Research overview: allogrooming and allorubbing in cat social bonds

Cats living in groups engage in allogrooming, licking one another, and allorubbing, rubbing bodies together, behaviours that build and maintain social bonds. This overview surveys research on these affiliative interactions in colonies and multi-cat households, examining who grooms and rubs whom, how the behaviours relate to dominance and tension reduction, and their role in establishing a shared group scent. It discusses asymmetries in allogrooming that may reflect social hierarchy. The topic shows how the supposedly solitary cat possesses a repertoire of bonding behaviours that knit individuals into cohesive groups, with direct implications for managing social compatibility among housed cats.