Does Your Cat Like to Lick Your Hair?

Here’s the typical scenario: you’re sound asleep in bed when a very strange feeling wakes you up. You reach up to your head and feel a section of your hair is wet. Looking over, you see your cat’s face. She looks at you for a moment and then goes back to what she was doing – licking your hair. You realize, by the soggy strands on your head, the cat has probably been doing that for quite a while. Why would a cat want to repeatedly keep licking your hair?

Social Behavior

Grooming is a common behavior between cats who have a bond. It’s not unusual to see two cats engage in a session of licking each other’s head and neck. I have watched as the recipient of the licking closes her eyes and almost seems to drift off into dreamland.

For some cats who are very bonded with particular family members, the social behavior of hair licking is very normal, and of course, since the biggest crop of hair can be found on the head, that’s where they camp out.

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Appealing Taste or Scent

For other cats, certain hair products such as shampoo, hair spray, hair gels, etc., may hold a certain appeal as far as taste or scent. Some cats may engage in licking the hair of their cat parent just because they like that particular “flavor.”

How to Stop the Hair Licking Behavior

First, the most important thing to remember is to not reinforce the very behavior you don’t want from your cat. If you pet her or talk to her when she’s licking your hair then you’re sending the message that this is a welcomed act on her part.