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Subscribe to RSSEngineers have used high-speed videos and mechanical gizmos to figure out the mechanics of a cat's drinking style, confirming what most pet owners know already: Cats are way different from dogs.
Dogs drink by dipping their tongues into liquids like ladles. A little pool of water is brought into the mouth every time Fido takes a gulp from the toilet bowl. Cats, in contrast, touch only the curled-back tip of the tongue onto the surface of the liquid. When the tongue is drawn back up into the cat's mouth, a thin column of the liquid is drawn up as well. Then the cat closes its mouth around that column.
The cat-lapping study was published today on the journal Science's website.
Roman Stocker, an engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in fluid dynamics, admitted in a Science video interview that the research was "somewhat unusual."
M. Pilotto, R. Stocker, P. Reis
How do cats lap? Cutta Cutta shows how it's done.
"What prompted this study of cats was in fact my cat," he said. "I was watching him one morning, three years ago over breakfast, as he was lapping his water. It occurred to me that there was an exciting biomechanics problem hidden behind the commonplace and apparently simple action of lapping."
Researchers spent hours at Stocker's house, waiting for the cat (named Cutta Cutta) to take a drink while the high-speed video camera was rolling. They also analyzed scores of videos of drinking cats -- ranging from recordings of big cats at Zoo New England to cute videos they found on YouTube.
They found that domestic cats average about four laps per second, with each lap bringing in about 0.1 milliliters of liquid. In contrast, tigers, lions and jaguars lap at less than half the rate. In each scenario, the lapping action strikes a balance between the inertia that makes the liquid rise into the cat's mouth ... and the gravity that makes the liquid fall.
"What is remarkable is that cats seem to know about this balance, and lap with a frequency that maximizes this volume ingested," said MIT's Pedro Reis, another co-author of the paper.
To tease out the full story behind a cat's lap, the researchers basically used an artificial cat tongue -- a little glass disk attached to the end of a plunger that dipped down onto the surface of a liquid at an adjustable rate. This gave the scientists a way to quantify how gravity and inertia worked together ... without waiting for Cutta Cutta to decide he was thirsty.
This is the kind of research that sounds as if it came to a conclusion everybody already knows, but Stocker told me these are new discoveries. "I don't think anyone has explained it," he said, "certainly not the balance of forces behind it."
A lapping cat was one of the subjects covered in the Oscar-winning short subject titled "Quicker 'n a Wink," released back in 1940. MIT engineer Doc Edgerton recorded the cat's technique using a high-speed camera, but didn't delve into the detailed fluid mechanics behind it.
Stocker admitted that there's not an immediate practical application to the research, which was conducted with borrowed equipment and no outside funding. But he said the mechanics of a cat's tongue could be adapted for robotic devices that move water around using soft structures (like, say, an elephant's trunk). There might also be some evolutionary lessons to be learned from the differences between the drinking habits of cats and dogs.
The way dogs drink liquids is somewhat messier, Stocker noted. "Part of a cat's face is highly sensitive -- for example, the whiskers. There might be a desire on the part of the cat to keep those dry," Stocker speculated.
But when you get right down to it, the experiment was "purely curiosity-driven," Stocker said.
"Although people may not appreciate that, curiosity is often what motivates science," he said. And the nicest part is that in this experiment, curiosity did not kill the cat.
"The cat is still quite happy," Stocker told me over the telephone. "In fact, he's sitting right beside me now."
Update for 2 p.m. ET Nov. 12: Over at the Not Exactly Rocket Science weblog, Ed Yong goes into more detail about the experiment as well as feline drinking habits. He includes a link to "Quicker 'n a Wink" on YouTube -- a link that eluded me yesterday. You can see the cat-drinking footage at around the 4:40 mark in this clip:
More on cats and dogs:
- How science measures up cats and dogs
- In war of dogs vs. cats, the answer is clear
- Cat calls monkeys to their doom
- Cat vs. dog evolution
In addition to Stocker and Reis, the authors of "How Cats Lap: Water Uptake by Felis Catus" include Virginia Tech's Sunghwan Jung and Princeton's Jeffrey Aristoff.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
I can't believe I actually took the time to read this. Really....you did this study? Was it helpful in anyway with saving an animals life, a persons life...anything or just pure curiosity? That's hard working men for ya...not impressive gentlemen!
Who in the hell cares how a cat drinks its liquids? I want to know who paid someone to do this stupid research. Maybe they should concentrate on cancer research a little more closely. Honestly MSN this has to be one low point on your scale to even waste time and YOUR money on this story.
