Fluffy Fun Facts 57: Grooming (by ZealousBadIdea)

[This is actually a consolidation and re-editing of a conversation had with GreaverBlade a few months ago. just felt like adding it to my Fluffy Fun Facts.]

Fluffies are very comparable to cats in that they like feeling clean but unlike cats, they are ill equipped to actually do it due to their anatomy, but we will get into that later. Fluffies will often go on about desiring to “smeww pwetty“ and will almost instantly complain about “no smeww pwetty“ the instant they get dirty. This behavior is a combination of “natural” instincts and programed-in instincts; with their aversion to water, the Hasbio scientists wanted to make sure that pet fluffies would stay clean for the sake of salability. This is also why fluffy mothers are so eager to give their children “wicky cweanies” to keep them clean. This has an added in programming from the bio-engineers to increase the survivability of the foals as they are extra susceptible to diseases within the first 3 days of life.

It is not uncommon to hear a fluffy complain about “nu taste pwetty” while grooming themselves, this is due to their more human-like taste buds. They are able to overcome that reflex when cleaning themselves due to their desire to feel clean overriding their disgust. It should also be noted that fluffies are more willing to overcome their own bad taste and not a strangers as they tend to not be bothered by their one “filth” as another fluffy; kinda like how your own odor won’t bother you as much as that sweaty guy next to you on the bus.

Fluffies’ strong desire to be clean will lead to them trying do so by licking themselves. Now, the thing is, no one thinks of fluffies as being flexible in any capacity so they have a tendency to have a lot of trouble licking themselves completely clean, especially around their rear ends. This has lead to fluffies either asking their owners to help clean them, or in the case of multiple fluffies in the home or in certain feral herds, social grooming.

When there are multiple fluffies in an area, they will often give eachother “wicky cweanies” to maintain hygiene and form social bonds kinda like chimps. This does require a large amount of trust between the fluffies so in homes it is more common to see it with domestic families or unrelated fluffies that have been living in the same space for a while, usually about a week but it can take upwards of a year if a fluffy has trust issues. Feral herds have been observed doing this as well but small herds can have trouble maintaining hygiene because of high herd member turnaround as well as not having the time to do it do to safety concerns. In general, many ferals just don’t have the time to devote to hygiene because just plane subsistence would occupy most of their day unless they are in a reasonably secure area.

Now, return to the social aspect and a fluffies willingness to look past the “no taste pwetty” reflex, fluffies are able to overcome the bad taste if they care about and trust the other fluffy, this trust in so much as they trust that the other fluffy will reciprocate the cleaning so putting up with the bad taste of their herdmate will lead to themselves getting cleaned. This is why “meanie” herds, such as one under a smarty, tend to be extra filthy as that trust and comradery doesn’t develop where as a herd with a good smarty might actually be fairly clean.

Now in the case of a herd under a bad smarty, it is very common to see “poopeh” fluffies forced to give “wicky cweanies” to their herd mates “poopeh pwace”. The poopy fluffy is basically a way for a bad herd to circumvent healthy herd social dynamics by basically strong arming a fluffy into cleaning them without reciprocating or building the interpersonal bonds. This subjugation of the veritable outcast class is also a way for a bad smarty to still get use out of an undesirable fluffy as well having a guaranteed “slave” desperate to do anything to belong.

On a last note, feral herds living out in the wilderness will often fall back on their instincts and as such will more commonly engage in group cleaning but a herd that is descended from domestics wouldn’t know to do this; they expect someone else to clean them for nothing since that’s what their “mummahs” and “daddehs” did in their “housies”. Of course, this can also with especially dumb fluffies that don’t realize cleaning isn’t something that just magically happens on its own and needs to be activly done.

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