# Kitty kisses **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314 "2006-08-19T03:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/1 "2006-08-19T03:56:34Z")
I am owned by eight cats, four male and four female. Two of my female cats give “kisses” - they will go out of their way to kiss me on the mouth. Both of the cats were feral born. I have not observed this behavior in any of the male cats, some of which I bottle raised. I am constantly trying to expand my knowledge of cats. I would appreciate any imput. Jokes will be tolerated. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/2 "2006-08-19T04:06:42Z")
What do you mean by kisses? My female tricolor licks my face, none of the other cats do. However, I deal with lots of cats at the SPCA, and there are some cats who headbutt and rub me repeatedly, even sit in my lap, stand on their hind legs with their paws on my shoulder, and nuzzle my face. I’ve had male and female cats do that. Which do you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/3 "2006-08-19T05:49:42Z")
I have a female who I think was born to one of the many ferals in the area. When I found her, as an emaciated kitten, she made that scary noise that I’ve only heard feral cats make. It took me weeks to gain her trust enough that she’d let me touch her. She’s turned out pretty affectionate and extremely sweet, but she’s not much for kissing or rubbing faces. Her hobbies are eating, playing, sleeping, and eating. She’s very organized. When she grows up, she wants an owner who’ll feed her continuously. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/4 "2006-08-19T06:14:17Z")
Several kitties I’ve known were kissers, the only common quality being persian/siamese/burmese. They were finger lickers-very loving kitties to those persons whom they felt were kitty people. Not everyone would receive such affection-I felt honored to receive fuzzer kisses. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/5 "2006-08-19T06:15:05Z")
My bed cat, adopted at about 6-7 weeks from a shelter, wants to be up in my mouth. However, I am not allowed to kiss her on the mouth because it makes my partner start going on about hantavirus. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/6 "2006-08-19T07:21:02Z")
My last cat was incredibly affectionate, she would demand that I cradle her in my arms like a baby, then she’d take her paws (claws retracted), put them on either side of my face and proceed to lick the tip of my nose. She was a dumpee who adopted me. Man, I miss that cat terribly. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/7 "2006-08-19T15:31:14Z")
Hey, weird! My “formerly feral” cat also does this! I never thought it was because of her past or anything, but my (male) cat who I’ve had since he was a kitten doesn’t do the whole kissy face thing. She likes to sit on my chest when I’m laying down and put her pws on my cheeks and just nuzzle and lick my face for as long as I can stand it. Maybe these rescued strays are just very thankful to their owners who saved them? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/8 "2006-08-19T16:02:20Z")
Both of our girls are kissers, and they were adopted at 6 weeks of age from a mom who gave birth at the shelter. They’ve been kissers since we got them. Pixel more than Havoc, but when you say “Give me a kiss” they both point their muzzles at you and wait for it. Pixel will actively solicit a kiss in the morning if you aren’t out of bed soon enough for her. Nothing like a paw to the cheek and cat lips to bring you out of dreamland. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/9 "2006-08-19T17:35:19Z")
So it seems that most of the “kissers” are female. **miss elizabeth** , I have often thought they were thanking me for saving them - [Cricket](http://community.webshots.com/photo/551443134/2385007710092851307nKPyot), in particular, because she was on her way to being put to sleep when I walked in the vets office. [Sugar Magnolia](http://community.webshots.com/photo/551443134/2264863990092851307kWyGSv) was a feral kitten I discovered sitting beside a trap when I was doing feral cat TNR. She just sat there and let me pick her up. That is _very_ unusual in feral kittens. I tell everyone that she had heard there was an alternative to the hard life of a feral that involved soft laps, ear scritches and “all you can eat” and she decided to give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/10 "2006-08-19T17:46:40Z")
I own 3 male cats. One licks me. He’ll lick my nose, though he prefers to clean my bald head, but it can get kind of gross so I don’t let him do it very much (or ever for very long). Another one is a definite head-butter. He will walk up to me and just ram his head into my head. It’s pretty funny. He’s never licked me though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/11 "2006-08-19T18:00:26Z")
I have one “kisser” a Maine coon mix boy, who was adopted before his eyes opened but whose mom was feral. He lifts his face to yours and touches his mouth to yours. (No licking, no tongue! 😃 ) One of the other boys is into head butting. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/12 "2006-08-19T18:22:41Z")
Cats will groom other members of their “family,” even if that includes dogs and humans. They also do a lot of scent-marking. They have scent sources on their hind haunches, their paws, the sides of their faces, and their foreheads. A lot of it is territorial, and some of it is marking family members. If you watch a cat next to a hedge at the edge of his territory, it will look like he’s sticking a twig right in his eye :eek: ; that’s scent marking. When he rubs his hip and tail along some object, he’s saying, “this is my place, and if you want to hang out here, you’ll have to talk to me about it.” The forehead butting is only for trusted family members. When you see a cat stretching up to scratch a tree, the message is "this is my tree, and I this is how high I can reach. When you get out of the shower, you don’t smell marked anymore, so your cat will hurry to retag you as a family member. As for licking the mouth, this harks back to Mama bringing home fresh meat. The kittens lick her face to taste what she caught. It’s partly hello, and it’s partly, “We’re hungry.” ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/13 "2006-08-19T18:38:02Z")
I know about the “marking” behavior - whenever I go visit a home that has another animal, I get seriously head-butted when I get home. 🙂 Thanks for all the replies! I enjoy increasing my knowledge of my feline overlords! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/14 "2006-08-19T18:49:39Z")
I have a male cat who sometimes licks my face when I make kissy noises at him. (Er, not in front of _people_.) It’s kinda gross because I know exactly where his tongue just was, but it’s also kinda sweet. He also licks my hands sometimes when I’m nearby when he’s grooming. I think he thinks I obviously need to groom myself more and he’s trying to show me how it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/15 "2006-08-20T01:06:50Z")
I always figured it was a sign of affection and/or trust. We’ve got several cats who do that, as far as “nuzzling the person’s nose or face.” ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/16 "2006-08-20T01:57:55Z")
Do momma cats regurgitate food for their young like dogs do? I’ve often wondered if when my dogs try to lick my mouth that they’re either attracted to the lingering scent of food or they have some sort of instinctual memory to lick the face of their “parent” in hopes I’ll yarf up a meal for them. ---
**Author:** ![Spezza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Spezza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spezza)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/17 "2006-08-20T02:09:20Z")
I have conditioned my cat that when I pick him up he knows he will not get down without a kiss. Immediatelly upon picking him up he strains his neck towards me looking for a kiss, and the subsequent freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/18 "2006-08-20T03:27:23Z")
> [@Shoshana](#): > > My bed cat, adopted at about 6-7 weeks from a shelter, wants to be up in my mouth. However, I am not allowed to kiss her on the mouth because it makes my partner start going on about hantavirus. Dump the partner, keep the cat. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/19 "2006-08-20T08:11:13Z")
I have had two Siamese (both male) for whom the height of lovingness involved them sniffing around the inside corner of my eye - ie the corner closest to my nose. Neither cat had any experience with the other but both did it occassionally in a way that seemed to be telling me I was very, very special. Difficult not to flinch when a wet little nose is that close to your eye, but they never made contact. I could, however, feel their hot little breath as they sniffed. Treasured memories. M ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314/20 "2006-08-20T08:44:14Z")
If we were talking about dogs then **Lissa** is right on target however, with cats everything is so much more complex 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-kisses/369314.md?page=2)