Getting a licken

[jimross]

We've all heard the term "gett'in a lickin", or "you're gonna get a licken". I wonder if it has to do with the way one cat will "groom" another one?

I ask because our senior cat (about 4 1/2 years old) sometimes seems to get fed up with one or the other of our two kittens (both under 3 months old), and she will pin down the kitten and then give it a good "licking". I watched her lick on the little boy for a good 5 minutes last night. He just laid there and took it, but he had his ears back like he wasn't enjoying it a whole lot.

Is this some kind of "I'm the boss" behavior? How about when we let this cat lick our hand (we think of it as a greeting--we'll walk up to her and hold our hand down and she just gives it a lick or two. Are we somehow acknowledging her as "boss" when we do this, or what?

 

[rosiemac]

Rosie washes my new kitten as well

.

Sophie also just lies on her back with her paws up in the air letting her.

Not only does she wash her all over, but she washes her bum as well

, but i've been told it's normal

 

[cla517]

I read somewhere that this can be a sign of dominence and probably is if it looks like the receiving cat is not happy about it. My cats will do that to one another if one wants the other one to move. The one who wants the spot will start "power grooming" the other one and that one will get tired of it and leave. This gives the "licker" the spot he wanted.

I think Rosie and Sophie are just engaging in a mutual love fest!

 

[jimross]

That's what I was thinking. The older cat is very much an "alpha" personality. Even tries to boss us around. Of the two kittens, the girl (Annabell Lee, "Annie") yields gladly to her, but the boy (Cactus James, "CJ") seems more intent on following her around but not "yielding". He only seems to back down from her because he's too small to do anything about it yet.

Musette (the older cat) is a big girl. 14.5 pounds (she's a couple of pounds overweight, but that still leaves a pretty big girl). Boy, is she in for a surprise. These two kittens are Maine Coons, and the "little" boy's father and grandad are both 25-pounders without being overweight. I have a feeling she and CJ are going to have to go "out behind the woodshed" to settle it someday. (not literally--our cats are all indoors only).

 

[keiffers]

Originally Posted by JimRoss

That's what I was thinking. The older cat is very much an "alpha" personality. Even tries to boss us around. Of the two kittens, the girl (Annabell Lee, "Annie") yields gladly to her, but the boy (Cactus James, "CJ") seems more intent on following her around but not "yielding". He only seems to back down from her because he's too small to do anything about it yet.

Musette (the older cat) is a big girl. 14.5 pounds (she's a couple of pounds overweight, but that still leaves a pretty big girl). Boy, is she in for a surprise. These two kittens are Maine Coons, and the "little" boy's father and grandad are both 25-pounders without being overweight. I have a feeling she and CJ are going to have to go "out behind the woodshed" to settle it someday. (not literally--our cats are all indoors only).

My cat used to have a thing about licking me ALL the time right after I got her. If I get close enough to her face, she'll actually lick my face and even my goatee, like she is grooming me. Granted she doesn't lick me like she used to, its still there.

Btw, keep this in mind. Something my mom told me right after I got Molly

"Dogs are owned by humans.....Cats OWN their humans"

Being that Molly is my first cat after always having dogs growing up, she LIVES by this comment

 

[twofatcats]

Red Cat (the dominant cat) used to regularly lick Purdy's head. Purdy put his ears back, like he was not enjoying this. After a few minutes of this, Red Cat would jump for Purdy's throat, and the fight would begin. (They are both neutered males, about eight years, not related.) I have managed to greatly decrease the frequency of this behavior by giving them both a treat if Red Cat walked away from Purdy after the grooming, instead of jumping him. It still happens occasionally, though.

 

[felicia's mom]

I used to see Beau lick Felicia (my dominant one). When Felicia got tired of it, she would bite Beau. I haven't seen Beau lick her for a long time. I never saw Felicia lick Beau.

 

[monica's six]

I would really like to hear what our new behaviorist advisor has to say about this topic... Grooming is a very important part of my cats society and there are times when I'm not sure I know how to interpret what I'm seeing. I often use it as a measuring guage as to how content my cats are with the amount of attention they are getting from me which may not be appropriate. But it does seem that the cats groom each other more often when they are happier with me.

I see different licking behaviors from different cats... In general the grooming pecking order is the older cats groom the younger cats. Often the grooming is nice, low key, and welcome between cats... Other times the cats are more agressive / assertive about the grooming; more domineering. Sometimes it seems like the grooming starts off nice enough and just like some cats get over stimulated being petted... it seems like the cat doing the grooming gets over zealous with the grooming until the other cat doesn't want to deal with it anymore. I don't know what it all means though! Then there's the cats grooming me, which is interesting too...

 

[artful badger]

I see examples of both friendly and dominant grooming. Sometimes it's done in friendship (usually mutual and relaxed), but often even that escalates into playtime and wrestling.

The thing I think it relates to is how a mom-cat treats her kittens. Moms have to groom their little ones. They put their paw on top of the kitten so it won't move and roughly move their tongue over them. This is often done to a kitten that gets too feisty when pouncing mom's tail. It's almost like mom gets fed up and decides if he's that eager to be around her he might as well get a good bath.

Between relatively equal members of a household it is probably a social activity. If an imbalance occurs then the groomer is the dominant one. (I like to think when they groom me it's a case of relative equality but I may be deluding myself! LOL)

~Heather