OK, not all cats. Not that I know of, at least, but two of my wife’s cats, both females, apparently think catnip grows there. If I am in a short-sleeeved shirt or a no-sleeved shirt (more to their joy) they will rub up in my armpit, lick it and snuggle in it like it is the greatest thing since the aforementioned catnip. They will even react when I am wearing long-sleeved shirts.
Her male cat could care less. The females acknowledge the left pit, but don’t go as bananas over it. They don’t do this with my wife. They are standoffish with other people so we don’t know their reaction to them. Is this a common reaction with cat owners and their cats? My wife said jokingly that maybe these are cancer sniffing cats (should you really joke about cancer?), but I keeping thinking about that cat at that hospice that could perdict people that would die next.
So does anyone have experience with this sort of cat behavior?
Anecdotally, my cats (back at home with my parents) do this whenever I’m sleeping. I’ve woken up so many times with my right arm jostled aside and a cat’s head in my right armpit, i didn’t think much of it until you’ve mentioned it. They also like my neck, a lot, and will usually attempt to drape themselves around it whenever they can get away with it.
I don’t know, but it could be the relatively high and constant body temperature they like. It could also be the smell, I suppose.
Cats are lickers, and they chose different areas to lick. I’ve only experienced female cats doing the armpit thing. Can’t really explain why, possible it has something to do with the deodorant.
My previous male would lick my upper arm just outside the armpit, and occasionally on the chest nearby. But that was usually because he liked to curl up in my right armpit.
My previous female would lick my hands and lower arms, occasionally do the armpit thing. Her favorite place was on my legs or behind my head.
My current female licks my left ear (never the right), sometimes my face (eyes and nose), most often licks my beard around my chin. Only very occasionally, usually when I’m lying in bed, does she go after my armpit. Her favorite place is on my left shoulder.
I once had a male cat that liked to lick my armpit, so its not just a female thing.
I also had a female cat that used to clean my toes. Not just lick them, but dig in between them, making sure that the entire area was thoroughly cleaned out. And (TMI alert!) she only did it if I hadn’t washed them yet.
If your cats were in Singapore, they’d get caned. See here.
I probably should put one of the cats in some sort protective custody. After all she is Siamese.
I am a little more relieved by everyone’s comments, well, not this one…
I mean, that is pretty much old news after the incident with the flock of geese and the industrial strength castor oil (I was aquitted), but at least there is no indications that cats that do this are harbingers of deadly diseases.
My female Siamese like both my armpits if they’re sweaty If I’ve just ridden home on a hot day and I’m wearing a singlet top, she will go for it. It’s a little gross.
It has simply got to be some chemical / pheromonal thing. I have a cat that, when I strip to take a shower in the morning, rolls around like crazy on my (dirty) underwear. (I’m female, she’s female, FWIW) She often nuzzles her way into the undies such that she’s “wearing” them by the time I step out of the shower. [ I have a pic, actually, and am violating the most important rule on this board by not posting it, but I really don’t know how to put one up.]
Kitty has no interest, however, in my husband’s underwear.
