Why does my cat lick my face when I sleep?
There is a widespread idea that cats are independent animals, unsociable and un affectionate, but this description does not define most cats with which we live. Thus, there are still people who are surprised by the affection requests of their feline companions.
- You want to know why your cat licks your face while you sleep? In this article by Animal Expert – – we will explain why your kitten does this.
- A behavior that combines the affection it feels for you with one of its most characteristic behaviors: self-cleaning.
If, on the one hand, cats are not known to take care of animals, they are known to be very clean. Therefore, anyone who observes a cat for a while will probably notice that it is thoroughly cleaned. First, run your tongue through one leg, then the other to wet it so that you can clean the fur, starting with the face, then through the legs, body and ending with the tail.
The tongues of the cats are rough because they facilitate this important cleaning, not only to remove dirt, but also to keep the fur in good condition to perform its functions of protection and insulation against high and low temperatures. If, during this process, the cat finds debris or dirt attached, it will use its teeth to nibbles and remove them.
This whole typically feline ritual is known as self-cleaning. However, cats not only lick themselves, but also exhibit the cleansing behavior of others, which will explain why your cat licks its face while you sleep. There are many reasons why cats are licked, but in the next section we will explain what other people’s cleansing behavior really is.
Just as cats are cleaned, they also clean other cats. These cleansing behaviors are rooted when kittens are born, as from the beginning of their lives, their mother begins to clean them with their tongue, and do not begin to take care of their own cleaning until around three weeks of age. Deity.
The hygiene that the mother maintains with her children strengthens the social and family bond between each and every one, and if they stay together it will be a behavior that they will maintain throughout their lives. We will also see this behavior in cats that live together, regardless of their age.
Cleaning others explains why your cat licks your face when you sleep, as it’s part of this behavior you usually practice. This means that it considers you as your family and that as such it takes care of you, because this behavior, instead of being hygiene oriented, strengthens the bonds. Learn more about cleaning up others in the video below:
Now that the self-cleaning and cleansing behaviors of others have been identified, let’s explain why the cat licks your face while you sleep. First, we must know that for them, the human being is a kind of great feline that gives them the same care that the mother gave them at the beginning of their lives. Our caresses are like the caresses he did with his tongue on the puppies.
Regardless of the age or independence of a cat, it becomes a puppy again in its presence, due to the domestication process on which we base our relationship with these cats. When your cat wants to clean you up, it faces the lifting problem. That’s why he often rubs his legs and makes small jumps trying to get close to his face. If you sleep, he’ll take the most to lick his face and motivate himself to do so, because you’re in a particular moment of relaxation, what he feels when cleaning up others.
In addition, this behavior allows the exchange of odors, very important, given the role that smell plays in the life of the cat. The mixture of body odor and yours will reinforce the cat’s familiarity with you. Finally, you should know that when cleaning others your cat may bite you slightly, because as we have seen, use your teeth when cleaning. Does your cat bite you too? Probably for that, but it is important to distinguish between these bites and those that can be sudden or aggressive, which should be avoided by diverting the attention of our cat.
You’ve already figured out why your cat licks your face while you sleep. As we said, it’s normal behavior and, moreover, it’s a sign of affection and confidence in you. However, if you notice that your cat is exaggerating, as with anxiety, you may face a moving cleaning behavior, which is done only to calm a stressful state in the cat. In these cases, other behaviors can also be observed, such as the cat licking clothes or sucking fabrics.
In this case, you need to discover the causes that bother your cat to solve them. The veterinary examination may exclude a physical origin and, if it is a behavioral disorder that cannot be resolved, the guardian should seek the help of an ethologist or feline behavior specialist.
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