WHY does she INSIST on biting noses?!

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ursulaandbuffy

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Hi guys, I know this isn't a super critical issue, but I am just hoping someone can explain to me why my kitten Ursula (around 8 months, maybe 9) seems obsessed with biting mine and my husband's noses.  This is especially true when we are petting her and she is purring / happy... which is why it is confusing.  She'll lean up, sniff or touch noses, then bite.  Sometimes, she'll just walk up to us (like if we are sitting or laying) and bite one or noses.  Sometimes it hurts, but she never really bites HARD.  Sometimes she will bite and just leave her teeth on our nose.  She has done this for as long as we've had her, and has actually gotten better at it.  She used to bite harder, but seems to have learned not to... she has also gotten quicker at it and therefore it is now difficult to dodge without simply sleeping with our heads under the blankets... I feel like she is trying to tell me something but I have NO IDEA what is going on.  I have NEVER had a cat do this before!
 
misterwhiskers

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I dunno. Cats are funny. My parents once had a Siamese who would bite our chins if we meowed at her.
 
hexiesfriend

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It's a love bite, unfortunately you've got more nerve endings on your nose than another cat and thinner skin. I had a cat who would do that, and every once and awhile I'd forget and get a chomp on the nose of course I'd pull my nose away and would have to walk around with a red line down the side of my nose for a few days.
 
fhicat

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UrsulaAndBuffy said:
 
 I feel like she is trying to tell me something but I have NO IDEA what is going on.  I have NEVER had a cat do this before!
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That's a love bite. It's not so much a bite as it is putting her teeth on you. They do learn how hard to bite. If it was a real bite you'd be bloody all over. A love bite is their way of saying "I love you".
 
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ursulaandbuffy

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Oh, I didn't know there was such a thing as a "love bite" with cats... Now I feel a little silly.  Is there a reason that it is always on the nose, or is that that is just how cats are?
 
hexiesfriend

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Some cats do and and some don't I'm not sure why. Mine would nip on my nose if either of us would hold a head butt too long. Either way it's a sign that your cat loves you if you keep you nose away from her mouth it'll be safe, otherwise forget it!!!
 
fhicat

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UrsulaAndBuffy said:
 
Oh, I didn't know there was such a thing as a "love bite" with cats... Now I feel a little silly.  Is there a reason that it is always on the nose, or is that that is just how cats are?
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Can be anywhere. Mine does it on my feet, arm, whatever's in reach. You can certainly discourage her if it bothers you. Just pick her up gently when she starts biting you on the nose, and then pet her. 
 
micknsnicks2mom

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UrsulaAndBuffy said:
 
Hi guys, I know this isn't a super critical issue, but I am just hoping someone can explain to me why my kitten Ursula (around 8 months, maybe 9) seems obsessed with biting mine and my husband's noses.  This is especially true when we are petting her and she is purring / happy... which is why it is confusing.  She'll lean up, sniff or touch noses, then bite.  Sometimes, she'll just walk up to us (like if we are sitting or laying) and bite one or noses.  Sometimes it hurts, but she never really bites HARD.  Sometimes she will bite and just leave her teeth on our nose.  She has done this for as long as we've had her, and has actually gotten better at it.  She used to bite harder, but seems to have learned not to... she has also gotten quicker at it and therefore it is now difficult to dodge without simply sleeping with our heads under the blankets... I feel like she is trying to tell me something but I have NO IDEA what is going on.  I have NEVER had a cat do this before!
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may i ask -- do you know if your Ursula was weaned early? i ask because my mickey came to me when he was just under 4 weeks old, really too early to leave his momma cat, and mickey would bite/nibble my nose too. i wonder whether this biting of the nose is related to being weaned (too) early. mickey also liked to nibble on my ear lobes, but his favorite was my nose. at first mickey would bite relatively hard -- my eyes would water from it. but i worked with him about this, telling him that mommy only liked gentle nibblins, and he did bite much more gently as time moved on. as an adult cat, mickey would many times just put his open mouth on the tip of my nose for maybe 10-15 seconds, without biting at all. i found these nose nibblins very special, an endearing thing my mickey did.
 
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ursulaandbuffy

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Actually, Ursula was weaned early.  Some friends of mine found her by the road one night and could not find any other kittens or her mother anywhere (despite checking back in the same area for a few days).  The vet estimated that she was about 4 weeks, give or take.  What Mickey did / does sounds pretty much exactly like Ursula.  It used to be really hard -- I thought she was like attacking us or hungry or something.  But she still does it now, just gently, and is always purring, so I decided it wasn't attacking, lol.  It is good to know it is a love bite.  I do wonder if it could have to do with being weaned early, as our other kitten who is younger than Ursula, but wasn't weaned early, never does this -- and neither have any of my other cats who have always had their mothers nearby.
 
fhicat

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UrsulaAndBuffy said:
 
 I do wonder if it could have to do with being weaned early
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It can be a factor, but it's not the only factor. Being weaned early just means that there may be some social etiquette that a kitten never learnt from her mommy, and it falls onto you to take on the role of a mommy cat and teach her these things. You've already done these; you said at first it hurt, but she learnt to control her bite. My cat grew up normally, and he does the love bite thing too.
 
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@mickNsnicks2mom

my late gentle who came from the streets at about 6 weeks sucked my clothes right till she went to rainbow bridge age 16.
 
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Hello.  This rings a bell with me.  I adopted Speedy, 8 months about 2 1/2 years ago from a wonderful rescue who said she was in tough shape when they got her.  Her vet says she is a calico point siamese, her name is Speedy.  Anyway, Speedy has been waking me up EVERY morning since she came to live with me with biting on my nose and my eyebrows too.  She does this along with kneading me and I wonder if it goes back to when she was a kitten.  I actually love her waking me up like this, she is so happy and playful.  At first she would leave marks, but now, she does not bite down enough.  I think she's just very happy to start the day.  Also, when she is doing this, she likes to "comb" my hair with her paws.
 
micknsnicks2mom

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Stewball said:
left her body. I was holding her so cl
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i think i understand. i loved my mickey very, very dearly and miss him very much still -- i'm sure that i always will miss him. i believe that when my mickey crossed the rainbow bridge, he took a little piece of my heart with him and left a little piece of his own heart/his spirit with me. i find great comfort in that.
 
Cato74

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fhicat said:
It can be a factor, but it's not the only factor. Being weaned early just means that there may be some social etiquette that a kitten never learnt from her mommy, and it falls onto you to take on the role of a mommy cat and teach her these things. You've already done these; you said at first it hurt, but she learnt to control her bite. My cat grew up normally, and he does the love bite thing too.
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