Why Do Cats Bite And Scratch Blankets
Up to 75 percent of cat bites introduce harmful bacteria into the body including staphylococcus streptococcus and pasteurella species.
Why do cats bite and scratch blankets. Like thumb sucking in little children nursing wool is a behavior that provides a sense of comfort and safety. A sensitive kitten may grow up into a fabric sucking cat because that behavior reminds. Aggressive biting often happens during a petting session when the human companion either doesn t understand or ignores the cat s body language. This may be confusing and may even make you double take.
Much like sucking constant biting may be a sign that a cat was separated from its mother a little sooner than it would have liked. Mother cats may knead on blankets to form them into a nest for their kittens. Biting a blanket is a very common behavior in kittens as that s how they play. This is when it may become a concern.
Some kittens who were taken from their mothers too soon become wool suckers and bite and chew on blankets because they miss that with their moms. In some cases the cat will take it a step further and begin eating or swallowing these items. Cats have sharp teeth that are able to make deep punctures and cats mouths harbor a lot of bacteria that can potentially cause infection. Young cats learn how hard they can nibble and bite from their mothers and littermates according to science direct.
Allowing and encouraging this natural instinct is important for felines but there is a fine line between engaging in stimulating play and allowing aggressive behaviour. While some cats love to be petted for hours on end sometimes a cat becomes overstimulated for one reason or another and want to opt out of the petting session but don t know how to tell you when to stop. This is an instinctive hormonal reaction that is often seen while cats are mating. They are even known to suck on the tail of other cats.
Cats have scent glands on their paws which they use to mark people or places as their own while kneading. It is when your cat will suck on clothing or other fabric based items such as blankets sweaters jumpers etc. Cat scratch fever which comes from bartonella henselae bacteria may also be transmitted via cat bite. When they are kittens they do that to help them nurse from their mothers so it s a very comforting thing for them to do.
Cats are natural born predators and as such seemingly aggressive actions such as biting pouncing and clawing make up a large part of their play. If left untreated or not given proper first aid care cat bites can lead to infection cat scratch fever or in rare cases rabies. Why do cats hump blankets other things.