Other Behavior Issues

Q.:  I have two cats, Otto and Mingus. It's a male and a female. I got them from a shelter, and so they haven't lived together all of their lives but only for a couple of years. When I got them there was a lot of conflict, but now they accept each other well. They are far from loving each other, but it seems they have found some sort of hierarchy they both seem to abide by.
What I'm wondering about is that Otto will sometimes lick Mingus in the face, and only in the face. It is only Otto, who licks Mingus.
Mingus doesn't seem to like it, but puts up with it for a while. Usually it ends with Mingus shooting off, or that Otto bites (not hard). What does that mean???

A.: Often such behavior is a way the cat demonstrates that it has a higher rank than the cat being licked.
Often biting and even chewing is part of a cat's grooming, sometimes in order to soften up knots in the fur.
So it is not so strange that Mingus doesn't love it, for it means she has a lower rank than Otto.
But she must, on the other hand, recognize this, since she finds it wisest to put up with it.

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