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!
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.