cat behavior
August 21, 2020 2:28 PM Subscribe
Just wondering why my cat wants to chew my hair and lick my face every morning around 4am?
This isn't a huge problem, but I'm just curious.
Every night my cat gets into bed and sleeps catty corner from me at the bottom of the bed (I'm the only person in the bed, usually). Then, at around 4 am or so, she lies down around my head, licks my face, and chews my hair. I move her out of the way a few times, and she goes back to sleep (or at least, leaves me alone) until I wake up several hours later.
I keep her food and water topped off so she has access to that- she's not waking me up to be fed. So why does she do this, at the same time every morning, and then go back to sleep?
I'm just curious. It's not a really big problem, just slightly annoying .
This isn't a huge problem, but I'm just curious.
Every night my cat gets into bed and sleeps catty corner from me at the bottom of the bed (I'm the only person in the bed, usually). Then, at around 4 am or so, she lies down around my head, licks my face, and chews my hair. I move her out of the way a few times, and she goes back to sleep (or at least, leaves me alone) until I wake up several hours later.
I keep her food and water topped off so she has access to that- she's not waking me up to be fed. So why does she do this, at the same time every morning, and then go back to sleep?
I'm just curious. It's not a really big problem, just slightly annoying .
> So why does she do this, at the same time every morning, and then go back to sleep?
Because she loves you and sometimes she thinks of you as her kitten.
Here's a cat grooming an owl.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:11 PM on August 21, 2020 [12 favorites]
Because she loves you and sometimes she thinks of you as her kitten.
Here's a cat grooming an owl.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:11 PM on August 21, 2020 [12 favorites]
Cats groom to show affection! They also tend to be nocturnal so 4am in their little fuzzy heads is a perfectly acceptable time to be awake and doing things.
posted by cgg at 3:13 PM on August 21, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by cgg at 3:13 PM on August 21, 2020 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Aww. I get that she's probably grooming, but it's literally only at that time where she does it in that way (especially with the hair stuff). Do cats like to groom their kittens awake maybe?
posted by bearette at 3:28 PM on August 21, 2020
posted by bearette at 3:28 PM on August 21, 2020
When else can she easily reach your hair (and face)?
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:34 PM on August 21, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:34 PM on August 21, 2020 [2 favorites]
That's when your face is within range & if you've been drooling in your sleep she's cleaning you up. Could just be she's bored she's doing it because it wakes you up. My Silky terrier climbs up & sticks his little tongue in my ear about the same time each night just to say hi.
posted by wwax at 3:46 PM on August 21, 2020
posted by wwax at 3:46 PM on August 21, 2020
Cats aren't diurnal or nocturnal, they're crepuscular, meaning they tend to be most active around dawn and dusk, and have their longest sleeps in the middle of the day and the middle of the night. So 4 AM probably seems like a perfectly normal time to wake up and go about its business for your cat. Some online sources I've found suggest that cats do most of their grooming either right before or right after sleep (though I wasn't able to find a good citation for that).
So it seems like a combination of:
4 AM is a natural wake-up time for your cat.
Your cat likes to do its grooming routine right after it wakes up (just like most humans do).
As a social animal that engages in allo-grooming, your cat also likes to groom you as a way of cementing your social bond.
4 AM also happens to be a time when your face and head are easily accessible for grooming.
posted by firechicago at 3:57 PM on August 21, 2020 [21 favorites]
So it seems like a combination of:
4 AM is a natural wake-up time for your cat.
Your cat likes to do its grooming routine right after it wakes up (just like most humans do).
As a social animal that engages in allo-grooming, your cat also likes to groom you as a way of cementing your social bond.
4 AM also happens to be a time when your face and head are easily accessible for grooming.
posted by firechicago at 3:57 PM on August 21, 2020 [21 favorites]
Your cat wants you to be awake so it can do things with you. That's when your cat wakes up, and thinks you should be awake too. We've a cat that really wants us to get up with him, and will do many amazing things to annoy us into wakefulness. When he finally gets the idea we're not getting up, he'll settle down. I haven't slept well in 7 or so years. Guess how old the cat is.
posted by mollweide at 9:06 PM on August 21, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 9:06 PM on August 21, 2020 [9 favorites]
My cat climbs on top of my pillow and will groom me awake as well, although not intending to wake me. This is only been about a year. It started when I had a buzzcut and presumably my scalp felt more like fur. Now the hair's grown back but the behaviour has stuck. Another cat grooms us whenever patted, like a mutual grooming session. I'd say of all my cats I've ever had, this occurs about 10% of them, human grooming, and they were the most affectionate cats.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:38 PM on August 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:38 PM on August 21, 2020 [1 favorite]
Well my cat likes to wake me at 5am by climbing up behind the TV in my room and wailing like he's about to die. A previous cat would stick her paws in the window blinds and rattle them. If you were dumb enough to leave a glass of water beside the bed, she'd tump it on you.
It's just what they do. I have a squirt bottle near the bed for mornings that me telling them to knock it off doesn't work.
posted by emjaybee at 9:54 AM on August 22, 2020
It's just what they do. I have a squirt bottle near the bed for mornings that me telling them to knock it off doesn't work.
posted by emjaybee at 9:54 AM on August 22, 2020
you know how sometimes you just can't resist picking up or petting a sleeping cat?
well they seem to feel the same way about humans. one of our cats climbs on my husband's head and bites his nose in the early morning every day because she wants his attention.
posted by Jacqueline at 3:12 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
well they seem to feel the same way about humans. one of our cats climbs on my husband's head and bites his nose in the early morning every day because she wants his attention.
posted by Jacqueline at 3:12 PM on August 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 3:04 PM on August 21, 2020 [21 favorites]