I meant to click "Reply", not "like"...
Anyway, I'll attempt to answer your questions...
1. The author cared, and thought it would be fun to share the findings.
2. No one paid anyone to do the research. It was done purely for curiosity's sake, using borrowed equipment, on the author's own time, with his own cat.
3. How do you know the study author doesn't participate in cancer research on his PAID time (i.e. when he is at work)?
4. And yet you clicked the article headline anyway... (I'm not going to assume you actually read the article, given the questions you asked).
Have a nice day!
:)
RE-READ THE ARTICLE OH BRILLIANT ONE.
Cat lapping, huh? New discovery? Revelation? Secret? Hardly. The tactics and attending physical laws of cat lapping have been known for decades. The only thing new is the photography. It's better
In Inda the government funded a study on WHY people pick their noses...go figure..
what was their conclusion? how idiotic and pointless the study was/
This article is actually bogus. It's REAL intent was to prove the theory on how stupid most people are. They are gathering hard data on how many will complain of wasted gov't monies to fund this study without having actually read the article and NUMEROUS comments explaining that it was NOT a sponsored study.
I am astounded daily with the idiocy of the general masses.
Stop griping and get back to work.
many of them well once the government actually starts to fix the problem that made the demand for jobs above the supply....
So Frustrating. Couldn't you Neanderthals even read the article before making asinine comments and looking like idiots? It clearly states there was no public funding, they volunteered their time and borrowed their equipment. It cost YOU nothing. Now shut up and go back to being irrelevant.
how about you shut up. If the equipment was damaged or destroyed by an unforeseen accident it would be our concern because a portion of our taxpaying dollars would be used to replace the equipment under the name "government grant". Also the fact they using obvious expensive equipment to do research that is irrelevant and idiotic is the main point of these complaints...try learning to read the intent of a comment before posting. you might save yourself a lot of time by not looking like a total moron.
If...If...If... and none of that happened, DBM, making your post almost as irrelevant as its author. Furthermore, the complaints have ALL been about how much of the taxpayers money this cost blah, blah, blah... Attempting to change recent (written) history to make your point is moronic. You look like a whining fool, accept it and move on with your life.
actually it not moronic as science does it too. well the science about space and time anyways. I rather leave time as it is I rather not think what if I went back and did this change it gets all confusing by the end...well if it was up to me. Anyways I'm not whining I am merely pointing out one of the causes of the complaints everyone entitled to their opinion even you.
Interesting, to me as a human who is owned by two cats. But how do you explain why one cat will dip a paw into the milk dish and lick or suck the paw, never dipping her tongue into the dish?
Iris - see my reply in comment #99. Just a hypothesis mind you.
Finally I know! Now I can sleep at night.
Excerpt from the Washington Post:
Although the work on cat drinking was done for professional pleasure - it wasn't funded by a grant, and the only expense was high-quality video cameras - the researchers said there could be useful implications gleaned from their "fundamental" research.
The four current-day researchers used equipment at an MIT center for high-speed photography named after Edgerton, who was a much-honored MIT professor of electrical engineering for five decades.
Question: When you use equipment at an MIT facility, is it really free?
Can't believe there are tons of posts on this subject and what's more amazing is most of you idiots are serious about this. Who the hell cares how a Cat drinks it's water? The article claims this is "new and exciting?" Scientist reveal "secret" of a Cats lap. What secret? You open your mouth, stick your tongue into a dish and viola! you drink.
What's more amusing is reading the responses defending this to the hilt. "This is knowledge" "Well nobdoy thought much of this and look how that turned out" Seriously, don't you have better things to learn and debate than this. You guys must be fun at parties.
Steve, who cares. The cameras were there. They weren't purchased for the experiment. They were borrowed for the experiment. Do you really have nothing else to worry about in your life than a borrowed camera?
This is not new news nor an ancient Chinese secret! They discovered how cats differ from dogs when they drink years ago with slowing a video of a cat drinking... I don't know about you all... but I believe everything I read in the news...NOT!
The experiment was conducted years ago. If you read the article, the editor clearly acknowledges that. I say one of the only good things to come from this research is the improved photography. I believe that the last time this was studied, it was in the mid 1900's or later, I forget the exact date, so the quality of the images were not very great.
Wow....how brilliant scientists are they rediscovered how cats drink water...ummm just to rain on your parade of science prevails boring cheers The rest of the world...well we Cat Owners already knew the science behind such actions...in fact you could of saved yourself a ton of embarrassment if you just asked us or actually read a book about cats drinking....
