Why your cat sticks his butt in your face:

Interesting article from one of my cat guides:

Your cat may approach you, turn around, and present his bottom to you as if to say "ya wanna sniff me?" This is something he only invites his friends to do, whether the friend is human, feline, or even canine. Some experts say the kitten is offering an invitation to take a sniff so you'll know who he is, sort of a cat hand shake. Others say you remind him of his mother, and he is asking you to groom his bottom. I do not recommend you go to that extreme to bond with your cat, but thanking him and scratching the base of his tail when he presents his butt is an acceptable response.

Awesome..hah I always wondered why cats did that, now I can feel GOOD about it!!

I had read that before. When my Mother comes to visit and my cats do that to her, I explained to her, that they are waiting for her to kiss their butt.

Originally Posted by Persi

Interesting article from one of my cat guides:

Your cat may approach you, turn around, and present his bottom to you as if to say "ya wanna sniff me?" This is something he only invites his friends to do, whether the friend is human, feline, or even canine. Some experts say the kitten is offering an invitation to take a sniff so you'll know who he is, sort of a cat hand shake. Others say you remind him of his mother, and he is asking you to groom his bottom. I do not recommend you go to that extreme to bond with your cat, but thanking him and scratching the base of his tail when he presents his butt is an acceptable response.

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Thanks for sharing. This was something I always wondered about My current kitties don't do that, although Samson (3 mos) likes to climb up on my shoulder. As he does, he wraps his tail around my face, mostly to keep his balance, I think.

I used to have a kitten who did that all the time though, drove me crazy, but now I understand.

But however much I love me kitties, I am NOT grooming their bottoms

Shanynne
Extreme Kitty Lovere

Gizmo does not present her butt in the usual fashion. She waits until she is sitting on my shoulder in what I call her "carrot" (cat-parrot) attitude. She then turns and puts her bottom on my head. I hasten to add that this is the back of my head, not the face. She sits on it, so to speak.

I order her to get 'ass off of head' but she doesn't listen.

Mosi presents his bum to me when I get home from work. I just thank him politely and give it a little pat! Seems to satisfy him.

I still wish they'd just shake hands! Damita, Dorian, & Ophelia all presents their butts to me right after I lay down to go to sleep at night. I must also add that Dorian doesn't clean his butt too well!

That is so funny! Ans I always push them out of my face when they do that!!

I had to explain to hubby that it was a compliment that Ophelia likes to lay on his chest with her butt toward his face. He wasn't too impressed, but he loves her so puts up with it.

Oliver does this to me all the time... I always thought he was showing off his *ahem* "boy parts" (he's fixed, however what holds the former functioning parts is still there... he even fooled the vet on our last visit!)... I usually respond with "yeah, yeah, you think you're king of the castle, but I'M the mama cat!" and I give him a "finking" (a random term my family developed for scratching animals' tail bones)... there's no way I'm cleanin his bum though, I just tell him that God gave him the ability to throw his leg over his head for a reason!

I am forever grateful that humans don't approach one another with this "wanna sniff me?" matter!!!

AllegroNg said:

I am forever grateful that humans don't approach one another with this "wanna sniff me?" matter!!!

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God that would be awful! LoL !

Anyway, Frost loves to do this too. I figured he thought of us as family and now I know. I usually kinda turn him around and tell him "get that ass outta my face!":lol3: He turns all the way round.. And does it again. LoL!!

My current cat is the first to do this. She is a shelter raised cat.  Since she does it when her bum smells, I have decided that she does want grooming and have bought cat wipes for her. So whenever I get her butt in my face she gets a full toweling off with the dander reducing wet wipes, with final attention to the smelly parts.  She doesn't seem to care for it but has not stopped doing it either.  I find it somewhat gross and annoying as my other barn adopted cats were fastidious in their grooming habits and only bumped foreheads.  She is friendly and playful so I live with the quirk.