When it comes to cats’ behavior, each owner can write a book on it. Some behavior entertains their owners a lot, while some may irritate. Why will a cat lick blankets and bedding? This behavior are generally categorized into two types. Normal and abnormal.
According to pet behaviorists, many felines owners often reports their feline licking behaviors each year. Most of them are about cats licking on blankets, fabrics, pillows, and other beddings.
Cats are very adorable, neat, and cute pets; however, their certain behaviors may irritate you in the future. Different pet experts and behaviorists have different opinions regarding cat licking behavior.
It’s Important to Know: Knowing about many cats’ behavioral issues early is essential for every kitty owner. Delaying can lead both the pet and the owner into an uncomfortable situation in the future.
Our team has compiled a comprehensive guide about feline licking on blankets, fabrics, pillows, and other fluffy things. This article will let you know about all the possible reasons for the behavior, how to stop, and much more.
For ease and smooth navigation, you can use the table of content.
Why do cats lick blankets and Bedding?
A cat can start licking on a blanket and other beddings due to comfort, stress, anxiety, joy, missing mother, scent attraction, Pica Disorder, spilled foods, hunger, and to seek your Concentration.
Your cat can lick the blankets and other bedding for many reasons. Some are considered normal, while some need to be timely and adequately addressed.
Have you ever wondered why your cat licks blankets and bedding? There could be a few reasons.
To provide an ultimate guide, we have described the above issues that lead a kitty to chew on the blankets, fabrics, pillows, and other non-edibles. In order from normal to abnormal.
1. For Comfort
Pets, especially cats and dogs, usually adopt many natural and unnatural behaviors to feel comfort. For example, blankets, fabrics, and other beddings may feel soft and yummy to your kitty compared to other fluffy things and can lick and chew on them.
Your feline can adopt the behaviors because your tom and queen feel comfortable doing this.
2. Scent Attraction
Pets, especially cats and dogs, have a powerful sense of smell. They can find and discover lots with their smell power.
One reason is that cats have a strong sense of smell, and they may be attracted to the scent on the fabric. Due to scent attraction, your feline can chew on your fabrics and bedding, such as pillows, bedsheets, and blankets.
If another kitty in the household leaves their odor or urine spraying on the bedding or some other scent exists that we can’t smell, but our kitties do, then your feline can chew on the scented beddings.
Male cats lick blankets more when he feels the urine mark of female feline.
3. Joy and Entertainment
Cats are adorable and neat pets. They often entertain us with their cute behaviors and action. However, they may develop bizarre and uncertain behaviors to entertain themselves and us.
For example, sometimes your feline friend is playing with you and can lick your clothes, bedding, and blankets. This is considered normal until it doesn’t damage your clothes and bedding with chewing or scratching.
4. Spilled foods
As we already discussed earlier, the cat’s sense of smell. Your feline may sense any Spilled foods or drinks easily. Sometimes your kitty may start chewing and licking on or eating things such as blankets, bedding, furniture, and even on the floor.
This may be because your feline senses the spilled food’s scents on the beddings, and she enjoys it with licking or chewing.
5. Stress and Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are the leading causes of developing many health issues and other behavioral disorders in humans and pets. According to pet behaviorists, a stressed and anxious cat may develop sudden strange and irritating behaviors.
The most common signs of stress and anxiety in cats are urine marking, excessive meowing, scratching, food aggression, chewing and licking beddings and furniture, hiding and pawing on you, etc.
6. Pica Syndrome
Pica Syndrome, also known as pica disorder, is the behavioral disorder of felines. Pica disorder in cats refers to eating non-edible materials such as blankets, fabrics, towels, bedding, plastic, furniture, and even fluffy things.
This disorder can occur at any age, including young kitties about 3 months to adult cats.
The most common causes of Pica disorder in cats are:
- Being weaned too young
- Genetic disorders
- Stress and anxiety
- Compulsive disorder
- Boredom
- Dietary deficiencies
- Eating non Edible
- Disinterest in eating
- Straining to defecate
- Restlessness
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Urine spraying
Pica syndrome requires proper and timely treatment. Please get in touch with your veterinarian and pet behaviorist as soon you observe the disorder in your feline.
7. Hunger
Cats are not fond of overeating, but they require a proper diet to prevent them from dietary deficiencies. In hunger, your feline may try to fulfill their nutritional requirement by licking and chewing on non-edible things to overcome the hunger.
8. To seek your attention
Pets, especially cats and dogs, love to get their owner’s attention. Spending time with your pet prevents your pet from many behavioral issues and anxiety.
A cat can adopt certain behaviors to seek concentration from the owner, such as pawing, licking, scratching, and meowing.
If you have a busy schedule, use the cat toys to stress-free your feline.
9. Kitten thinks blanket is mom
A mother’s love is uncomparable, and it is the same in humans and animals. This reason is very rare, but still, your kitty may lick on your blanket when he misses his mother. Usually, the wool blankets and other fabrics feel so soft and hairy, and your tom or queen may feel the same as their mother.
Should you stop a cat from licking on blankets or not?
Stopping a cat from licking and chewing on blankets and bedding is an ideal decision for preventing the cat from adopting the behaviors and future complications.
Should I let my cat lick my blanket? Sometimes your kitty may lick inedible items without any abnormal issues; however, there are still chances that they damage your nice blankets, bedding, furniture, etc.
Also, discouraging the behaviors will prevent form the future complications. When your cute friend follows your commands, make sure to reward them with cat treats.
How to stop cats from licking
Discouraging any feline behaviors depend on the cause of the behavior. Once the cause is determined, it becomes easy to address.
Below, we list some of the essential tips and tricks that will help you stop your kitty from licking and chewing on blankets and other nonedibles.
Early Training: Early training at a young age is considered the key to discouraging a cat from uncomfortable and irritating behavior.
If you want to keep your cat away from any alleged actions, you must focus on your pet training at the kitty age. Train them with your command so that your tom or queen follow them in the future.
Wash the beddings: If you observe that your cat is continuously licking or chewing on your blanket or other bedding, make sure to wash them with the detergent to remove all the scents or food spelling that attract your feline towards itself. You can use the urine detector to find the urine marks.
Keep your cat stress Free: Your stress cat can irritate you in many ways. Make sure to keep your feline stress-free. You can do it by playing with them or providing cat chewing toys that keep them busy playing and prevent chewing on worthy things.
Many experts believe that Feliway is best to prevent stress and anxiety in cats.
Provide Schedule Meal: To prevent your feline from dietary deficiencies, make sure to fulfill their nutritional need. The best way is to use a cat self-meal feeder that entertainingly provides a meal and keeps your feline stress-free.
Don’t separate from mother: This is a very unhuman behavior to separate the kittens at a very young age. Please don’t do this.
Seek Veterinary Help: If your feline is suffering from any behavioral disorder such as pica syndrome or severe anxiety, make sure to seek your veterinarian’s help.
Conclusion
Regardless of the reasons for your cat’s licking and chewing, it is important to know that this behavior can be a sign of stress or anxiety.
Some behaviorists say this is normal while others believe this may be an indication of health issues or other problems in the near future. We are here to help if your cat does start licking blankets for non-typical reasons.
No matter why your cat is licking blankets and bedding, it’s important to keep an eye on them and make sure they aren’t doing any damage to their teeth or gums.
Contact us today so we can give some recommendations for how to handle these circumstances with care! Have any of you experienced your cats chewing through the sheets?
Share your experience below to let our readers know what happened when you took action after noticing their unusual behaviors.
