If you are lucky enough to observe a mother cat and her kittens, watch how they greet her once they are old enough to be up and walking. As she approaches they run up to her, tals up straight and even slightly bent foward,releasing a "pocket" of scent. They meet nose-to-nose, then the queen checks under the tail, which the kittens have made very available by keeping their tails well out of the way. They may rub against her and even let their tils drape over her, mixing their scents and reassuring everyone that they are part of the group, and deserve some of the food she has caught for them.
Now watch your pet cat when you come in from a day away from home. It will walk quickly toward you, probably meow, raise it's tail releasing smells from the anal area, and make itself available to be checked out. It will rub against your legs and walk backward and forward,anointing you with it's smell and taking on some of yours.
Mutual or allo-grooming has a similar effect;not only does it allow cats to be groomed in those areas around the head where they cannot teach,but again it allows each cat to sample intimately the other cat's perfume and mix in a little of it's own. Using the color comparison as we did before, a mixture of colors would be visible,which then of course would be spread not only over each cat,but around the home too. If you have several cats the patterns of color and intensity could become very complex. Bear this complex picture in mind when you think about bringing an additional cat into the household--there are things you can do to ease a new cat in and try to encourage its acceptance. Not ony is mutual grooming beneficial to each cat in terms of hygiene, but can seem to enjoy the phsyical sensation (as they do when we stroke or pet them). This too reinforces bonds--it may give them the same feeling of security they felt when they were groomed by the queen as kittens.
