Cat Has A Licking Problem?

So my cat has a problem. I think. When we first got her home almost an year ago she used to sort of pull clumps of fur, mostly from her tummy. We don't know what the cause was - could have been the fleas we found later, the belly worms, the bad diet she had at the shelter, or just the stress of moving - but the problem seemed to have corrected itself. I don't think she's ever over-groomed. Don't think so now as well. But she does lick a lot.

When I'm petting her, if I scratch at the base of her tail her tongue flicks out, like it's an instinctive reaction. If continued for a little longer, she'll start licking herself or try to lick anything that's near her. Usually it's me, but if I angle my body away from her she'll even lick the chair she's sitting in, the sheets, whatever.

When petting in general, she also seems to feel the need to lick me, and if I don't giver her that she'll lick herself. I chalk it up to it being a quirk of hers. She probably thinks of me as a hairless cat and wants to lick me back. The fact that she sometimes bite-holds me when I try to move away supports that, imo. Either way, petting usually leads to her licking herself. She also licks me whenever my face comes close to hers or when I'm sitting close to her when she's cleaning herself.

I don't mind all this, but there's another strange thing that she does. Sometimes she'll randomly start sniffing around the floor. At a random spot she'll sniff for a while and then raise her head with her mouth open, almost like she's panting, but not quite, with a look that seems to show utter shock and horror at whatever she's smelled. Sometimes she'll ever start randomly licking that spot. It isn't exclusive to the floor either. I've occasionally caught her licking her steel water bowl's rim, the metal bucket in my bathroom, a random patch at the bottom of a wall...

I don't know what's causing this in her. She's seems pretty fine, other than the desire to sniff and lick. Doesn't seem stressed out other than the open mouth thing. We have marble flooring in our house. Every day the floor is swept with a broom, twice, and cleaned with a wet cloth and some cleaning agent, once. She does it occasionally and at random spots on the floor, and not right after the floor's cleaned, so it can't be the cleaning agent. I'm not sure what other smell could be bothering her. Not many people come into our house regularly, but our two drivers who she is familiar with. And none of the people who come here own cats or dogs so it can't be a foreign animal's smell.

This behavior is puzzling, but I don't know if I should be worried. Any thoughts?

You actually have a totally normal cat who is doing totally normal cat stuff, it just looks very odd to us.

hypatia said:

When I'm petting her, if I scratch at the base of her tail her tongue flicks out, like it's an instinctive reaction. If continued for a little longer, she'll start licking herself or try to lick anything that's near her. Usually it's me, but if I angle my body away from her she'll even lick the chair she's sitting in, the sheets, whatever.

When petting in general, she also seems to feel the need to lick me, and if I don't giver her that she'll lick herself. I chalk it up to it being a quirk of hers. She probably thinks of me as a hairless cat and wants to lick me back.

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Almost all cats react like that to some degree or another when scratched at the base of the tail. In fact, it can be a way to get medication into a cat (mix with wet food, put it on your finger, scratch cat butt, when the tongue comes out, the meds go in). Some people think that it is associated with mutual grooming, other think it may be associated with mating behavior, but I've never known one who didn't react like that. For that matter, I've never known a dog who didn't react to being scratched at the base of the tail.

hypatia said:

I don't mind all this, but there's another strange thing that she does. Sometimes she'll randomly start sniffing around the floor. At a random spot she'll sniff for a while and then raise her head with her mouth open, almost like she's panting, but not quite, with a look that seems to show utter shock and horror at whatever she's smelled.

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That is called the Flehmen Response. It actually doesn't have anything to do with whether a cat thinks a smell is "good" or "bad." Cats have an organ called the Jacobson's Organ located between the hard pallet of the mouth and the septum of the nose. Jacobson's organs link to the hypothalamus in the brain that serves as sort of a switchboard to direct information to other areas. Tiny ducts connect them to openings behind kitty's teeth in the roof of the mouth. The facial expression that your are seeing occurs when a cat smells something and wants to identify and categorize it. They make that face as they draw air over the Jacobson's Organ.

I agree, these are all normal behaviours, don't worry! The one where they open their mouth when they smell something is what I find the most amusing. I always joke that my cat must of smelt something awful because he has a look of shock/disgust on his face. But it's all completely normal!

Actually, dogs and horses also do that Flehmen face, but it isn't nearly as noticeable in them.

Mamanyt1953 said:

That is called the Flehmen Response.

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Neo_23 said:

I agree, these are all normal behaviours, don't worry!

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Sorry for the late reply, guys. Thank you for the info about Flehmen face. I used to worry that she's making that face because the smell is stressing her out or something. Glad to know she's fine.

But I'm still wondering about the random licking of floor, walls, chairs, wood, steel, etc. Any idea why that is happening and how I can prevent it? I'm worried she might pick up bad germs from doing that and get sick. Just yesterday she was licking my bedpost and after a while she licked it and she rubbed her head against it (almost like she was using it as a substitute for her hand to clean her face). I got so worried that she might get any wood splinters or something. When licking the floor and other stuff, I've never observed her rubbing her head up against it like she did with the bedpost.

I'm more concerned about possible residue from cleaning fluids than bad germs. Remember, these are creatures who routinely eat all sorts of nasty stuff, and clean their behinds with their tongues. They have tough systems, and most "bad germs" just don't bother them. She's unlikely to ingest parasite eggs inside your home, which would be a problem for her.

The random licking...does she do it for excessively long periods of time?

Mamanyt1953 said:

I'm more concerned about possible residue from cleaning fluids than bad germs...
The random licking...does she do it for excessively long periods of time?

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Yes, the residue from cleaning fluids is a concern that I forgot to mention. But it's not just the germs. I'm worried about her eating whatever. For example, the paint and the calcium oxide when licking the walls.

She doesn't lick for too long. I usually stop her when I see her doing it, but I don't think she goes on for longer than 30 seconds a time, if even that. It's just a few licks. BUT! Sometimes she'll go more than one round. As in, she'll lick one spot a few times then move a few centimeters and lick once more. It never went on for more than a minute, though.

How very odd. This is, indeed, one for the books. I'm sorry, but I gots nuttin, here. Some form of Pica, perhaps? You might ask your vet about that.