Humans, by now you should know that we cats spend hours and hours grooming ourselves. It’s completely normal for us to lick our bodies to get ourselves good and clean and in good condition. What’s more, you shouldn’t worry if you notice us spending 6 to 12 hours a day on our personal grooming, because that’s what we normally do. You should only devote some special attention to us if you find that our licking is resulting in little sore place on our skin or bald spots on our tummy, legs or back.
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard somebody at my veterinarian’s office say “My cat licks itself a lot, is that normal?” Well, yes, it is normal. Besides our being territorial, overbearing, somewhat affectionate depending on the person in question, and independent, we cats are very clean animals and we just love to groom ourselves.
But going back now to the crux of the matter, if you notice us licking what seem to be irritated or balding areas more than usual, besides taking us to the veterinarian to find out what’s wrong with us, there are a number of basic aspects that will help you make us feel better in no time and get us back to being ourselves again.
Reasons why “my cat licks itself a lot”
In those cases in which there are reasons behind our grooming above and beyond our personal cleanliness, you should know that the reasons causing us to lick ourselves too much are nothing more than boredom, anxiety or stress, disorders such as a bladder infection or some allergy.
As far as bladder infections and allergies are concerned, your veterinarian will be the one to tell you what medicines we have to take to get better and how to help us stop hurting and/or itching.
Otherwise, if the only thing wrong is that we are simply bored or stressed, the only thing you should do to get us to stop licking ourselves too much is to pay more attention to us. Don’t make any sudden changes in the furniture in your home, buy us a good cat scratcher that has several levels where we can hole up and feel safe while we keep watch over what’s going on in our surroundings. Play with us a little longer over the course of the day… In short, make us your centre of attention.
So now you know, if you’re one of those humans who’s always wondering whether your cat is licking itself too much, pay close attention and make sure that it’s licking itself just enough to groom itself as it should. Meow!
