Obsessive licking during cuddle time

[miggles]

Hi all,

My cat Ziggy is overall a very mouthy cat - always has been since I've got him. One interesting expression of this is his obsessively licking when he's purring and being petted and lovey. He will lick any part of my skin he can get his little tongue on, usually my hand and arm (as that's what I'm petting him with) but also my face (because he likes to nuzzle) and even my foot, if I happen to be barefoot, or my calf if I happen to be standing.

He's purring like a maniac and lick lick lick. He will lick the length of my entire arm sometimes, non-stop. The next progression will be that he'll latch on with his teeth (fairly gently, but can progress to harder if he is not kept at bay) and hold onto my hand or arm with his mouth and flick his tongue inside his open mouth. He's clearly happy and content when doing it.

A little background: Ziggy was brought into the humane society, alone, at age estimated 1-2 days old. He was raised there in their nursery. Is this like suckling? Could this have to do with the fact that he was separated from his mom, and this is sort of what he would do to her in young kitten hood, but now the behavior is transferred to me?

I don't mind, I'm just very curious!

photo: Ziggy and his maniac tongue waking up from a nap.

 

[crumbandharvey]

Our kitten does the same thing... he often even wakes me up by crawling on my pillow and licking any part of my skin that is exposed (forehead, nose, chin), all the while purring so loud he vibrates. Harvey was with his momma cat until 8 weeks, which is still young but not at birth! He's similarly a vocal cat -- he complains with a loud mew! if he is displeased or wants something. The DB tells me it's my fault since I give him kisses on the mouth. (oops!)

 

[milu]

Minka used to do this until we adopted Lulu. Now she tried to groom her, without much luck since Lulu is much too busy to sit still to get her hair done

Those tongue are rough, aren't they

 

[sneakymom]

Jasper does the same thing.

He gets into your "personal space".

Then when you start to pet him, he starts grooming you. And yeah- he's gone halfway up my arm doing it too.

He's tried to lick my face. His previous owner said he'd sometimes do that.

I don't know much about his life before he came here. Only that he lived with my neighbor's sister for 10 years. He is the textbook description of a nervous cat. And I'm sure his nervousness is part of the overzealous grooming when he's being held.

He tries to groom Holly. She puts up with it, then hisses/growls at him when she's had enough

Cheryl

 

[jinxywinx]

Our Saya does this as well - except she doesn't do it while we're petting, but the second we pause for any given reason.
Her biological sister will bite us instead of lick. Sometimes it's hard enough that I don't want to pet her. Ugh!
I read somewhere that this could be due to being weaned too soon. It was just an online article, though, so I'm not sure how much it was based on hard evidence.

 

[callista]

Yeah, he's totally grooming you. Cute!

 

[miggles]

Originally Posted by CrumbAndHarvey

Our kitten does the same thing... he often even wakes me up by crawling on my pillow and licking any part of my skin that is exposed (forehead, nose, chin), all the while purring so loud he vibrates.

Yes! If there is skin exposed, he will find it! He wakes me up this way sometimes too.

He licks to say "hi" too, I think, but it's different than when he goes on what I call a "licking rampage". Maybe he is grooming me... never really thought of that much before... hmmm

 

[jen]

My cat Daku is the same way. He will lick anything exposed. He loves to lay on his back next to me and snuggle and when I rub his belly he gets super overstimulated and will rabbit kick me. But I recently discovered that if I put my other hand by his face he will like gnaw on my hand almost. He doesn't bite, and in the midst of licking will like chatter his teeth on me and snort. Its odd but completely adorable!