Another cat post...

[skooooo]

Ok, fellow cat-owners - what's the deal with this pattern of behavior. I've noticed it in several cats I've owned. When they show affection, or seemingly, they lick you with their tongue a few times, and then bite or nip you. They don't bite hard enough to cause pain, but it's always after the licking.

I call it - the LICK LICK CHOMP CHOMP.

Do your cats do this? Why?!?!

[applegrove]

1. One of mine does that. Don't know why.

[buckettgirl]

2. Love bites

I really don't know why, but my two cats do it too.
The cat that is really attached to me does it more than the other.

I just consider it a love bite... they never hurt, just more like pressure or sometimes scraping teeth on the skin.

[SoxFan]

3. Pippy does this sometimes

Weird, isn't it?

She's big on the "hello kiss". Brianna prefers the head-butt hug.

[NV Whino]

4. My male cat does it sans the licking

Very gentle little bites. I think it may be a dominance thing. Akin to grabbing the female by the neck before mating.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. He's tasting you.

For later... ;)

[Sanity Claws]

6. They do that to each other too

I have two cats and they groom each other. They lick each other and then one of them bites, causing the other to bite back. Then they swing their paws at each other. I then yell at them.
Welcome to my world.

[Rob H.]

7. Mine doesn't do that

She does like to groom me when I get home from work, though. She'll start at my hairline in the middle and then go from side to side--I like to think of it as affection rather than a reflection of her opinion of my hairstyle. :P

[redqueen]

8. Yeah.

I just figure they're all crazy.

[skooooo]

11. They're funny critters, it's true!

lol

[Taverner]

9. Cats are closet S&M'ers

Hump hump bite bite meow meow

[SOteric]

10. Hrm. The only time my cat does anything like that

is when he's trying to get me to do something or stop doing something. For instance if I've been scratching his neck and he wants me to stop, he'll lick my hand a bit and if that doesn't make me stop he'll gently still my fingers with his teeth. Generally speaking, he understands the 'pat-pat' that means it's time to get off my lap now; and I understand the 'lick-lick' that means you can stop now, you're wearing a groove in my neck fur.

[hedgehog]

12. My cat MaryJane comes in, sits down next to Guinness and start nuzzling him.

OK, that makes sense. Guinness used to carry her around when she was a kitten. We never could figure out if he thought she was prey or a funny looking puppy. He would take her to his den on the stair landing and lick her.(Groom her?) Somehow he also got hold of a couple mice and he took them to his den and licked them, too.

What didn't make sense is that in the middle of the nuzzling, Guinness whips his head around with a warning growl. Finally I figured out that MaryJane is giving him love nips and he doesn't appreciate it.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. my sister and I always called it preparing for surgery.

who knows why cats do anything they do?

[meow2u3]

14. Max takes it one step further

Not only does he do the lick-lick-chomp-chomp, he also does the back leg tread. OUCH! :banghead:

[gblady]

15. my sweet Iris....

does the same thing....lick, lick, bite...
I have had 7 other cats in my life,
and never had one that did that before...
Glad to hear that she's not the only wierdo...

I really don't like it...
causes me to feel very skitterish around her.


(keeping track of the world from her rooftop perch)

[trotsky]

16. They're grooming/cleaning you.

Take a good look next time they're cleaning themselves - or each other. Lick, lick, lick, CHOMP. Especially when cleaning their paws.

[skooooo]

17. That's true!

They do kind of gnaw on their paws, and bite their nails. Good observation.

[astral]

18. Very gentle love bites are a cat's way of

making sure s/he is communicating an affectionate gesture to you. My cat never did it til I had him for a long time, then he'll gently bite my forearm when I've sat him down and am giving him a pet, or when I come to snuggle with him on the couch without sitting down I'll bend over and put my arms around him and say pretty kitty stuff. He'll stick his head up to my head and 'naw' on my head with his teeth. You see, he can't get a grip and BITE me, and of course he's not trying to. It's a very affectionate thing for him, like he's petting me back while I'm petting him.

I have, however been around a cat that had a PROBLEM with biting and would bite too hard. That's a completely different thing, like a mineral deficiency causing a behavioral disorder or something. It was not my cat, but one I'd been around for several years, it really made you wanna just not bother with petting him, which was a shame.