Poll: Forgotten Tongues

I used to think it was common for a cat, when interrupted suddenly by some
noise or motion; to which it must give momentary undivided attention, in the
process of licking itself, to "freeze" with the tip of its tongue sticking
out of a closed mouth, and then appear to forget that the tongue is sticking
out for some length of time. In fact I can't remember any of the cats of my
past failing to do this on a regular basis. If you haven't seen it, I can
testify that it is positively delightful to see, I suppose because the cat
seems to be unaware and/or unconcerned that it's tongue is sticking out,
which if you think about it is quite odd, and looks a just silly enough to
make one laugh out loud.

But now that I am surrounded by seven cats that I watch a good deal of the
time, I've noticed that only one of the seven - Baby Eyes - is ever caught
with her tongue sticking out. She does it quite regularly, and the others
never do!

This leaves me wondering whether I had a long string of normal-tongue
showing or abnormal tongue-showing cats in my life - and, in either case, is
Baby Eyes (my oldest) the end of the line of tongue-forgetters for the time
being?

Dan M...

Amelia does that frequently. Not as often now as she used to, but still
often enough to notice. None of the others do very often.

Also, is there a specific descriptive term for this phenomenon, like we have
the term upside-downy head for another specific thing that cats do from time
to time? "Tongue- forgetter" is a rather awkward phrase but is all I can
think of at the moment.

Dan M...

I think we do need a name for it, but nothing appropriate comes
immediately to mind.

jmcquown...

How about "tippy-tongue"? It's really only the tip of the tongue I've ever
seen, not like a dog lolling about panting with it's tongue hanging out.

Pat...

I think I prefer Pam's idea ("forgot his/her tongue") to this one, but am
still hoping we can come up with something even more apt.

Dan M...

Tippy-tongue - I like that!

Who else has seen a cat forget that its tongue is out?

mlbriggs...

What breed is your cat? I am wondering if this is more common in cats
with Persian genes? MLB

Outsider...

Topper used to do that. It gave him a 2.0 boost in "cute factor"

Randy...

Tippy and Kramer quite frequently have thier tounges sticking out. Kramer
especially does it frequently, he even sleeps with it sticking out.

CatNipped...

Lolly tongue-y?
Lickitus interruptus?
Licky outy?
???

Pat...

Sorry, Lori, but.... two thumbs down....

annoyed...

Catilingus?

Adrian A...

I like Lickitus interruptus. :-)

Marina...

Frank used to forget his tongue all the time. I don't recall seeing Mir
and Cali do it.

tanada...

I love the term "forget his/her tongue." It fits so well. Tanada, a tuxedo
moggy forgets her tongue a lot. Merlin, Huey, and Qui Gun Kit forget their
tongues on occasion, but not like Tanada, my gassy old womancat.

Pam S. a gassy (and grouchy) old woman in her own right