Smooth-tongued cats?

This might seem weird, but ever since I took in Kipling at 9 weeks old (he was a feral kitten), I've noticed that he has an unusually smooth tongue compared to the tongues of my other 4 kitties. When he licks me, I don't feel the same raspy, washcloth feeling I get when the others lick me - it's quite smooth. Kip is a black and white DSH, so there's no possible special breed characteristics that cause this.

Does anyone else have a smooth-tongued cat? Are there particular breeds or health problems that are associated with them? (Kip has IBD, but that's it - he has some difficulty eating some wet foods because his tongue isn't rough enough to "grasp" the bits of food, so it all just ends up squished at the bottom of the bowl.)

Thanks!

mservant and I both have smooth-tongued cats.

Originally I suspected that Mogli's tongue might have something to do with his IBD, but the vet says no. Apparently it's an unusual trait, but not unheard-of.

Mogli's tongue isn't completely smooth like a dog's, but it definitely isn't raspy like other cats' tongues. It doesn't interfere with his eating, but he isn't as well-groomed as our last cat always was. I don't know whether there's any connection, but Mogli's whiskers are fine and soft.

His adoption papers and vet records say he's a European Shorthair, but since there's no proof I'd consider him a DSH.

Hi there Rani, yes, Mouse has a pretty smooth tongue too and started a thread while back and have aquired a few replies in the time it's been running.  Not completely smooth but when he grooms me it's far from the usual skin-stripping I'd get from any other cat I've met!

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/265697/does-anyone-else-have-a-cat-with-a-smooth-tongue

It doesn't seem to be associated with any particular breed, or health issues which was my biggest worry given Mouse had a history of inflamed gums and ulcers in his mouth and throat. Now seems they were linked with feline herpes.  Mouse usually gets prescription dry food for his teeth and manages that great but I try to give him bits of wet occasionally and he doesn't take to it.  Part of the reason I'm sure is because he too has difficulty lifting it off the plate. Although he uses his paws like hands a lot of the time he doesn't like to get dirty and I've never seen paws go in to paw up wet food: like you say it gets stuck to the bottom. 

Thank you for the information. I was mostly concerned about any associated health issues as well, namely, IBD. 

The only thing unique about Kip's whiskers is that he has a white one. We call it his "grandpa whisker".   

Hi there, yes, 

Rani said:

 
The only thing unique about Kip's whiskers is that he has a white one. We call it his "grandpa whisker". 

 

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Cute sounding whiskers!   My girls used to have the odd dark whisker, like their whiskers were tabby patern like their fur.  Mouse has blue gray whiskers but they are quite fine like Mogli's now I think about it.

I managed to take a pic of his grandpa whisker
His whiskers are pretty fine, too, compared to our other cats' whiskers - they're all rough to the touch.

That is so cute!  Interesting as his granpa whisker looks like it's thicker than the others?  Very sweet looking boy, does he have odd colour eyes or is that just the lighting in the photo?