Licking wet food

I have two 8 month old kitties that I adopted through a rescue group about 5 weeks ago. I recently noticed that they can't really bite food if that make sure any sense. As a treat I gave them some cooked chicken today and they licked it for a long time before being able pick it up and take bites and chew. And it wasn't like they were just licking it because it was yummy but more as if that was all they could do. I give them pate style wet food and notice that they lick that up too.

Is this normal? They are definitely getting enough to eat. I give them dry food too and they eat that fine. I'm not really worried. I just never noticed previous cats eating like this. They've been to the vet and are healthy.

Your kitten should have finished teething by now. 

My two year old cat does the same, when I talked to the vet about it he double checked her teeth and gave me the all clear. It's funny because when she gets kangaroo she just automatically bites at it, it's only with canned food, chicken and tuna. I wonder if it's just to taste the flavour, she's a curious cat. 

Not sure why they do it, but it's normal.  My cats lick the sauce off the food before eating the solids.  Maybe it's related to thirst, or like moorspede said, related to scent and testing the flavor.

Thanks.  It seems more like they're doing the licking because that's the only way they can eat it rather than for tasting.  That said, it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with them.  Glad to hear other cats do it too.   But then yesterday I discovered that some of the wet food I bought was the chunks with gravy rather than pate.  They seemed to manage that and like that style better so I may just get that kind from here on out.

It's so odd to find your thread....I was watching my three eat their dinner last night and was thinking to myself about how they just lick it up, they eat pate-style wet food.  All of mine lick the juice/gravy up first, then they use their tongue to lick the food up, they don't actually pick it up to eat it.  But the outside cats we feed seem to pick up hunks of the wet food like a dog and get a big hunk in their mouth and chew it.  Maybe they do it just because there is competition for the food and my indoor 3 aren't worried about it being stolen? That's all I can figure out!

I was also giving this some more thought last night after watching my dog start salivating while I was eating my dinner.   He is not a drooly dog, but he will drip saliva if I’m eating something and he starts thinking he might get some.

Conversely, cats never drool unless they are seriously sick.   They don’t drool at the thought of food like dogs do, or even us humans sometimes.   Salivating is a trigger for the digestive system.

Maybe the licking, licking, licking from our cats stimulates their digestive juices, preparing their stomach for food.   Their ancestors are desert cats, built to survive on wet food and no water to drink, so certainly their digestive system works in a unique way.

Still just guessing, but it is an interesting question to ponder.

My female orange and white also licks all the gravy, I then pile it together and she eats it later on. Maybe the gravy is the appetizer? All of my past cats have eaten the same way