Trying to eat my hair?!?

[pepper girl]

For the last few nights Pixie has been waking me up cuz she's chewing on my hair!!! Take last night, I was up for almost a half an hour with her. She'd just lay there chewing on my hair! I stop her and move her away from my head but two seconds later she'd be back at it again! I do not understand why she would want to do this

I've never had Pepper do it. Does anyone else's kitties have this weird habit? I don't want my hair chewed on or off and I'm sure it can't be that good for Pixie to be swallowing my hair.

Any advice on how it nip this in the bud??

 

[middletown]

Hi,

I have one kitty that does this. She doesnt chew on it, its more like shes grooming me. and it is usually at 4:30 - 5 am. This cat i hand raised by bottle feeding and used to carry her and her sister around with me in my hooded sweatshirt pocket since they were a day old. They appear to act different to me than anyone else in the house due to all the contact we had when they were babies. (i was unemployed at their first months. wonderful rewarding experience)
I attributed this hair grooming habit as a natural thing for the kitty to show affection to its mother or family member cat. she usually stops if i "hiss" at her at night. but has really become part of our routine, much to my dismay at 5 am!

IF you want to nip it in the bud....try some citrus or lemon smelling hair spray/wash/ etc in your hair at night before going to bed. Or use some bitter apple or other bitter tasting jell in your hair. cant think of the name, but similar to the stuff you use to keep small children from chewing their finger nails.

 

[vibiana]

My three cats will all do this if I let them. I have long hair, and so I discourage it even though I think it's kinda cute. It's a gesture of affection as much as anything else ... sort of like a mama cat grooming her kittens.

 

[babyharley]

Harley does this to me too in the morning, about 5AM!!
He has a pillow on our bed that he sleeps on, right between me and John, he wont do it to him, just me!

I've gotten so used to it tho that it doesn't bother me tho, he wont chew on my hair, he will just lay in my hair, like put his head on it or start pawing at it...strange!

 

[icklemiss21]

Magnum and Scully do this all the time!

They more groom us than chew although Magnum if you leave him at your hair long enough will chew.

I have tried to stop them, nothing really worked so now I just pull my hair away from them and put them on the floor away from my hair

 

[crittergirl]

I have been getting woke up for this same reason for 14 years!

 

[pepper girl]

Thanks you guys! I was worried it would cause her problems but it seems like it can be a normal kitty thing to do. I guess I'll just try and teach her not to do it...but I like that it usually just means that she is grooming me or just being affectionate...

 

[ryn]

Milla does that too; cute, but annoying.

 

[catnapt]

my Sara used to cozy up to me and all of a sudden, i would realize she was trying to chew on my hair, but being the clumsy girl she was, she would bite my scalp!! ouch!


me yelling ouch got her to stop, at least, that time....

another night, another story.... her memory was not so good either LOL

 

[yangdemei]

Mitts also loves my long hair and I am constantly trying to keep him away! I blow dry my hair and he thinks it's fun time.

One thing that I have found is that he DOES eat the hair

That means we often have to pay attention to "poo time" as my hair has become a part of this and causes him to have dingleberries (for lack of a better word) On a side note, chasing your cat that has a piece of poo attached because of your hair, not fun!

I am contemplating cutting off my hair so that he won't have this problem.

 

[amandaofcols]

Max does this too, only I think he hates my hair because he will grab it in his mouth sometimes and try to pull it off my head!! OWWWIE!! But it is kinda funny too!

 

[xocats]

Sadie likes to sit on top of my chair & poke around in my hair when I'm reading or watching TV. It tickles.

 

[abnihon]

my kitty does this too. sometimes I've found strands of my hair in her poop! eww!

 

[laureen227]

Pixel has a tendency to 'groom' my hair if i've just washed it & it's wet... i think it has something to do with the smell.

 

[mferr84]

Sara loves my hair, which is pretty long. One night I awoke to her trying to swallow a long strand of my hair, it was over halfway down her throat when I pulled it back out. It was so disgusting. So now when I am sleeping I keep i all tied back tightly.

 

[my2cats]

My cat Target also will come and paw at my hair around 5:30 almost every morning. He'll come and lay on my hair and knead at it with his paws (the head massage is kinda nice). He won't do it to my husband though. I've been told that it is a sign of affection. which makes sense, since target likes me more than my husband.

 

[tari]

Forest loves to play with my hair and chew on it, especially in the middle of the night. I've also started sleeping with it pulled back...that seems to have stopped it.