I'm starting to think Science is nothing more then one of the many religions out there I mean you have to be completely stupid to believe this is progress...What's next? How a Snail clings to walls?
Why don't you actually stop looking for excuses to use your high speed video technological junk and actually just apply what everyone knows about animals into technology. You might actually be making progress. The information has already been gathered...tested and found accurate now take what "scientists" did before you and apply it to the now...stop wasting money whether it government funding or money out of your own pocket on useless slag such as this. Robotics, Warfare, even commercial goods could be what we only dream and read about in books if scientist actually did as they preached and actually push the envelope as far as they can. Not this little Grade School experiments of observing a cat drink water or a snail clinging to a vertical surface. What you all waiting for another rosewell where supposedly aliens came and we got out mircowaves from?
Also before someone says these experiments are necessary explain to me why they are when we have so many books, so many biologists, so many things studying them all the time that we could possibly need to perform these idiotic primitive experiments? I can see if the cat was some new species or a mutant then we must know what the mutation or species was capable of even if it just simple drinking. But for a house cat a pet I'm sure there a book in the bookstore that explains in great detail the science behind a cat's tongue.
Bitter much?
I'm not sure you know how important these little experiments turn out to be. Sure, cat lapping may not get us anywhere, but how a snail clings to a wall? That could be very useful to learn how to make a new adhesive, etc. How do you think we can fly big, giant jet planes? If it were not for inspiration from birds, study on wing structure and how they create lift, we'd be nowhere. Oh, and if researchers hadn't taken time to study the streamline shape of a shark and their fins, our planes would not be flying (namely fighter jets) with the grace they have today. We wouldn't have sonar if we didn't study bats or dolphins. We wouldn't have tunnels if we didn't take inspiration or observe mice, ground moles, beavers, etc. We wouldn't have giant dams if we didn't study beavers. I can go on. So before you troll about how idiotic science is today, please think about what you are going to say. Animal research has gotten us so far, and most of it was once thought to be pointless. This could lead to a better way to collect water, etc. Not a dime was spent, only his time, a borrowed camera, and his cat.
My cat also drinks from the faucet (I've never seen her drink from a bowl, so we don't even put one out anymore). My question though is that it seems she'd only be getting a half column of water at a time compared to the cat who sticks its entire tongue down into the water contained in a bowl, does this make my cat have to spend twice as much time drinking? I'm not buying another cat, so I'd appreciate it if someone else did this research as well. Heck, I'd even be okay with government funding! After all we can't give all of our tax dollars to Halirbuton.
Your cat has you well trained.
tatersalad shhhhhhhhh your gonna delay What about This's cat take over of the house lol
This is a really interesting experiment. The 2 cats that I have had drink exactly like how you explained it, except that when my cat started to get old and skinny, he would dip the very bottom of his paw into the side of the bowl, then suck the water from his paw. Even though he hated getting his paws wet. I'm interested to know why he did that. But I guess he was an interesting old cat. I miss him.
Very simply it was less strain on him to dip his paw and use it to collect the water then to bend down and lap up the water. Cats are highly intelligent more so then scientist would like to acknowledge they excellent problem solvers. To your cat dipping his paw was more acceptable then causing a few back pains from old age by bending down and lapping the water.
that's my guess anyways based on the information you provided
Dark Bottle, I'm confused...
In several posts, you rant about the general inanity of "scientists" conducting an experiment such as the one in the article, yet you state "Cats are highly intelligent [sic] more so then [sic] scientist [sic] would like to acknowledge..."
So, please explain (other than via experiments like the one in the article) how, exactly, scientists would go about acknowledging the intelligence of anything? Keep in mind it is "stupid" to study it in the first place...
I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I meant this. Scientists have studied cats before and documented all their findings before. This includes how a cat is able to drink water. To me doing a experiment for an answer that already found is kind of well pointless. understand now? I do tend to confuse people a lot.
I wish people would read the whole article before commenting about how much this cost and about what could this research lead to. Both were covered in the article morons!
People are reading the article fully and understanding it. The point remains this experiment regardless of being a official government funded project or a project done on their own time was utterly pointless and completely a waste of time and burrowed equipment. There are plenty of books that you can burrow from a Library that discuss in great detail the fundamentals of a cat drinking, eating, and even grooming. The fact they spent this amount of time and effort to find out the answer through experiments that yielded the same amount of information is just showing how foolish scientists can be.
Unless the researchers...plural...spent the hours at Stocker's house AFTER hours, SOMEONE's money (MIT's?) was spent/wasted on this "research."
