It all started with "the brush," the cat brush that is. My cat Chubby knows where it's kept and if you dare go anywhere near it, he will track you down like he's on the hunt for a juicy piece of prey. He loves to lavish himself in a good brushing session. The joke in our house is, "Don't go near the brush drawer unless you want to pay the price."

During a recent brushing session, Chubby licked the back of my hand, to which I responded with a loud "Ewwwwwwww!!!!!" At that point, he hightailed it under the bed. Had I just been assaulted with a piece of sandpaper, 1,000 tiny pins or was there something terribly wrong with my cat's tongue? The answer is none of the above. To understand my reaction, you have to know that I was always a dog person and I never had a cat until I started volunteering at the North Attleboro Animal Shelter. Obviously cats are very different from dogs.

I immediately headed to the Internet with my Sherlock Holmes hat on and my magnifying glass. Upon completing a course in Tabby Tongue 101, I was altogether astonished and awestruck by the intricate sophistication of this magnificent, multitasking muscle called a cat's tongue.

The sandpaper sensation can be attributed to thousands of hair like structures in the center of the tongue called papillae.

They are tiny hooks that point backwards and are made out of a protein called keratin, which actually is what human fingernails are made of. These papillae serve several functions. They act as a washcloth to wash and clean fur, a comb to smooth fur, and a towel to dry wet fur. They hold struggling prey in place and clean bones, fur and feathers off prey. The papillae retain fluid on the tongue because when a cat drinks, it only swallows after the fourth or fifth lap. During drinking, the tongue forms a spoon shape for easier drinking.

Cat's have an acute sense of taste. They have large taste buds at the tip and sides of the tongue. They have the ability to taste sour, salty, bitter and sweet. Cats get their finicky reputation because they only have 473 taste buds as opposed to the 1,700 taste buds that dogs have. Humans got the best deal in that department, possessing 9,000 taste buds.

Smell, texture and temperature of food play important roles in whether food will be acceptable to your cat. Room temperature food is much preferred over cold or hot food. I discovered that dry cat food comes in so many shapes and sizes simply because cats are so finicky about food texture. It's something called "mouthfeel." Usually the rule of thumb is if the food has a powerful aroma, then your cat will like it. Smell and taste are closely linked.

The tongue is also used to show affection either to humans or other cats. In the same way that they groom their feline friends, they want to do that to their humans also. One thing I didn't like learning was that sometimes after we pet our cats, they might groom themselves to get your scent off of them. I would say that is like the highest form of being dissed.

Now that I have been educated in the anatomy of a cat's tongue, the next time Chubby wants to show me some affection, I say bring it on. I'll just bite my tongue, no pun intended, and grin 'n bear it.

Meow!

LINDA FABER has been a volunteer at the North Attleboro Animal Shelter for eight years and can be reached at Faberfamily@juno.com.