Nibbling on fingertips

[Vi Co Bi]

I've had some cats with strange behaviors, but we haven't been able to figure this one out...

Our male, Jackson, likes to nibble my fingertips. Doesn't seem to matter to him if my nails are long or short, as long as my hands are clean and he can nibble on the fingers. One time he accidentally bit me, but ever since then he's been so careful not to nibble with any teeth other than his very front teeth. A couple of times, when he woke me up in the middle of the night nibbling and I had long fingernails, I accidentally scraped the roof of his mouth really bad.

Any idea?

[wolflady]

Vi, you know, I haven't the faintest clue why cats like certain appendages! LOL But, your post made me think of my Marius. I swear he has a foot fetish. It's so strange, but seriously funny. If there are shoes laying around, he'll go and lay on them, or at least rest his head "in" them. Also, if you're not wearing shoes...he just LOVES to play with feet. Bare feet are even better than stocking feet. And, even better than that? Feet fresh out of the shower!!! When I get out, my cat runs over to where my feet are and "falls" on them and starts rubbing all over them. He also likes to nibble my feet. I move them, and he follows. He just has to rub on and nibble those clean feet! Very odd indeed

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"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." - English proverb

[4 feline house]

Isn't that funny about cats and our shoes? Almost every cat I've owned has been obsessed with our shoes. They like to sleep on them, chew on them, and put their toys (or sometimes dead prey!) in them. One cat we had kept peeing on my son's soccer cleats! We didn't figure out why, but finally had to replace them. She never bothered the new pair.

I've had two boys that licked my toes as kittens, but they both outgrew it.

[Vi Co Bi]

I've only had one cat who liked to lick feet, but she liked to lick anything that stuck out from the sheets and she thought needed cleaning. I had another cat who liked to floss her teeth in a friend's beard (we said she was digging for leftovers). We have one cat now who likes sleeping on the stinkiest dirty clothes (she selects the basket carefully).

I just worry that Jackson will get really hurt nibbling on my fingertips because of my scraping the roof of his mouth. It doesn't stop him when it happens. The only thing that seems to dissuade him is my using lotion on my hands (he won't bother me at all - prefers his fingertips clean), but I have trouble sleeping with lotion on my hands (tend to wake up, rub my eyes and get the lotion worked in *real* well).

[Smallfrygrl28]

how young is your cat? if he/she is still very small, your cat may be trying to suckle. they do that, but they will stop now, sometimes cats, guinea pigs, or dogs will lick or bite skin because of the salton it. My guinea pig maggie just puts the top of my finger in her mouth because of the salt. i love cats and nothing will happen to yours. it just might be a habit (like biting finger nails)



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B) Becca