My kitten keeps sucking my ears

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Cakehead - 14 Jul 2004 00:06 GMT

I have just acquired two cats thru my daughters, one male, one female.
The female Pretzel I can handle as she is only my friend when I feed
her: however, Squeaky, the male, seems to have some fascination in
climbing onto my shoulders and sucking my ear lobes- is this some sort
of behaviour that means I am lacking something in his diet, or do I
have a "gaycat"?

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Brian Link - 14 Jul 2004 00:50 GMT

>I have just acquired two cats thru my daughters, one male, one female.
>The female Pretzel I can handle as she is only my friend when I feed
>her: however, Squeaky, the male, seems to have some fascination in
>climbing onto my shoulders and sucking my ear lobes- is this some sort
>of behaviour that means I am lacking something in his diet, or do I
>have a "gaycat"?

Not an expert - but I've been told in the past that "oral" fixations
like these may have their roots in too-early weaning. In which case
there may be little you can do. Our cat Abbey would lick and chew my
fingertips while I was trying to sleep. When I hid my hands, she would
wait very patiently till I was asleep, when the hands would come out
and she would resume her suckling.

Brian Link, Minnesota Countertenor
----------------------------------
"I think animal testing is a terrible idea;
they get all nervous and give the wrong answers."
- regmech

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Mary - 14 Jul 2004 00:53 GMT

> I have just acquired two cats thru my daughters, one male, one female.
> The female Pretzel I can handle as she is only my friend when I feed
> her: however, Squeaky, the male, seems to have some fascination in
> climbing onto my shoulders and sucking my ear lobes- is this some sort
> of behaviour that means I am lacking something in his diet, or do I
> have a "gaycat"?

Oh NO! Squeaky is an Alternative Lifestyle Cat!
Kidding. Some cats just to this. My cat Timmy did it
to me when I was a teenager. I thought it was cute. My
sister's two kittens both do it to anyone's hand that will
hold still long enough. Some say it is because they were not
properly weaned (of course I have heard the same about
human males with a large mammary gland fixation). Some
cats suck their tails or the tails of other cats. (Go to
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes and see the "Beautiful doll baby
for adoption" thread.) Does it bother you? If so you could
just put him down when he starts it. But be on the lookout--
my bet is he will be sucking on something else at some
point. I think it must just comfort them. It never bothered
me when Timmy did it. Of course, with the loser I was
dating then, that was probably the only foreplay I got. ;)

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Sergi - 14 Jul 2004 01:01 GMT

No, some cats just do that. No biggie.

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Laura R. - 14 Jul 2004 02:19 GMT

circa 13 Jul 2004 16:06:30 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
Cakehead (starskyproto@yahoo.com) said,

> I have just acquired two cats thru my daughters, one male, one female.
> The female Pretzel I can handle as she is only my friend when I feed
> her: however, Squeaky, the male, seems to have some fascination in
> climbing onto my shoulders and sucking my ear lobes- is this some sort
> of behaviour that means I am lacking something in his diet, or do I
> have a "gaycat"?

My now 16+-year-old cat did the same thing for the first few years of
his life. I found it pretty cute once he got big enough that he
wasn't able to get a suction-cup grip on my earlobes.

It's not a gay thing; it's a comfort thing. Kinda like kids who suck
their thumbs.

Laura

Signature

Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.
-Oscar Wilde

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Karen Chuplis - 14 Jul 2004 02:23 GMT

> I have just acquired two cats thru my daughters, one male, one female.
> The female Pretzel I can handle as she is only my friend when I feed
> her: however, Squeaky, the male, seems to have some fascination in
> climbing onto my shoulders and sucking my ear lobes- is this some sort
> of behaviour that means I am lacking something in his diet, or do I
> have a "gaycat"?

How old? Some cats just keep this habit from being a baby. It is a comfort
thing. Nothing more or less.

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