kitty g spot.

August 6, 2006 12:33 AM

What is it with cats and the little spot at the base of their tail?

Do all cats love getting scratched at the base of their tail? Ive never met one that didn't. Even ones that didn't have tails, you could still scratch that spot and they'd go nuts. Most cats you can even poke that spot and it causes this chain muscle reaction that's just precious. Why is it? Is there some nerve right there that triggers a pleasure center? What is so special about that spot?

posted by atom128 to pets & animals (19 comments total)

oh. and every cat i've owned has a thing for socks, shoes, and bags. this is also true for my friends cats. What's going through their little heads?
posted by atom128 at 12:36 AM on August 6, 2006

I don't know, but all of my cats do that too. One of them really, really loves it, just a little more obscenely than the others do. I'd love to know what the deal is with that.
posted by bedhead at 12:38 AM on August 6, 2006

my cat is more a fan of boxes, but he also hops in any reachable luggage whenever the chance presents. I would guess it has to do with liking security when resting. And not wanting to be left behind when I leave.

My cats both love the butt thing. I used to know a cat that would stop in the middle of whatever and stick its butt absurdly high whenever you'd scratch the spot above his tail. Don't know what its about though...
posted by gilsonal at 12:47 AM on August 6, 2006

Answered previously.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:49 AM on August 6, 2006

solid one love - interesting thread, im not sure thats quite the same spot im talking about. thanks for that link though.
posted by atom128 at 1:26 AM on August 6, 2006

No No, atom, I promise you it's the same spot.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 5:38 AM on August 6, 2006

I'm pretty sure it's the same spot, atom.
posted by Meagan at 6:47 AM on August 6, 2006

and every cat i've owned has a thing for socks, shoes, and bags. this is also true for my friends cats. What's going through their little heads?

They're fashionable! :-) Seriously, I have noticed this too. One of my cats used to have a weird compulsion with socks. Whenever we were out for more than the normal workday, he would take a sock out of the laundry basket and bring it into the living room. When we went on vacation for a week, despite the cat sitter, we came home to a nice little pile of socks.

My theory is that cats like things that smell like their people. Your shoes & socks smell like you, so it's probably attractive for them to dig around and play with them.

As for bags...cats like to poke around inside of things that might hold mysterious treasures or tiny woodland creatures. They will do this with boxes too.
posted by tastybrains at 7:29 AM on August 6, 2006

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail! Behold,
elevator butt.


tastybrains - my cat does the same thing! I could swear he's trying to arrange them into a pentagram!)
posted by zerokey at 8:09 AM on August 6, 2006

Not all cats.

My cat will bite the crap out of you if you go anywhere near his tail. He does, however, love to have his paws tickled.
posted by bradth27 at 8:38 AM on August 6, 2006

Although I don't have a reference for it, my understanding is that there are a lot of nerves near that area (due to it being the tail), meaning that it is a big pleasure center.
posted by WCityMike at 8:46 AM on August 6, 2006

My friends and I all call this the "Ass Button".
posted by FlamingBore at 10:07 AM on August 6, 2006

Re: solid-one-love's link. Sounds like there are two different spots, which produce different behaviors although many cats like both. I've never met a cat with the lick spot, but nearly every cat I've known had the butt elevator spot. The other thread has anecdotes and theories about both.

Had a former stray cat once who hated, hated the butt elevator spot, because her skin was permanently sensitive from a "flea infection" there.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:08 AM on August 6, 2006

My cat gets very grumpy if you get anywhere near his tail.
posted by snickerdoodle at 10:23 AM on August 6, 2006

My cat USED to get grumpy when you scratched near his tail... then he realized that he actually likes it.


He has a very hard time with this, and will purr very loud for a couple minutes, then bite me and run away. Sounds like wierd responses are to be expected with this "c-spot".
posted by hatsix at 10:43 AM on August 6, 2006

It's not just cats. Just about any 4-legged animals loves to be scratched just above the tail, because that's about the one place they can't reach.

_{cat people...sigh...}
posted by Mr. Gunn at 1:32 PM on August 6, 2006

"...and bags."

My cat is deathly afraid of plastic bags. Make the slightest noise with one, and he goes running.

Interestingly, if you're not holding it, he's content to lay down on top of them.
posted by CrayDrygu at 3:42 PM on August 6, 2006

one of our cats (male) absolutely has a "ass button", so much that he demands you pat him or scratch him there. the other cat (female) will growl at you if you get anywhere near that spot. i read somewhere that it has to do with glands and testosterone and stuff.. but honestly dont remember much about it.
posted by trishthedish at 8:26 PM on August 6, 2006

Mating cats do a little 'exercise' involving the spot that may have some relevance.

Males stand in back of a receptive female and do what looks like the mashing behavior on the rump of the female prior to mounting her. In female cats, this might be one reason that the area is highly sensitive and results in the 'presentation' posture.

Cats are induced ovulators, which means that they don't ovulate until the copulate. The males have a barbed penis, which provides a painful feeling to the female on withdrawal, and that stimulates ovulation. Since the sex part is not apparently all that fun for the female, it could be the only biological payoff for the female.

As far as why males may do the same thing, it might be a for the same reason that my female beagle humps occasional visitors. The behavior has no obvious value to a female, but it is hard wired in that little beagle brain. Same thing with the 'butt elevator' in male cats?
posted by FauxScot at 2:31 AM on August 7, 2006