Nose leather

Cats are almost entirely covered with hair. One of the few bare areas is the end of the nose, which is known as the leather. Kept damp by secretions from the nostrils, the leather is highly sensitive to touch.

The cat version of “kissing” a human, or another cat, is to touch her nose leather to the other’s nose. Interestingly, the nose is the only part of a cat’s skin that has no sweat glands.