Comment on "How cats lap: water uptake by Felis catus".
Reis et al. (Reports, 26 November 2010, p. 1231) reported on the mechanism by which cats lap and gave a theoretical and experimental analysis of their observations. Their explanation for the cat's lapping frequency, however, is based on an incorrect application of the principles of fluid dynamics. The revised analysis given here agrees with their observations and predicts a similar lapping frequency for cats and dogs.
Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. michael@physics.ucsc.edu
Michael
M
Nauenberg
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000502:physiology*; D004326:Drinking / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*