# Why does my kitty like to lick me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098 "2003-10-13T02:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/21 "2003-10-14T02:41:03Z")
That’s not your kitten underneath your bed licking your palm at night. That’s THE HOMOCIDAL MANIAC!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/22 "2003-10-14T02:43:34Z")
**They can lick too you know.** ---
**Author:** ![saramamalana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@saramamalana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saramamalana)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/23 "2003-10-14T03:39:44Z")
Holy font change, batman! **Blackeyes** , that’s crizazy. I had a cat Fritz that would lick my eyelids and earlobes. It felt sooo strange and pretty quickly I’d have to move him just far enough away so that he couldn’t reach either area. The other day my dear old cat Tiger (18 years old next month!) was curled up next to me against my arm. He was in the middle of washing, and I guess he got carried away or distracted b/c he licked my arm. He paused and then shook his head a little as if to get rid of the wrong taste. Heehee. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/24 "2003-10-14T04:06:49Z")
It’s not necessarily maternalistic. My male cat Vladimir once licked all the hair he could reach on my head one night. Needless to say, my “fur” was not soft and shiny like his is after a good licking. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/25 "2003-10-14T04:57:12Z")
At a sleepover at a friend’s house many years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night by her cat licking my eyelids. ---
**Author:** ![Amethyst\_Autumn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Amethyst\_Autumn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amethyst_Autumn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/26 "2003-10-14T05:14:38Z")
Before he passed away last month my cat Teddy Bear liked to lick people’s hair. He would climb up behind you on the sofa and start snacking away. It was amusing to be on the end of the licking but even funnier to watch him do to it to someone. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/27 "2003-10-14T06:06:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Bird \* > \*\*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. \*\* We’ve had a couple of cats who just LOVED to lick Mr. Bodoni’s armpit…and when they found just the right spot, they’d sink their fangs in. Apparently his armpit tastes DELICIOUS to cats. I’m not checking it for flavor, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/28 "2003-10-15T03:06:17Z")
It’s nice to know my cat’s not the only sicko. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![furlibusea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@furlibusea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furlibusea)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/29 "2003-10-15T03:31:02Z")
One of our cats is particularly fond of fetch, and her favorite fetch toy is one of our daughter’s pony tail holders (The soft scrunchy kind.) They are great to play fetch with because you can shoot them like a rubber band. Sometimes, while trying to get someone to play with her, she carrys them around in her mouth, looking for all the world like one of those ladies with the lip plug. The down side to all of this is that she tends to stash the particularly nice ones (I have no idea of what a cat’s criteria for this is) and finding a pony tail holder before school can be quite a challenge. Somewhere in this house there have to be 4000 pony tail holders but damned if I can find them. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/30 "2003-10-15T03:41:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni \* > \*\*We’ve had a couple of cats who just LOVED to lick Mr. Bodoni’s armpit…and when they found just the right spot, they’d sink their fangs in. Apparently his armpit tastes DELICIOUS to cats. I’m not checking it for flavor, myself. \*\* Someone told me that human armpit funk smells like a mother cat’s teat. I have no idea how this person came to have such information. I’m just going to assume she read a book about pheromones or similar, and didn’t actually smell a cat’s nipple. Also, one of my cats is a super-freak and drinks my bathwater. Unfortunately, Mr. Amanita has seen _The Color Purple_, in which an admirer of Shug Avery shouts out, “Giiiirrrll, I wanna drink yo’ bathwater!” I am now unable to take a bath without my cat drinking my bathwater, and my husband imitating this character. My life is joy. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/31 "2003-10-15T04:01:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*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. \*\* I once had a cat (he lives with my sister now) who did the same, with straws! We have a 6 month old male Siamese stray who licks my 8-yr old son all the time, and rubs/purrs/kisses him as well. Siam only gives this attention to my oldest son, and I am quite jealous! I think it must be related to some sort of smell (perhaps it’s a male thing). ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098/32 "2003-10-15T04:01:55Z")
When I come home sick, Baby will crawl up in front of me and snuggle. She never does this at night, and if I’m really feeling lousy, she’ll lick and chew on my finger nails. I say that as a girl Baby knows nothing makes you feel better than a manicure; Hubby says she’s checking to see if I’m “done” (or dead) and ready to be cat kibble. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-kitty-like-to-lick-me/207098.md?page=1)