Kittens, puppies, young pigs and probably many other young animals,
alternately push with their forefeet against the mammary
glands of their mothers, to excite a freer secretion of milk,
or to make it flow. Now it is very common with young cats,
and not at all rare with old cats of the common and Persian breeds
(believed by some naturalists to be specifically extinct),
when comfortably lying on a warm shawl or other soft substance,
to pound it quietly and alternately with their fore-feet;
their toes being spread out and claws slightly protruded,
precisely as when sucking their mother. That it is the same
movement is clearly shown by their often at the same time
taking a bit of the shawl into their mouths and sucking it;
generally closing their eyes and purring from delight.
This curious movement is commonly excited only in association with
the sensation of a warm soft surface; but I have seen an old cat,
when pleased by having its back scratched, pounding the air
with its feet in the same manner; so that this action has almost
become the expression of a pleasurable sensation.
[16]"Dr. Darwin, `Zoonomia,' 1794, vol. i. p.
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