Wow, being called a neanderthal and a moron because I don't see the value of this useless "experiment". NICE........
Don't worry you won't be the only one called that...kind of sad those who said we making progress having really progressed passed name calling and throwing sticks to prove a point.
I definitely don't condone name-calling. It's a little hard for me to ride herd on comments the way I used to, when I had to approve every comment. But I really prefer it when folks address the information rather than the person. Two things to keep in mind: As noted in the article, this relatively cost-free experiment could be of use in designing future robots as well as figuring out how different ways of doing the same thing (drinking) developed in different species over time, and why. The other point is that even if I couldn't come up with those possible avenues for applications, some research that may seem "useless" at the time actually turns out to be quite useful later ... and in any case sheds light on significant principles (in this case, biomechanics). This is why it's important to support basic research and not expect that every experiment will result in a new gizmo or medication.
Not to be offensive or anything but don't we have books discussing in great detail about the fundamental science behind a simple action such as drinking for cats, dogs, and even birds now since so many pet owners have raised, observe, and study these creatures? now if this was into the mentality of a cat that might yield some valuable hidden information as cats are as unique as humans in my opinion. But on simple movement which was observe for millennium I highly doubt we learn anything new.
To all the posters complaining about Federal money: THERE WAS NO OUTSIDE FUNDING. REPEAT, NO OUTSIDE FUNDING. In fact, since the time spent on this project could have been spent on a funded project, there's probably a positive effect on the Federal budget. I for one find it refreshing that these scientists are indeed genuinely curious and don't feel that somebody else has to pay to satisfy their curiosity.
then you a fool. I can see if they discovered some unknown species of cat or animal. I expect none of them would be complaining if the research could help with our economy, the world, or even general health. But to study something that already has been answered and can easily be found in a book is complete idiocy. It is refreshing they didn't expect to be paid for their idiocy but as my grandmother use to say. Idiocy in science only breeds more idiocy.
I don't think they would have been satisfied using mid 1900's footage. Sure it can be found in a book, but with todays modern equipment, it can be studied in greater detail. I suppose that's really the only good thing about this though, not like they discovered anything new. So please don't call anyone a fool. msnovember was only making a valid point that some commentors failed to see--that no money, namely tax dollars, was spent. And this is genuine curiousity. Do you think scientists are curious to study how to cure cancer when it's already being studied in GREAT detail? No, I think they want to touch on things from the past and things that are new.
I love reading these comments. You find out who the smart people (the ones who actually read the article and retained what it said) are and who the ignorant people (the ones who write remarks which make absolutely no sense) are.
I like reading how uncreative people are in their names. And how narrow minded their usernames suggest them to be...
And I love how you shoot straight for insulting the user name rather than the substance of his post.
Could you give it a rest DBM? Alan already state that he does not tolerate seeing name callers. You're just asking to get suspended.
Talk about a slow news day.
Following up on my previous comment: I would like to see a non-funded study correlating an individual's IQ with the likelihood of that person reading an article all the way to the end.
You will be surprise how that study will become boring. Everyone read the Article and understood it. What happened was they lost control over their emotions. Try understanding the human creature by observing humans instead of basing your opinions on how you will react. Humanity is not like any other creature we will not always fight a threat or run from it. Some of us might be stupid and try reasoning with the threat while it is threatening us...others might try to outwit it...
Humanity is unpredictable in specifics but in general they react the same way emotional signals. Even those who use logic are using their emotions...They are using their anger at the in logical conclusions their initial reactions bring to stand and actually try to think things clearly and through even when the initial reaction to run is a very wise one.
As a human owned by two cats, I wonder why one of them always dips her paw in the milk dish, then licks or sucks her paw. She also scoops dry food from the dish and eats it from her paw or from the tray under the dishes. Does she know she's a cat?
What I'm reading it seems this cat is well aware of what she is however she just enjoys drinking milk like that as well as eating. It could be that she also was orphaned (unknown as you didn't mention it) and was observing an adult namely you on how you eat and drank and is mimicking it in her own unique way. The other cat may have had instincts kick in to tell her the proper ways to eat and drink. I can't say for sure but it sounds like either two reasons may be the case. A third likely explanation is that cats trend to develop completely unique personalities just like humans do and those are just two quirks to her personality that makes her stand out from the other cat.
Many posters here today have cats that dip their paws and lick them, it is interesting to see just how many. My cat does that and I thought he was unique.
My little brother's cat would dip her tail and lick it. She and my cat would also pay "tennis" with a live mouse they caught....very disturbing to hear the mouse cry when waiting for the bus and half asleep.