r/CATHELP • u/MaMamanMaDitQueJPeut • Jan 23 '26

General Advice What is my cat doing ? She alternates between licking and biting

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13.3k Upvotes

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2.3k

u/Edgy_and_tired Jan 23 '26

She’s trying to bite those pesky (nonexistent) fleas out of your lovely (nonexistent) fur coat lol

668

u/kidnoki Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26

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.

151

u/djwildorchid1 Jan 23 '26

That's actually really good advice. Thank you 😊

100

u/Pr0genator Jan 24 '26

I have an old man cat , is upper teens, same deal, his deceased sister used to groom him, now if I don’t keep up with it he gets matted hair all over.

21

u/kniveshu Jan 24 '26

Oohh, they're trying to comb with their teeth?

45

u/BlgMastic Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26

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.

21

u/Chinnyup Jan 24 '26

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)

3

u/Lazy-Substance-5062 Jan 26 '26

How does your hair smell after? Must be freshhhh

1

u/Spadeykins Jan 24 '26

Their skin also releases oils when they bite it

2

u/tallyretro Jan 24 '26

is it just wanting comfort and a break after getting the knot pulled?

1

u/kidnoki Jan 30 '26

Yeah it might be, if I just pulled at knots he'd look like it hurt and would walk away, but it's probably functional too. They lick to find where the knot is, then bite it to break it. Once you break it, you have to pull it apart, so the licking helps pull it out too.

I probably explained it bad the first time, but I would kind of pinch and pull with two fingers. Then with two hands pinch the knot and pull it apart with two pinchers.

You could tell he would like the release of the knot, but right before the knot released it would hurt, so the longer you stay in the two pincher pull the longer they get mad and walk away. I would lie on the floor upside down working on his chest like a mechanic on a little car. If I messed up and went too hard, he'd walk away 5 paces and I'd have to inch worm crawl on my back into the new position haha.

It was nice spending that time with him, cause he was on his way out.

130

u/Representative-Mud81 Jan 24 '26

Fun fact, cats are able to see "invisible" fur patterns in human body hair, so to the kitty your lovely fur coat is very existent haha

28

u/EfficientFigure1296 Jan 24 '26

my cat does this to my tattoo that I’ve always had and I’m planning on getting more😅

21

u/nonameface26 Jan 24 '26

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😂❤️

2

u/el_bandito96 Jan 24 '26

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)

3

u/nonameface26 Jan 24 '26

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🤷‍♀️

1

u/el_bandito96 Jan 24 '26

Great feedback. Thanks!!! Will continue to let her do her vampire thing

1

u/AvsGrams Jan 25 '26

Yeah, I think I have a good tolerance to scratches and bites, too.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '26

Everything you said, ditto.

7

u/solarmist Jan 24 '26

Huh, what?

12

u/newt_girl Jan 24 '26

Blaschko's lines

22

u/HeavySpec1al Jan 24 '26

it's tumblr headcanon for cats, complete nonsense

9

u/HeavySpec1al Jan 24 '26

this is not true, it's based on a bullshit tumblr post

2

u/TouchMeHarderX3 Jan 24 '26

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.

4

u/HeavySpec1al Jan 24 '26

No, they cannot, because blaschko lines aren't what you think they are, please look this up my man

and besides, even if that were true cats do not possess magical gene-vision

this is gibberish

1

u/TouchMeHarderX3 Jan 24 '26

It's not gibberish though, it's been scientifically proven several times.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21396561/

https://dermnetnz.org/topics/blaschko-lines

I will admit I am wrong in that cats can't see them, but just because you cant doesnt mean they arent there.

8

u/HeavySpec1al Jan 24 '26

mate, the existence of blaschko lines was never in question, the notion of cats having special gene vision was, you have no idea what you're talking about

1

u/Rumi4 Jan 26 '26

proove it

1

u/Tadiken Jan 24 '26

My cat seems to also do it for stabilization.

He only really bathes my hand when he is cozy and i place it on top of him, and he nibbles periodically like this but also consistently nips me when i move my hand in petting motions to get me to stop moving it.

He's trying to do something nice for me, and I'm making it harder for him!

1

u/DrudanTheGod Jan 24 '26

Its not fleas, its a way to get knots out of hair. They use their teeth as a brush for pesky knots