yearofthecat's photos

"Urban Jungle Cat"

Kat has been exploring more and growing in confidence. He's also started to become a little bit less hyper and we've had some nice quiet cuddly times sitting on the sofa. I read and he purrs and kneads for a few minutes, then closes his eyes in utter bliss.

And then he starts licking my shirt. It's weird. If it's something tight, he'll shift to licking my skin a bit and then get up and pace around a bit before wandering off to find something to pounce on. If it's a loose cotton top, he pulls a bit of material into his mouth and sucks it. It's a clear suckling motion, meanwhile he kneads and purrs even more and doesn't seem to care if I keep petting him or not.

I'm sure this is yet another issue born out of losing his mother too young, but it does seem rather odd that it's just now coming up as he reaches 12 weeks. I don't know if I should let him for the comfort factor or nudge him away, so that he doesn't end up attacking the clothes of visitors when he's a big cat (which might damage the clothes or at least leave wet spots, yuck).