

Everyone knows that a woodpecker knocks on a tree to break the bark and get small bugs or larvae from under it, but it does not grab them with its beak, but with its 10-centimeter-long tongue. At the tip of its tongue there are special hooks with which the bird grabs food and drags it into its mouth. But that’s not all, do you think the tongue is hiding in the mouth? No such luck, it was wrapped around the skull and attached by its root to the nostril.

Echidna

The muzzle of this creature ends in an elongated nose and mouth, nothing unusual, but in the mouth there is a long thin tongue covered with a sticky liquid that is produced by salivary glands, she helps the echidna collect insects on her tongue. The length of the part of the tongue that can come out is 18 cm and a little less is hidden in the mouth.

Giraffe

It turns out that the giraffe not only has the most Long neck, and also a very long, dexterous tongue about 45 cm long. It is thanks to it that the giraffe easily tears leaves from thorny trees.

Chameleon

This lizard simply could not help but be included in the list along with its tongue, the length of which is usually equal to the length of the body, on average it is about 50 cm.

Ant-eater

These amazing animals are completely devoid of teeth, but they don’t really need them. They feed on termites and ants, which they take out of their shelter sticky long tongue. For example, in a giant anteater it reaches 60 cm in length, and the frequency of movements can reach up to 160 times per minute.

Komodo dragon

The most large lizard in the world, the length of which sometimes exceeds 3 meters, has a corresponding tongue about 70 cm long. Monitor lizards are predatory reptiles and are also poisonous. Having bitten a victim, they can pursue it from several hours to several days, waiting until it succumbs to the poison.

A parrot cannot be taught to talk

Snakes don't stick out their tongues to threaten.

What do monkeys look for in the skins of their fellow tribesmen?

“Sweet” purring – a mystery of cats

Clumsy "river horses"

Turtles are the first sleepwalking animals

Shark can drown

Koala is not a bear

The spines are given to the hedgehog for protection.

Our sea "brother"

A parrot cannot be taught to talk

Some species of parrots sometimes pronounce words that we understand. This gives rise to the idea that they can be taught to talk. However, this cannot be called a meaningful conversation, since parrots simply imitate human speech without thinking about the meaning of the spoken words. These birds simply manage to trace associative connections between certain expressions and actions. By the way, parrots are not the only birds that can imitate sounds. For example, crows can learn to bark like dogs, coo like doves, laugh like people, and even “speak” by imitating human speech.

Snakes don't stick out their tongues to threaten.

The idea that a snake sticks out its tongue before attacking a victim is wrong. She moves her tongue in the air not to threaten, but to explore her surroundings. The fact is that most reptiles (lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles) have not learned, like mammals, to sniff objects by inhaling air through their noses. Therefore, their tongue serves as an organ of smell. As if tasting the air, reptiles thus navigate in an unfamiliar environment and find prey.

What do monkeys look for in the skins of their fellow tribesmen?

Observing the behavior of monkeys, you can see how they, sitting next to each other, begin to look for something in each other’s fur and eat it. From the outside it may seem that in this way they show care for each other by combing and catching fleas and other insects. But in reality they only care about themselves. Scientists have found that monkeys look for small salt crystals in the fur of their fellow tribesmen, formed there as a result of the activity of the sweat glands. By eating the salt they find, they restore their body’s supply of mineral salts, which are constantly wasted in hot climates.

“Sweet” purring - a mystery of cats

As you know, by purring, cats express their good mood and friendly disposition towards you. But few people know that they pronounce these melodious sounds without help vocal cords. And even scientists cannot yet say exactly how cats do this. According to the most common theory, the source of these sounds is the vibration of blood in the large vein of the cat's chest, surrounded by muscles, which, at the moment of bliss of the animal, begin to contract convulsively, squeezing and lowering this blood vessel. The air in the lungs amplifies these vibrations to the point that we can hear them.

Clumsy "river horses"

Nowadays, hippopotamuses (in Russian the word behemoth is more often used, but both names are completely equivalent) can be seen only in the most remote areas of Africa and zoos. The thing is that this animal has high-quality thick skin and valuable tusks, the bone of which is stronger than elephant bone. As a result, they became victims of human greed and cruelty. And these mammals got their name thanks to the ancient Greek travelers, who, having met these fat, clumsy animals, whose weight can reach four tons, at the mouth of the Nile River, called them “river horses.”

Turtles are the first animals to “sleepwalk”

From time immemorial, turtles have been considered long-livers; their lifespan is several centuries. They are also distinguished by their extraordinary vitality, that is, they can live without food for up to 5 years and stay in conditions completely devoid of oxygen for up to 10 hours. Thanks to this ability, turtles became the first animals to fly around the moon. The flight took place in September 1968, on a Soviet unmanned vehicle"Zond-5". The turtles calmly endured the seven-day flight and returned safely to Earth.

Shark can drown

It sounds strange, because a shark lives in the ocean, but it can really drown. Therefore, she has to constantly move and even sleep on the go. The fact is that sharks have a greater body density than water, and they do not have a swim bladder, like other fish. In addition, sharks do not have gill wings, and without movement they can suffocate from the lack of oxygen that they extract from the water. At the same time, the body of sharks is well adapted for fast and maneuverable swimming. It has an elongated, streamlined shape and ends with a large, good fin. By the way, most sharks prefer to live in saltwater sea ​​water, but some species also live in fresh waters.

Koala is not a bear

Anyone who has seen a koala at least once will be surprised to learn that it has nothing in common with bears. This animal belongs to the marsupial family. However, due to the fact that it looks like a small teddy bear, it is often called " marsupial bear" A newborn koala, no more than 20 mm in length and weighing about 6 grams, spends the first 6 months of its life in a “bag” located on the mother’s stomach, and then “travels” for another six months on her back or stomach, clinging to thick and soft fur. Koalas live in trees, and come down to the ground only to move from one eucalyptus to another, the leaves of which they feed on.

The spines are given to the hedgehog for protection.

The hedgehog can often be found in our forests and groves. The back of this animal is covered with thick spines, and for some reason it was believed that they need them in order to carry fruits and vegetables. In fact, hedgehogs use their spines to protect themselves from predators. As soon as it senses danger, the hedgehog curls up into a ball, putting its needles forward, and turns into a prickly ball. This deters most predators. True, on the African continent there are hedgehogs covered with hair, but they run fast. The main food for hedgehogs are insects, snakes and frogs, but they can also eat plant foods.

Our sea "brother"

Dolphin is a derivative of the Greek word "delphos" - brother. Under this name, 70 species of animals are known, belonging to the order Cetaceans and living in almost all seas, oceans and even some rivers. The ideal hydrodynamic body shape and light weight of dolphins allow them to move in the water at speeds of up to 50 km/h. Dolphins breathe air and therefore are forced to rise to the surface once or twice a minute to do this. But under exceptional circumstances, they can go without oxygen for up to 6-7 minutes. The excellent hearing of dolphins is explained by the fact that they perceive sound waves not only with the hearing aid, but also with the whole body, especially the surface of the head.