neurologic kitty?

[mellowtigger]

Neurologic issues in animals was mentioned recently by threemeninaboat, which finally spurred me to upload this video to YouTube. I recorded it on the morning of May 30th, but I just never got around to doing anything with it. I recorded it because of something a veterinarian said when Hope was still a kitten. I had never seen this strange behavior before in other cats, so I asked the doctor about it. Hope, of course, wouldn't perform on cue, so the vet guessed maybe it was something "neurological", since the doctor didn't recognize the behavior I described either.

Hope will obsessively lick the roof of her own mouth... loudly... and often tilting her head various directions. She has done it for over a decade, ever since she was a kitten. I've tried before to record it, but usually I disturb her concentration while I'm fumbling around to get the phone. This morning, she stayed with it.

Watch on YouTube

I haven't been able to imagine any way that this behavior is harmful, so I've never tried to interfere with it. Despite being 15 years old as a cat, she still takes energetic flying leaps from the stairs to land with a thud on the ground floor in the living room. Hope also searches for spider webs and greedily chomps at them like they're delicious cotton candy.

Weird cat. That's fine. I'm fine with weird.

Comments

[threemeninaboat]

She could be smelling loudly: https://www.reddit.com/r/sphynx/comments/unef59/can_someone_tell_me_what_the_little_round_thingy/

Since there's ridges up there she may have a ridge or a tooth that collects food and she has to work it out. It looks similar to the dogs that get ladybugs stuck on the roofs of their mouths.

[mellowtigger]

Thanks for that link. That would make sense. She gets what seems a "lost in sensory experience" vibe when she does it, so I wouldn't be surprised if the raspy tongue on that organ would cause a distracting experience that she finds enjoyable.