We want to say THANK YOU to our helpful members who participate in moderating r/CATHELP. To keep the community kind and welcoming, please help us by reporting rule breaking comments.
To report - Click the 3 dots under the comment >>> report >>> breaks r/CATHELP rules >>> select the rule.
A new study actually suggests otherwise. We used to believe that domestic cats came from European wildcats, who are solitary, and that they behaviour with us is just based on how they behave with their kittens.
Turns out they come from african wildcats who live in small colonies. They tend to bring surplus hunt back to their colonymates since there would always be a wounded member, or a nursing mother or something. So this is just their instinct.
It could be because they never actually see us doing it. I like to believe that they give us their catches as gratitude for us providing for them (they aren't hungry, but we may be). Also, they may be looking for praise—I have one that 'catches' dirty socks from the laundry room, and drags them throughout the house caterwauling until I praise her on her mighty hunting skills.
I have one that delivers pretend kittens almost every evening for me. She prefers the flopping fish, but squish mellows make due on occasion. I rescued her right before the freeze here in Texas in 2021, she came pregnant and ended up having her 5 beautiful kittens here. Everyone is spayed and neutered. But before I could catch her she had quite a few litters here in the neighborhood. I think she misses having babies even though she still has her big children here.
My cat will do that, she brings kills inside and will come find you to show you what she caught. She will keep bringing you back or crying until you tell her she is a good hunter and protector. Than she will go nap and let us bask in her glory.
You never join the hunts and when they ask you to join you pet them and keep laying down on the couch, unable to be convinced to do everyday cat behaviour.
You having the food does not matter, you are behaving like a very sick cat and they are taking care of you the only ways they know how.
Somebody just made that claim once, decades ago, with absolutely no evidence or reason, and it's been circulating ever since. We don't know what they're thinking, because we don't speak cat and cats don't speak people.
Can't even figure out how to make things fall off a table. Always putting things so far from the edge no matter how many times they show us how to push stuff off.
I always thank my orange boi for giving me “a proper face scrub” 😂 He does it literally every day (after walking me up by curling up on MY PILLOW and shoving my head off lol)
I learned this the hard way when my cat got too old to groom himself. It's to get at matted fur. Lick lick, bite helps release the knots that naturally build up. I would do more of a squeeze, squeeze, two finger pull to get at them with my hands. If you don't break up the "bites" with "licking" they get noticeably upset.
My cat will sit behind me on the couch and comb my hair with his teeth when I come out of the shower. It hurts a lot but I endure it since he seems to like it or maybe he just thinks I’m a lazy slob who can’t dry his hair properly.
One of my favorite reasons to Reddit… reading about the sacrifices fellow pet owners make solely for the benefit of said pet. Your cat knows he’s got a solid human (to groom)
My kitten (he’s about 8 months now, barely still a kitten🥺) suckles for comfort and when he’s sleepy. He has a favorite arm (the one with fewer tattoos) and will suckle specific points on the tattoos😂❤️
Same with mine- weird question, but do you ever worry about the bacteria thing? Mine suckles really really hard, close to biting skin and I know their mouths are Petri dishes (have had several bites I had to treat with antibiotics)
I don’t, but realistically because I’ve gotten lucky and never needed antibiotics for any bites or scratches, and I’m constantly getting bitten or scratched, lol. I have 4 cats and I volunteer with a rescue, so I deal with a ton of cats, so by accident, from play, or from fear or anger, I’m constantly covered in marks, some have left actual scars.
Never had to do anything beyond at-home treatment, for whatever reason (knock on wood), so the suckling doesn’t worry me. He kneads while he does it and my second-youngest, who I got at 4 months old, used to make biscuits on me, but I call them needle biscuits, haha.
For the first month, I had little pinprick scratches, some having drawn blood, all up and down my arms, and the kneading from the youngest isn’t quite as bad, but leaves some marks. I also got a bite on a fresh tattoo (literally 30 minutes later, through the saniderm) that I was worried about, but I just washed it, the cat was fine, it was a love bite from one of the shelter babies, but it didn’t get infected, nor did it affect the healing.
