The situation is as follows: you are calmly stroking your cat, he seems to be enjoying it so you continue to massage his back, he gives you a lick that you interpret as he is liking it and in a millisecond he turns around and tips you a nibble on the hand. What happened? Did he not like your massage and you have misinterpreted the lick? Does he want you to stop touching him or is he playing his way? The answer is not as exact as we would like and the fact that the cat licked you and then bit you can have different meanings. Let’s go by parts…
Why do cats lick?
One of the many reasons why cats lick each other is to remove dirt from their fur (for this, that kind of thorns that they have on their tongues and that in that case act like the bristles of a comb are very useful). Therefore, if our kitten sucks us, what he is doing is grooming us. In fact, they can lick each other, yes, only the members of their closest family, such as mothers to puppies and between siblings. So if your cat licks you, you can feel lucky . You are very important to him, as to his family!
It also happens that certain cats have learned that after licking us, we react in an affectionate way and caress them, so they do it looking for pampering.
Why do they bite?
When it comes to biting, a cat may bite if it is very angry or very scared . This type of bite is diametrically different from that of a playful cat. In addition to being more painful, it is accompanied by a very clear body language: stiff body, bristling back, snorts, alert meows and arched back . It is quite easy to spot.
A cat can also bite during play if it gets very excited and out of control ; to let us know that we are bothering him or he wants us to stop touching or playing with him (the bite is not so delicate and surely the kitten has sent you certain body signals before) or as a show of affection if it is soft (it does not bite with all your desire) and repetitive.
What if they lick and then bite?
Here comes the most difficult yet: the cat, after licking, bites. There are several explanations for this: it can be a show of affection , it can be a way of telling us to stop touching or playing with him and it can be part of his grooming session . To understand this last reason, it must be borne in mind that while cats are washing they also nibble on their hair (a thorough cleaning!)
As a conclusion, we recommend you, in addition to observing the intensity of the bite (if it bites hard, you already know that you should not continue doing whatever with it), study the cat’s body language or if while you were touching it, it was preening itself and that’s it. by extension it has cleansed you too.
