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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Licking and biting, please help

6 replies

MyLostUsername · 02/10/2025 22:48

We have recently adopted a 4 year old male from CP. He was very shy at first and it ook him a few weeks until he could relax properly, sleep on beds etc. He still gets frightened very easily and jumps at unusual noises.

He is an indoor cat so far, but a proper hunter. He reall enjoys playing with his toy wand and hids in tunnels. He usually waits for us by the stairs and takes us to the room to play. He is super cute.
.
But for the past 3 days he is been doing something that I cannot understand - he contantly wants to sniff my fingers/hands and lick them. He then starts biting then. At first it is very gentle bites (love bites?) but that quickly turns into more vicious biting, trying to get my arm.

He sleeps on my side of the bed, usualy at my feet but also at some point in the night he likes to get closer, purring and kneading. Last night, he was doing this so I started stroking his head. He licked my hand and as soon as I moved away he bit me and scratched me quite hard. He then sat there staring at me in the dark, waiting until he attached again and jumped on my back. I was actually quite scared :-(

I really do not understand what is going on
At first I thought the licking/biting was just play fight but after last night's episode I am not sure!.

Can anyone enlighten me please?
Should I worry?!

OP posts:
LoftyRobin · 03/10/2025 03:54

It sounds like he is in hunter mode and wants to play with something that alleviates that

Bagpuss1200 · 03/10/2025 08:36

No there is no need to worry. After my lovely girl cat passed away last year I adopted an 8 month old bengal/tabby boy. He is bonkers in comparison! I've noticed that after I stroke him for a minute or two, he does exactly the same thing, licks then bites and potentially tries to 'beat me up'. I've realised that it is him getting over excited and he stops the minute I distract him with a toy.

Papadulo · 03/10/2025 08:45

All our boys cats have had this tendency. They have all wanted to lick/groom us but then get over stimulated and think we’re up for some more aggressive action.
None of my girl cats have licked us. Not sure if it’s a male/female thing or just our cats.

MyLostUsername · 15/10/2025 17:09

thanks all and apologies for not posting again - I've been traveling.

Well, as it happens....he was hungry!
He wasn't eating loads, but as we were feeding him exactly the ype of food we were told he liked, we didn't think there was anything wrong.
I decided to try something new and he cleaned the bowl in 2 minutes! Since then, he still want to play/hunt but his behaviour has completely changed - he definitely does not play as agressively and is waaay more chilled.

So, it seems I was starving the poor thing!

OP posts:
Puppylucky · 15/10/2025 18:30

That's really interesting @MyLostUsername . We have just adopted a young boy who behaves exactly as you describe. Because our previous cat was unwell and didn't eat much we don't tend to put much wet food down but I will try with an extra pouch a day

MyLostUsername · 16/10/2025 09:04

Puppylucky · 15/10/2025 18:30

That's really interesting @MyLostUsername . We have just adopted a young boy who behaves exactly as you describe. Because our previous cat was unwell and didn't eat much we don't tend to put much wet food down but I will try with an extra pouch a day

I'd definitely try it!

Ours is eating at least twice as much now!
He completely stopped biting and attacking me. Interestingly, I am the one who feeds him....

I actually feel very guilty, but luckily I realised soon enough!

OP posts:
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