Question About Cats Grooming One Another

jisaacson214

jisaacson214

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I recently noticed that one of my oriental shorthairs is licking/sucking on the others ears. When they snuggle together, I’ll look over & Ember will practically have Grembly’s whole ear in her mouth sucking on it! Grembly doesn’t seem to care so I don’t think it’s hurting her, but I’m worried it’s going to give her an ear infection or something. Grembly has never had a lot of wax buildup either. I realize cats tend to groom each other, but I’ve never seen this behavior specifically with the ears.
 
Mamanyt1953

Mamanyt1953

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Is Ember kneading when she does this? If so, it's one of the odder expressions of smurgling that I've seen. Smurgling is that nursing thing that they do...sucking/nuzzling, kneading, sometimes drooling. If that's what is going on, try giving Ember a soft, fleecy blanket to suck on. They can do this at all ages. It is MOST common in cats who were taken from Mama a bit early. It's a self-comforting action. Hekitty does it, and her target is my right arm, which generally looks as if I have some obscure skin disease from all the little claw-pricks on it.
 
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jisaacson214

jisaacson214

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Mamanyt1953 said:
Is Ember kneading when she does this? If so, it's one of the odder expressions of smurgling that I've seen. Smurgling is that nursing thing that they do...sucking/nuzzling, kneading, sometimes drooling. If that's what is going on, try giving Ember a soft, fleecy blanket to suck on. They can do this at all ages. It is MOST common in cats who were taken from Mama a bit early. It's a self-comforting action. Hekitty does it, and her target is my right arm, which generally looks as if I have some obscure skin disease from all the little claw-pricks on it.
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No, Ember isn’t kneading when she does it, at least not that I’ve seen. She’s just grooming Grembly with extra special attention to her ears. I adopted Ember when she was 2 yrs old & up until then, she resided in the same cattery as her mama & daddy.
 
Mamanyt1953

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Probably not smurgling then. Well, if Grembly is ok with it, I wouldn't worry overly much. The chances of an infection are fairly slight...HOWEVER, if she does start looking raw or red around her ears, we'll need to work on this!
 
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jisaacson214

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Furballsmom said:
Hi!
There's this article which has a little info towards the bottom that might be of interest, but I'm wondering if there's a toy, or increased playtime, maybe going for walks, that might help Ember to be less interested in sucking Grembly's ears?

Why Do Cats Groom Each Other? (the Answer Will Surprise You!)
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Thank you so much for the article suggestion! Helpful read. Whenever I do catch Ember sucking on Grem’s ears, I try to distract her with playing with a toy or just redirect her myself with affection. She actually licks me too when I do this, mostly on my face which is both cute & hurts! lol
 
Mamanyt1953

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There is nothing quite like getting a bath by a determined cat, is there? At least Grembly has some fur to take the brunt of it! WE don't!
 
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jisaacson214

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Mamanyt1953 said:
Probably not smurgling then. Well, if Grembly is ok with it, I wouldn't worry overly much. The chances of an infection are fairly slight...HOWEVER, if she does start looking raw or red around her ears, we'll need to work on this!
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Oh good I feel a bit better now reading this! I think about human ear infections & how an increase in moisture/fluid can play a part in them & I got nervous. Perhaps I’m more hyper-aware of their ears since they’re so pronounced with this breed. Grembly doesn’t appear to be in any discomfort or even annoyed when Ember does this though, so I’ll guess just be on alert for redness/irritation. Thanks so much!
 
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