Why does he do this? help

[ajandtoby]

I have a young kitten. He was a feral. He's adjusted to his new life really well. Every morning when my alarm goes off, he comes and licks my neck until I get out of bed. I always feed him in the morning (and afternoon and evening). I've never had a cat before. Does he want me to give him food when he does that? He only does it in the morning. My mom told me to start washing my neck better. Could he be doing it because he wants attention or does he think it's his job to wake me up? It can get annoying when he does it on days I'd rather hit the snooze button.

Why does he do it? Is it a sign of affection? I am utterly lost on this behavior. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[fhicat]

It's a combination of love and food. By getting up and feeding him every time, you are reinforcing his behavior - he knows that if he licks you, he gets petted and food. If you really want to break him out of that habit, you should start ignoring him. It'll be hard; expect not to see changes for a couple of weeks, sometimes months.

When he licks you, just completely ignore him. Gently shove him away without opening your eyes or saying anything. You don't want him to misinterpret it as attention. When you do wake up, do not feed him immediately. Wait an hour or so. Soon he will learn that he gets his meals on your time, not his.

My cat has picked up this behavior too. He'll bug me in the mornings by purring and kneading on me and walking all over me at around 7:30am. On weekdays I let it slide because I need to be up around that time anyway, but I shove him away at weekends. He hasn't learnt yet.

 

[vball91]

He probably does want his breakfast. 

 You're lucky he waits until the alarm goes off to come and wake you. Cats like routine, so it's hard to sleep in on weekends. Do you feed him right after you get up? If so, you might want to start doing some other stuff before feeding him (taking a shower, getting coffee, whatever), so that he doesn't associate you getting up with immediate food. His behavior is pretty typical, and the licking is a sign of affection.

 

[willma]

My older cats wake us up by meowing outside our bedroom door as soon as they hear any stirring inside past 6am. My kitten doesn't meow, but she paws at the door until we open it. 

It's funny, too, when I'm in the nursery with my baby at that time (which happens more often than I'd like), they meow and paw at that door instead. Doesn't help with getting him back to sleep!! Silly kitties... gotta love their quirks (or not)!!

 

[willma]

I guess I should add that they do this because they are expecting breakfast! One of us usually feeds them between 6:30 and 7:30. They don't like to wait, especially Nella! She is bad for begging.

 

[ajandtoby]

Thank you all so much!

 

[my-boy-jasper]

I get head butts and a wet nose on my face in the morning. When that fails, I get nips on my arms.

 

[catbythesea]

My Brenna girl loves to wash people. Every time I pet her, she pets me back - lick lick lick. She's telling me she loves me by grooming. If I were another cat, it would be very nice of her to do that. As it is, sometimes I don't want her to lick me with her prickly tongue. So I taught her to never lick my face, and started directing her to the back of my hand or the top of my arms. I did that by just saying, "ouch," and pulling away when she licked me somewhere I didn't want her to, and offering a different place she could lick instead. She does it because she wants to be nice, not mean, so when she sees that I don't like it she tries to change what she is doing. 

Your cat is probably trying to wake you up gently with a refreshing morning face-wash! And look, it works perfectly! You hop up and feed him breakfast, and all is well.  He has no idea it's unwelcome. It's very good cat etiquette, and as a former feral, I would guess he thinks he's doing something nice for you.