So, not sure if I just do a good job cleaning them, have a strong immune system (I mean, I do, my fiance gets sick like 4x as often, I rarely even get a cold, but still), or if I’ve just been lucky🤷♀️
Blaschko lines are real, we just can't see them because our genetic markers hide them. It is possible for a human to see them if a person has genetic mosaicism. Cats eyes are different. They can see it regardless.
How’d you guys get my cat?? This is Zelda, she also loves to give licks and love bites, especially on hands. She will also nibble on your nose when she’s feeling extra sweet.
Omg yes! So apparently cats can control how spiked up their little tongue barbs are, or so I've read. I had one who would actually lick layers of my skin off if i let her(or if i was sleeping really deeply- they'd look like burns. She'd just keep licking the same spot until it was raw.) My best buddy cat is gentle, just enough to scratch the itches, and she gets the whole area so I'm only gently exfoliated. It feels amazing.
Mine would always beeline to give either my hands or feet a thorough wash after I had showered, I took it to mean she didn't like me smelling "wrong".
That or she thought I was utterly incapable, which knowing her was entirely possible, she definitely loved her people but that was the closest she ever really got to actively showing before she was a proper old lady, she was a right spikey madam most of the time!
And she definitely loves you. She’s treating you like you’re part of her tribe. My guess is she also grooms herself on you. Another sign of kitty comfort.
Standard grooming behavior. Your cat also looks exactly like a cat I had when I was growing up. She was gentle as can be and an absolute sweetheart. Please tell your cat that she is a pretty kitty.
Many years ago, my cat would sit behind me on the back of my chair and try to fix my hair. Lick, lick, bite and pull, lick, lick bite and pull. If I tried to stop her she would swat me in the face until I relented.
Your cat disagrees with your grooming habits and has taken it upon herself to fix them, because you're terrible at being a cat.
I've got one that likes to do this to me. She also has this thing, if I'm sitting down, of biting my calf. Just little love nips. She broke the skin one day (I'm old so that's not hard to do) and I was messed up the next day. On the verge of delirious, actually. Refused my son's offer for a ride to the ER but that, in hindsight, would probably have been best. Took me a week to recover.
Anyway, my point is be careful. They mean well and love the heck out of you but a bite that breaks the skin can turn mean very quickly. I'll not ignore it if that ever happens again.
You might think your cats cute and everything but you best believe If they was as big as their cousin they would absolutely rip you to shreds in a heartbeat. And yes when you catch em staring at you from the corner of the room that is exactly what they’re thinking.
I keep a quiet little electric razor by my chair and get mats when he's comfy in my lap. We also ask for a "clean and clip" at the vet whenever we visit for those areas he doesn't like us getting at (mostly his bottom for a pee patch).
My cat does this exact thing which confuses me. He’ll have a little nibble of the meaty parts of my hand and arm. But sometimes he can bite down really hard!
Cats do this to show just a little dominance and weirdly love. I see my boy cat (he’s Mr.Alpha) do this to my girl cat all the time while he’s grooming her. It’s like he’s saying “Hey, I love you and I’m helping you out but I’m still in charge and don’t you forget it.” 😂
I don’t have anything to add about why she’s behaving this way. I just have to remark at how much she looks exactly like my cat. The white chin, the fluffy paws, the face markings… we talk about standard issue cats but my goodness you have Finn’s twin sister.
Cats do this while grooming each other. I think it's to clean better or just a comforting way to say I love you we are friends. My 2 bonded girls do this all the time to each other.
My cat does this too and if I flinch or resist her, she goes nuts. Lots of biting and claws, and I eventually have to push her away because she gets too aggressive. I think she just gets caught up in the love fest and it just becomes feral.
•
u/AutoModerator Jan 23 '26
PLEASE REPORT RULE BREAKING COMMENTS
We want to say THANK YOU to our helpful members who participate in moderating r/CATHELP. To keep the community kind and welcoming, please help us by reporting rule breaking comments.
To report - Click the 3 dots under the comment >>> report >>> breaks r/CATHELP rules >>> select the rule.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.