My stepson got a kitty recently. She was a stray that wanderd into his grandparent’s yard one day. We let him keep her. Her name is Fred. Yes, Fred, although we generally refer to her as kitty. Even though she is my stepson’s cat, she and I have bonded and she usually hangs out with me in my office.
Fred’s an interesting cat. Apparently, she’s part dog. One day I was tossing a balled-up piece of paper into the trash can and next thing I knew, she had jumped into the can and gotten the paper out and brought it back to me. Now I throw a ball of paper all over the place and no matter where it ends up, she will get it and bring it back.
Now for the weird part. She likes to lick people. Feet, arms, hands, hair, ears, or whatever body part she happens to be near.
Occasionally, she will sleep in the bed with Mrs. Blue Sky and I. I sleep on my right side and sometimes she’ll end up sleeping in the crook of my body. I have been awakened by her licking my arm or elbow. She will climb over me and sleep on my pillow just above my head and lick my hair.
It’s not just me, either. She’ll lick most anybody.
Why does she do this? I’ve never encountered a cat that will lick a person.
We had a cat when I was a kid that would fetch paper balls. We would throw them, the cat would bat them around for a while, then pick them up and bring them back for another throw.
Our kitties will lick for a second or two before they settle down for some quality nap time with their humans. I think it’s just kitty kisses. They get a little overly enthusiastic with it when I have on certain types of moisturizer. I once had to get up and wash my hands because I had used a moisturizing lotion that was apparently a kitty gourmet treat.
This was handled recently on Calling All Pets; apparently it’s partly affection, and partly maternalistic; it’s definitely a sign that your cat is comfortable with her environment and with you. Our calico Morgan likes to give us kitty kisses. Another thing she likes is to wait for you outside the shower, and when you emerge she’ll lick the water on your feet or legs.
Our cat used to fetch his Big Bird puppet (for wrestling games). We’d toss it, he’d bring it back, we’d toss it, he’d bring it back. When he got tired, he’d bring it back halfway, put it down, and sit on its face.
The thing about her chasing the paper balls: no matter how difficult it seems to get, she is very determined and won’t stop until she has it. I tossed behind the TV stand in my bedroom and figured it was gone for good. About five minutes later, in she walks, covered in dust, ball in mouth.
I’m glad she’s a little weird. I hate boring pets. A lot of people (mainly guys from what I’ve seen) hate cats. I’m not enough of an animal person to own a dog. I’ve always lived in a house that had at least one. All previous kitties have had unusual personality quirks.
Example:
Q-Tip: so named for his black tail with a white tip. He was smart enough to come to the front door and meow to let us know it was his dinner time. One of us would tell him to go around to the back door. A minute later, there he was. If you were slow, he would go back to the front and jump up on the screen door and stare at you. He could also cuss. Well, in a kitty way. He had gotten into a fight and my mother bandaged his wounds so that he couldn’t scratch them. He was not pleased. He would walk across the yard, stop, look back and meow in a mean way. He would do this until he was out of our sight. I knew he was cussing out my mother, who would laugh at him, making him even angrier.
Pixel licks my hands, feet, and ankles. Dot licks my face, mostly under my nose, and my armpit. Yes, armpit. It’s gross and creepy and she’ll get one good lick in before I throw her off.
Bob (Bob is a cat no matter what he says to the contrary) licks my neck and tries to give me hickeys before settling down to sleep. He also gets rather annoyed when Mr. Bugnorton comes to bed and tries to scoot him over.
A couple nights ago, I felt Tammy climb up and settle on my pillow. I didn’t open my eyes, but reached over and started petting her as usual. What wasn’t usual was that she started to lick my eyelids–had the hardest time not waking up Mrs. AG with my laughter. Later, I learned, from the now-awake Mrs. AG, that Tammy resettled on top of my head (which I knew cats would do, but didn’t know she was doing it herself).
I love them love them love them love them. Kitty kisses kitty kisses!!!
I luuurve kitty kisses!