Amber & Belly Licks

Aside from the same birth mother (but not necessarily father), being found in the rhubarb patch, and not being appreciative of their baby brothers' energies, another thing Woody and Tiggy have in common is that they overgroom their bellies.

It has been explained to me that this is about stress.  It's sort of a nervous habit that becomes habitual.  And, it feels nice to the cat to have its belly rubbed, even if that is by a really really rough tongue*.

Back in the old days, before we had baby brothers and burned lavender incense, they used to lick to the point of rawness, but now they just keep their bellies relatively hairless and it seems pretty benign.  They each even have a small amount of peach fuzz covering the whole area now. I don't worry about it because they seem less stressed out overall.

*