We adopted a 4-month old kitten a couple of months ago and everything about her seems "normal". She eats, sleeps, grooms and loves to play.
Ever since we brought her home she has been doing something really odd. If we pet her to the point she starts purring, she will immediately sit up and start licking her vagina vigorously while extending her paws/nails as if she is kneading air. Once she begins, she can continue doing this for a very long time (10 minutes+) as if she is in a trance, purring the whole time. We do whatever we can to distract her as soon as she starts or even before.
The strange thing is that we only see this behavior when she is purring and it begins immediately. Sequence: purring starts, she sits up, starts sniffing and slowly moves her head toward the genital area. If we place a hand on her body to block her from starting, she doesn't like it but doesn't really complain. She just gets up moves elsewhere and tries again. We keep blocking until she "forgets" and moves on OR we make her chase something so she stops purring.
I do not see any discharge or swelling in her genital area and she has no issue using the litter either. Everything else about her seems normal so I do not know if this is something to be concerned about. The only exception to this behavior is when she is sleeping or sleepy. If we rub her sides she will start purring and raise one leg as if she wants us to rub her belly but will not get up to start licking.
I have not been able to find any references to this specific type of behavior in such a young cat so I was curious to know if anyone had seen this before.
Ever since we brought her home she has been doing something really odd. If we pet her to the point she starts purring, she will immediately sit up and start licking her vagina vigorously while extending her paws/nails as if she is kneading air. Once she begins, she can continue doing this for a very long time (10 minutes+) as if she is in a trance, purring the whole time. We do whatever we can to distract her as soon as she starts or even before.
The strange thing is that we only see this behavior when she is purring and it begins immediately. Sequence: purring starts, she sits up, starts sniffing and slowly moves her head toward the genital area. If we place a hand on her body to block her from starting, she doesn't like it but doesn't really complain. She just gets up moves elsewhere and tries again. We keep blocking until she "forgets" and moves on OR we make her chase something so she stops purring.
I do not see any discharge or swelling in her genital area and she has no issue using the litter either. Everything else about her seems normal so I do not know if this is something to be concerned about. The only exception to this behavior is when she is sleeping or sleepy. If we rub her sides she will start purring and raise one leg as if she wants us to rub her belly but will not get up to start licking.
I have not been able to find any references to this specific type of behavior in such a young cat so I was curious to know if anyone had seen this before.
