Why do cats lick you? Grooming is only one way cats say, I love you." Some cats shower their favorite humans with sandpaper kisses. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. If you've ever been around a cat, you know they can get the sudden urge to groom themselves at just about any moment. Everything seems lovely and content. Then, they lose all interest in you and start licking their butt. A cat will be busy grooming themselves. Other cats can't be bothered and won't ever groom or lick their human friends, or other kitty friends for that matter. So, why do some cats lick their owners? Are they trying to clean you, too? We asked an animal behaviorist and cat expert to help us sort out exactly what is going on when your cat licks you. For a mother cat, grooming is an important part of child rearing. When a mama cat licks her kittens it serves two important purposes: keeping her kittens clean and promoting social bonds, Kristyn Vitale, an animal behaviorist at Maueyes Cat Science and Education tells . On the one hand, "mother cats are going to groom their kittens to help keep them clean and healthy," says Vitale. Kittens can be especially susceptible to diseases, and "anybody who's raised young kittens knows how dirty they can get, and a mother cat is not going to obviously bathe their kitten in a tub.

If you own a cat, it might feel like you've developed a shared language with your pet, whether it's a certain meow or a slow blink. But do you really know how your kitty is feeling? A study this week revealed that cats have almost 300 different facial expressions. This includes 126 facial expressions that suggest they're feeling friendly, and 102 that indicate they're in a grump. Here, MailOnline reveals how to tell if your cat is feeling content, anxious or even unfriendly, based on their facial expressions and body movements.