Why Do Cats Rub Up Against Everything They See?

Have you ever wondered why your cat rubs up against walls (especially the corners of walls) constantly? It's not trying to rub the paint off of the walls, there's an actual reason behind it!

Cats have scent glands in the corners of their mouths and on their chins. When they rub against walls, they deposit that scent on the wall so other cats know that it's their territory.

The same applies to you, the cat owner. When petting your kitty, you may notice it rubbing the corners of its mouth on your hands. It might also rub its face against your ankles as you walk around the house (or, like my cat does, when you're carrying something heavy and dangerous).

Cats work largely on scents. This is why cats freak out if you move them to a new house: they have no idea whose it is, so they set about marking everything (either by rubbing or by actually urine marking various areas).

Conveniently, cats' noses are at the same level that they rub walls, so it's easy for them and other cats to know just whose wall-corner it is.

Cats also deposit their scents on other cats. If you have a multi-cat household, you may see the cats rubbing against each other. By mixing their scents together, they are establishing that they know each other so they don't feel threatened by each other. If you were to introduce a new cat into the household, the reason why they don't get along at first is because their scents aren't familiar to each other!

Without scenting, cats wouldn't have a clue whose property they were on, which would make things quite a bit more difficult for them!