Love Nibbles?

belongstoevie

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Ok, this is the burning question that brought me to these forums in the first place. I have a new kitty, Evie, whom I've had for 7 months now (wow, time flies!). She's very loving and cuddly and simply hear-melting


Anyway, to cut back on the rambling, she gets in to very intense cuddle sessions. Her favorite thing is to crawl on my chest (or as close to it as possible), flop down, purr, knead, and rub against me like crazy. Of course, I will be petting her this whole time. In the midst of these cuddle sessions, she, for lack of a better way to describe it, "bites" me. I have been reading these forums, and have read a lot about cats just getting tired of the petting and them biting to say "ok, enough", but that's not what Evie's doing. She'll rub her head against a part of me (usually my finger), then she'll put her teeth on that part, and just hold it for a while, the whole time purring and kneading, and not at all looking like she wants the loving to end. When she decides to let go, after usually about 5-10 seconds, she goes right back to rubbing against me. There's usually little or no pressure behind the, uh, "love nibble". She doesn't do it any other time, except in our serious cuddle sessions.

Now, in my previously dog-world, putting teeth on me would be a big no-no (dominance thing), but it doesn't seem like that's what she's doing, so I've never scolded her for it, I just let her do her thing.

Does any one have any ideas? Is it dominance? Love? Annoyance? Boredom? Is this a common kitty thing and I'm just showing my ignorance? Any advice / insight / ideas would be heartily welcomed!
 

pekoe & nigel

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One of mine does that, except he nibbles very gently on my fingers. I don't encourage biting with my cats, but allow him to do this because he's being very gentle and obviously is aware that he must not hurt me. I take it as a sign of affection (like a person gently nibbling on a baby's fingers) and enjoy it.
 

catsallover

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My oldest cat does something similar to that. She started out with actual "love bites"- Oww! And since mom disapproved of that, now she pulls her lips back and barely opens her teeth, and pushes them on my arm when she's feeling sappy
. As long as it's not actually hurting anyone, I don't think it's a problem
.
 
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belongstoevie

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Thanks guys for your input. I'm glad to hear the general consensus is positive. I know I find it rather endearing!


It does seem like this isn't one of the more common kitty traits. Do you think she'll grow out of it? Guess I better just enjoy it while I can!
 

fred&nermal

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My cat Nermal likes to clean my hand. He licks each finger individually and alternates licks with chewing. You know how cats clean their paws, one toe at a time, then they chew as well. Same thing. I love it when he does it. It always makes me feel like I'm one of his family, who needs to be groomed.
Sounds like your kitty just has a cute little way of showing her affection.
 

jellybella

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It's love love love!!!


Bella will also do this on my fingers, since I know what a real bite from her is like, I can tell you this is love.
 

carolpetunia

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Awwww. My understanding is that those little pretend-bites are the kitty's way of saying, "I do have teeth and could hurt you, but please note that I choose not to -- see how much I love you?"
 

andelawhi

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Both of my cats do this. With Nova, she's very gentle. She usually only does it on my arm, and I actually think it's imitating nursing, because it feels like she sucks just a tiny bit with her tongue.
 

solar-kun

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Yeah it seems like that, same was with my cat xcept he was doing it for like two months then started being a hyperactive `lil dude who can`t sit a minute on one place.
 

cairo

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I knew a cat like that. It was the most gentle sort of bite, and it was definitely love. He liked to fall asleep with his mouth open on my arm.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by BelongsToEvie

Thanks guys for your input. I'm glad to hear the general consensus is positive. I know I find it rather endearing!


It does seem like this isn't one of the more common kitty traits. Do you think she'll grow out of it? Guess I better just enjoy it while I can!
she might not grow out of it - Chip's an adult, i've had him for almost a year now, & i've just about gotten him trained to bite me gently! he tends to nibble a bit too hard for comfort!
 
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